A pioneering British Asian oral history website has entered mainstream webcasting by launching 'Radio for All' targeted at youngsters across the globe.

The website, historytalking.com, was launched in June 2003 and registers thousands of hits every month.

Webcasting, which is essentially the broadcast of information via the World Wide Web, gives users the ability to specify the type of content they want to see and gives content providers a means of delivering such information directly to the user's desktop.

The website's editor, Vijay Rana, told that 'Radio for All' would be a unique platform for creative people to showcase and broadcast their creative work on the Internet. The aim is to explore the constructive power of the Internet to promote creativity in a culturally diverse environment.

"Internet is a wonderful medium of public expression. We have just begun to realise its true potential. In most broadcasting organisations mostly the commissioning editors have a tight grip over the content," said Rana.

"But historytalking.com's Radio for All programme is designed to reverse this process. From now on it will be the listeners who will decide the content," Rana said.

The Radio for All programme will have two sections: one catering to schools and the other to the public and community.

The schools' programme invites schools, students and teachers to participate and broadcast on Radio for All. It will provide broadcasting opportunities to students and teachers on educational topics and course works.

The programme sets no editorial constraints and is free and without obligation.
It will be up to the schools and project leaders to determine the broadcasting content.

The historytalking.com team is also equipped to provide training in programme recordings and basic broadcast techniques.

For the public and community programme, the website invites charity organisations, community groups and individuals to convey their message to a global audience. It is an innovative experiment in broadcasting where people decide the content.

They can broadcast their own film and music reviews, cricket or football match reports, their own short story, poetry or drama or simply a political commentary as long as they are within the limits of public decency.

historytalking.com is an initiative of the Volunteering History Alliance, which aims to create a valuable online educational resource of the South Asian community's oral history.

It invites people to volunteer information, eyewitness accounts and life experiences about socially and educationally relevant events, social trends and cultural themes.