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Friday 3 June 2016

Sun BBC Racism Repeat Busted

The desperation of the obedient Murdoch doggies at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun to put the boot into the hated BBC has once again led them to a level of creativity that has involved veering into the dishonesty line and crashing the car in no style at all. “Fury At ‘Racist’ BBC … AUNTY IS ANTI WHITE … Telly jobs just for minorities” is the headline on Jen Pharo’s “exclusive” article. It’s “exclusive” for a good reason.
And that is because there is no story. There is no story because there are no jobs being offered. As there are no jobs being offered, there is no discrimination being practiced. And as there is no discrimination being practiced, there is no racism. Worst of all, this is a repeat of an attack line used just over a year ago by the Daily Mail - except that, on that occasion, the subject was not race, but disability.

But let’s look at the Sun’s spiel. “THE BBC has been blasted for rejecting work applicants because they are white … It advertised two £25,000 junior scriptwriting roles for shows like Holby City, but said they were only for people from ‘ethnic minority backgrounds’ … One outraged job-hunter said: ‘It’s racial discrimination and just wrong … If you applied for a position and got a reply saying it was only open to white applicants you’d quite rightly not be happy … This is exactly the same’”. And that’s it, is it?

Sadly, no. “The Sun can reveal the Beeb is running four recruitment schemes open only to black, Asian or ethnic minorities … Under the Equality Act it is illegal to discriminate against job applicants on grounds of race, unless crucial to the role … The BBC last night insisted the positions were not jobs, but trainee schemes … And it said the scriptwriter pay was an allowance rather than a wage”. Er, what exactly did the BBC actually say?

Not that one is inclined to take what the Sun says with a large pinch of salt, you understand. After all, these are serious allegations, and the paper has included quotes from an employment lawyer and a lecturer in employment law, with the clear impression being given that the Corporation has done something less than totally legal.
Here is the Beeb’s statement in response to the accusations: “As the Sun knows and has ignored, these are not jobs but training and development opportunities permitted under the Equality act and to describe this as anti-white is utterly ridiculous and irresponsible. As we have an under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in script editing roles at the BBC it’s the right thing to do” [my emphases].

The Murdoch poodles have another serious breach of Clause 1: Accuracy on their hands. Worse, it appears that they lied to that employment lawyer and the lecturer in employment law in order to get the quotes they wanted. On top of that, the Sun clearly had the BBC’s response before preparing the article, but edited out the part that was inconvenient to them. Thus Tony Gallagher’s lamentable record as editor continues unabated.

One day the Sun might run a factually accurate front page story. But not just yet.

13 comments:

Andy McDonald said...

As others have pointed out, BSkyB have, since 2014, pledged to ensure 20% of writers and stars of shows are from BME backgrounds. Funnily enough, this isn't news to the Sun.

A.Robot (Mrs) said...

This is total hypocrisy. Murdoch newspapers have always used positive discrimination in their selection of editors for the Sun and have only ever picked minority candidates for the job. Can anyone remember the Sun ever having an editor who wasn't an egregious c***?
I rest my case.

Anonymous said...

I have my own issues with the BBC. They are:

1. A news department which long ago moved well over to the right wing of politics, and which now employs too many brain dead “presenters” who look, sound and behave like Thunderbirds puppets on a bad day – classic examples being Twitchy Blinky Kuenssberg (is she on drugs or what?), the wannabe Klingon Smith, Newsnight modular front men and women, and a Pienaar who appears to have a decaying lemon wedged in his fat arse.

2. A right wing board of trustees you wouldn’t trust to give you the time of the day.

3. A descent too far into trivial and tabloid TV to match anything the commercial stations peddle. Which is of course why Murdoch and Rothermere are beside themselves with hysterical hatred and lies.
I have no problems at all with the high quality production values they bring to many of their serious programmes. Nor on the rare occasions they actually broadcast honest news. These are, after all, the main reasons the BBC has a well earned reputation for civilised standards even when making bad mistakes.

But whatever its faults and virtues one thing it is not is racist.

The Sun and the Daily “Hurrah For The Blackshirts!” Heil on the other hand.........

Anonymous said...

This comes from Ukip's old manifesto:

Investigating discrimination against white people at the BBC
"Ukip will pursue inquiries into alleged discrimination in favour of ethnic minority candidates in media outlets, such as the BBC, where there are allegations that white presenters had training stopped when training continued for non-white presenters."
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/23/the-ukip-politices-disowned-by-nigel-farage

Unknown said...

I'm sorry but it is racial discrimination. If say 100 whites apply for the job, and only 10 blacks, then obviously the odds are in better favour of a white person getting the job as more applied. If you only make the job available to a black person, then who's to say he is the best man for the job, there might have been 7 others much better, so he gets, or wants the job because of his colour and not because he is the best man for the job?

Colour should not matter in any job, grant or anything else, unless people like the BBC think minorities are inferior to British, therefore have no chance at getting the job?

Do you think Barack Obama is president of the USA because he is black? NO, it is because he was the best man for the job! Do you think Michael Jordan got where he did because he was black? NO, it was because he was the right man for the team and what he could do. Did the mayor of London win the election because of his colour? NO, the people thought he was the best man for the job, and he beat all the white candidates!

If in the UK there are 10,000 white bakers and say only 500 black ones, why should the 10,000 be eliminated from applying for the job? I want the best baker, not the best black baker regardless of his colour!

If I was a minority, I would want to be hired because I am the best for the job, not because of race, colour or religion!

Tim Fenton said...

@5

It's not a job. That's the point. It's a training opportunity with no guaranteed job at the end.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't Murdoch have better things to do like corrupt more police officers.
Not that they all need help with that, mind you.

You'd think he'd cut his losses and go.
Before he's forced to.

Anonymous said...

@ lance patrick.

That's the same load of old bollocks trotted out for centuries by apologists for racism. And it's no "better" now than when perpetrated by Dixie early-fascists during the American Civil War.

When I read sophist bullshit like yours I feel nothing but shame to be part of the human race.

What it goes to show is that Britain has just as much a problem with racism as anybody else, including the remaining lunatics in Dixie and elsewhere in the USA.

Unknown said...

That's your opinion Anonymous, and you're entitled to it!

The fact is, it could be said about many things in life, 100 people could apply for the job, 70 of them went to a state school, the other 30 went to private schools, who would have the better shot at the job?

I could not go to drama school because funding was not available for state school children, it was only available to a couple in each area, and then you had a small chance.

So Anonymous, what I think you say is bullshit, as I expect you're an American who thinks that every white person In Dixie, America as you call it, had a black slave, when in fact it was only the rich. Also, you should be reminded, that it was also the rich black tribes in Africa who were selling the poorer black people to the rich white people.

Every time there's a complaint in the UK where the people are not happy about something, the old racist centuries trick comes out to try to shut you up if it's something they don't like. I agree, racism is problem everywhere, but it's not just white people on every other race, it's all races on each other all around the world.

Fact is:

The powerful make the poor hate and fight each other anyway they can, race, religion etc etc they get richer, and we're all so busy arguing, fighting among ourselves while they all sit back getting richer!

Anonymous said...

@ lance patrick.

Read your final paragraph and apply it to your own claims.

If you don't see the absurdity of your position then I'm afraid there can be no helping you.

Then again, blaming the victim is par for the racist course. Without it racism has no basis for existence. Unless of course it sees itself for what it is......an excuse for unbridled, irrational hatred. As recent events have shown it is all too easy to cause fear among people by directing them at an easy target. Which is why all racism in all its forms is the bolt hole for cowards and failures.

Unknown said...

Yes anonymous, in all honesty I don't care, good luck to them, I just don't believe any race, religion etc should be discriminated against for any job or training for anything, it should be open to all and any.

People are always going to discriminate, whether it's race, religion, colour, sex, sexual preference, looks, wealth, we should all be beyond that in the 21st century and judge each human being as an individual regardless of any of these, I know I do.

Live and let live

Anonymous said...

@lance patrick.

A pity you didn't say "live and let live" in your first post - particularly the second half of the sentence.

That's all it took.

Facing both ways said...

Political Scrapbook has now confirmed that both the Sun and Sky offer thos kind of BAME only training scheme, so their hypocrisy is now complete.