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by Reginald Massey , The Guardian

The broadcaster Vernon Corea, who has died of diabetes aged 75, arrived in London from Sri Lanka in 1975 as a missionary with the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (WEC) - crucially, at a time when community-based local radio was just catching on.

Initially, he worked voluntarily with BBC Radio London, creating a hit magazine programme for London Asians, mixing news, interviews and popular music. He also encouraged other talent; many well-known names owe their first studio experience to him.

Three years later, in 1978, the BBC appointed Corea as its first ethnic minorities adviser, and he became the benign guru to a generation of minority community media professionals. Before his appointment, only rarely would they have considered a broadcasting career.

Corea worked with 20 local radio stations, and today's BBC Asian Network owes its existence in no small measure to his endeavours.

His background was in commercial radio, but he had a Reithian belief in the moral and social value of public service broadcasting. The training programmes that he set up filled a crucial gap in the multicultural mosaic.

Born in what was then the British colony of Ceylon, Corea was the son of an Anglican canon, who wanted him to train for the priesthood. So after the Royal College, Colombo, where the Sinhalese upper classes sent their sons to imbibe British culture, he was packed off to read theology at Serampore College, in Bengal.

Serampore was originally a Danish settlement, which, apart from its distinction as a centre for Christian studies, was famous for its pioneering work in mass communications. The first typeface of any Indian alphabet was cast in Serampore, and the first Bengali language newspaper was published there.

But Corea did not become a man of the cloth. Rather, he turned out to be, as he often joked, a "sound man", and returned to Colombo to join Radio Ceylon. In 1970, thanks to the Nuffield Foundation, he spent six months with the BBC in London. Meanwhile, he became increasingly involved with the WEC and its broadcasting arm, Radio Worldwide.

Radio Ceylon had an unashamedly commercial aspect, and Corea became its business manager and news director. In those days, India banned commercial stations so, by targeting that audience with popular sponsored shows, Radio Ceylon was able to capture large numbers of listeners from All India Radio.

Corea was a born broadcaster and racy raconteur, prone to making outrageous remarks with a straight face. But behind his frivolous manner was a generous and large-hearted Christian, who was also a lay reader at Emmanuel church in Wimbledon village, in south-west London.

He is survived by his wife Monica, two sons and a daughter.

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