NEWS: 'BBC RADIO TWO' PRESENTER ROSS CRITICISES BBC ON-AIR FOR EMPLOYING FEW STAFF FROM ETHNIC

MINORITIES IN PRODUCTION by GRANT GODDARD

www.grantgoddard.co.uk March 2007

'BBC Radio Two' presenter Jonathan Ross used his show last Saturday to ask publicly why the BBC does not employ more people from ethnic minorities in programme production. After describing a visit he had made to Chris Moyles 'BBC Radio One' breakfast show, Ross asked: How many black people have they got working on proper shows there? You know the BBC still haven't really come up to speed. I mean they are trying, God bless them. Most of the guys you see there are either working on the door, carrying a cloth in there and cleaning up. We haven't really made the effort yet. Asked to respond to Ross comments, a BBC spokesman said: "The BBC is committed to ensuring that the organisation has a mixed and diverse work force to guarantee a good understanding of the whole BBC audience. BBC employment targets to be met by December 2007 are: 12.5% ethnic minority employees in the workforce, and 7% of senior managers. Mr Ross was expressing his own personal views and we don't want to comment further." Ivor Etienne, managing director of Londons 'Choice FM', had worked at Radio One in the late 1980s, firstly as a studio manager and then as a producer. Asked about his experiences, he commented: When I joined the BBC, there wasnt any black producers at Radio One. Asked how that made him feel, Etienne responded: Disappointed. Some of the music that was coming through at the time at Radio One was R&B, was hip-hop. It was music that you felt that, if it had more representation, would be spread to a wider audience. Obviously, Radio One has improved during those [intervening] years but, at the time, you had various people picking the music and they werent quite sure what that music was about. Asked what action should be taken, Etienne said: Its the companies, whether they be the BBC or commercial radio, making sure that they have the right representatives and representation within their organisation. And I think that, if they are representing London, for example, and the cultural mix that you get within London, then surely you should have that mix within your employee base. Former 'LBC' presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy commented: "Significant efforts have been made over the last few years, but it is still not enough. The media is infinitely different to how it was 18 years ago, when I started, but there is still a huge problem. The senior management level is overwhelmingly white, and a few high profile black faces smattered around doesn't really address that." A spokesperson for Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Equality & Human Rights, said: "These are interesting comments that Jonathan [Ross] has made, but it is not a new subject for us. Trevor has been saying for some time that he wants a better reflection of ethnic minorities in the industry and at the BBC. They are in danger of not reflecting British society."

News: 'BBC Radio Two' Presenter Ross Criticises BBC On-Air For Employing Few Staff From Ethnic Minorities In Production page 2 2007 Grant Goddard

[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Ross Questions BBC Over Minorities', #778, 7 March 2007]

Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk

News: 'BBC Radio Two' Presenter Ross Criticises BBC On-Air For Employing Few Staff From Ethnic Minorities In Production page 3 2007 Grant Goddard