Tower Hamlets is one of the United Kingdom’s most culturally vibrant and diverse areas. Densely populated, with over 200,000 people living within its thirteen square kilometres at the heart of London’s East End, the borough has for centuries been home to many immigrants. Today, some 49 per cent of residents are from black and minority ethnic communities. 33 Per cent are of Bangladeshi heritage, and there are also sizable Somali, Caribbean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Pakistani communities.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Tower Hamlets was often portrayed in the media as a problematic area with tensions arising between different ethnic groups. In response to the Council’s increasing frustration at being unable to get across positive messages in the press about its work and the contribution made by different communities to the growing success of the borough, East End Life was launched.

Tower Hamlets is one of the United Kingdom’s most diverse areas: almost half the population come from black and ethnic minority communities. Since 1993, the Council of Tower Hamlets publishes a free, 40-page, weekly newspaper, East End Life, for the residents and businesses of this London borough. It combines news from the Council with community news, features on local people and coverage of leisure activities in Tower Hamlets.

East End Life contains a two-page section with news written in Bengali and Somali, the two main minority languages in the borough. In this way, the newspaper promotes equal access to Council information and services, and encourages greater cooperation, understanding and acceptance between people from different racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. Tower Hamlets is the first local authority in the United Kingdom to have a council-owned weekly publication and it is seen as a vital communication tool by both residents and council officers.

To encourage Tower Hamlets diverse communities to live and work together, East End Life publishes positive news and in-depth articles with a local perspective on a wide range of topics, such as art, remarkable people, schools, sports and local history. The newspaper also has a popular restaurant review page and a property section. Every month, a special youth page is featured, written and edited by local young people.

East End Life also plays an important role in lowering the threshold for residents to become involved in the work of the Council. It lists the telephone numbers of Tower Hamlets’ different service departments, and contains an overview of recent planning applications, as well as the contact details of all Council members.

In recognition of the area’s ethnic diversity, the newspaper also includes a two-page section with news and information in Bengali and Somali. In this way, the Council wants to include people from a different ethnic background, ensuring that everyone feels part of the borough’s community. The editorial team of East End Life closely cooperates with the local media, particularly the Bengali media based in Tower Hamlets. They help with writing the Bengali sections in East End Life.

East End Life
Ms Laraine Clay (Editor), tel. +44 20 7364 3179

01/11/1993

case

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Community development, Equality