51Âþ»­

Channel 4 News is to broadcast a TV debate on the EU referendum LIVE to an audience of millions from 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) next week.

Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy

The “EU Referendum Special – Remain or Leave” will be chaired by news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy from the Queens Building, which belongs to the university’s Faculty of Technology.

It will air on Channel 4 News from 7pm on Tuesday 17 May. The broadcaster has recently teamed up with 51Âþ»­'s Leicester Media School to launch a new Investigative Journalism MA, which will equip graduates with the technical skills, resourcefulness and newsgathering expertise necessary to produce quality, hard-hitting investigative documentaries and reports.

In the programme, a panel of prominent public figures will take part in the debate alongside an audience of around 150 people, including 51Âþ»­ students and staff. Both panel and audience will be split evenly between Leave and Remain and will come from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

With polls so tight, both Leave and Remain campaigns are focusing on those they feel are undecided and are putting great effort into courting people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Channel 4 News, which is watched by a higher proportion of young people and those from a BME background than any other public service broadcaster news service in the UK, wants to engage with this audience and capture their views and understand how a BME vote could influence the outcome.

The programme chose Queens Building because of its striking interior design, the fact it was part funded with EU money when constructed in the early 1990s and because it sits in the centre of multicultural Leicester.

51Âþ»­ is proud of its diversity with almost 50 per cent of students and a fifth of staff coming from a BME background.

Krishnan said: “Ethnic minorities in Britain often have really surprising perspectives on national identity, immigration and Europe and it is our duty at Channel 4 News to seek them out.

“This is an important debate that will air views which seldom see the light elsewhere – and which many white Britons may find startling.”

51Âþ»­ Vice Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard welcomed that the debate would be broadcast live from 51Âþ»­.

“I was delighted when Channel 4 News asked 51Âþ»­ to host this debate. With more than 120 nationalities represented at 51Âþ»­, we are a truly global university at the heart of one of the most diverse cities in Europe.

“51Âþ»­ is committed to being a centre for political debate and we want to enable as many views as possible to be aired on our campus before the referendum on 23 June.

“I look forward to watching the debate and hope as many students and staff as possible can do the same.”