It's more than obscene, it's probably also illegal (not that you'd ever get a British judge to agree)as there is no shortage of ethnic minority staff. Last time I looked, the BBC's journalistic staff were above the national figures for ethnic minority representation. So, I can't see what the legal justification for this is. They were BTW also v. close to parity on drama a few years ago as well and I am sure they have now overshot the target on that by now.
Also, I can't help noticing that although there are millions of East Europeans in the UK now I haven't seen or heard even one reporter with an East European accent. I think that tells you something. "Poles need not apply."
Meanwhile we are subjected to someone with a very strong Caribbean accent among newsreaders now, making it very difficult to follow the news (I hasten to add if it needs adding that I had absolutely no problems with Trevor McDonald's presenting which was in many ways exemplary...he had a very light Caribbean accent but generally followed RP pronunciation and could therefore be understood - this is simply about reading the news in a way that can be understood by most people).
The BBC is in the grip of a dangerous madness that will lead to perdition and misery all round.
It's more than obscene, it's probably also illegal (not that you'd ever get a British judge to agree)as there is no shortage of ethnic minority staff. Last time I looked, the BBC's journalistic staff were above the national figures for ethnic minority representation. So, I can't see what the legal justification for this is. They were BTW also v. close to parity on drama a few years ago as well and I am sure they have now overshot the target on that by now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I can't help noticing that although there are millions of East Europeans in the UK now I haven't seen or heard even one reporter with an East European accent. I think that tells you something. "Poles need not apply."
Meanwhile we are subjected to someone with a very strong Caribbean accent among newsreaders now, making it very difficult to follow the news (I hasten to add if it needs adding that I had absolutely no problems with Trevor McDonald's presenting which was in many ways exemplary...he had a very light Caribbean accent but generally followed RP pronunciation and could therefore be understood - this is simply about reading the news in a way that can be understood by most people).
The BBC is in the grip of a dangerous madness that will lead to perdition and misery all round.