EXCLUSIVE
By Barnie Choudhury
A FORMER shadow minister has demanded that the head of the BBC “takes control” of tackling racism in the corporation.
Following an Eastern Eye exposé about the experiences of current and former BBC employees earlier this month (September 9), the Labour MP for Brent Central, Dawn Butler, wrote to the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) select committee raising concerns over the allegations in the report.
For the first time, Eastern Eye can share the letter in full, ahead of MPs quizzing the BBC director general, Tim Davie, over the racism claims next Tuesday (29 September).
“I'm extremely grateful to the committee,” said Butler MP. “I think the best form of interrogation of what's happening in the country, and within government, at the moment is through select committees.
“I think it’s going to be important to understand whether the director general acknowledges and accepts that systemic and structural racism exist, and then the steps that he will take to ensure that they are eliminated.”
On his second day in the job, Davie set staff a 20 per cent target for Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff.
However, in his first public interview, Davie told the Royal Television Society’s chief executive, Theresa Wise, “I’m not giving a timing because I want you (divisional leaders) to own it. [To] the leaders in the BBC, I have been very direct, you will not be promoted in this organisation without us assessing how happy your staff are, and how you delivered against diversity targets.”
But that is not good enough for Butler.
The Labour MP and former shadow equalities minister said, “Over the years, what has been established in order to make true meaningful and sustainable progress is that leadership needs to come from the top.
“He needs to take control of the situation if he really wants to be head of an organisation that is equal and just, and what we've also found is that anything to do with equality needs to be linked with key performance indicators.”
So how might the questioning work? A select committee is given detailed briefings by its secretariat, its administrative arm. MPs read several reports and do their own research, but it is in the gift of the chair to decide what questions will be asked.
Since Eastern Eye published its two reports in recent weeks, dozens of current and former employees contacted the newspaper to complain about unjust treatment based on the colour of their skin.
We have heard accounts, seen emails and documents which suggest that the racism is not only hidden and insidious, but rife, and that staff have been diagnosed with clinical depression and suspected post-traumatic stress disorder.
Eastern Eye has been asked to brief MPs and submit evidence to the DCMS select committee, and it has done so. The evidence includes testimony from current staff and data from freedom of information requests spanning several years.
“I have been isolated, undermined and gaslit,” said one tearful south Asian employee.
Gaslighting is when someone tries to convince another person they are wrong about something when they are not.
“They make out that the BBC couldn’t possibly be racist, but it is, and then they became defensive and started to pick faults in my work. I got passed up for key assignments and they asked white colleagues who worked with me what I was like and whether I was difficult.”
Another whistle-blower revealed that at a BBC local radio station run by a south Asian manager, a journalist was sacked for using the P-word in the office.
A black journalist explained why they ended up leaving the BBC.
“I was paid less than white colleagues who did less than I did. I brought in lead, exclusive, stories from my community and was nominated for awards. They loved what I was doing, but when I asked to be paid at least the same as my white colleagues and be put on the same grade, they said no.”
In the end the journalist was poached by a national broadcaster at a much higher wage and a bump in title.
“When I said that if the BBC matched it, I’d stay, they didn’t even try. They made out that where I was going wouldn’t get the audiences the BBC have, and that they’d be able to replace me without a problem.
“The sad thing is that you see the BBC now, and the black journalists are all light-skinned Oxbridge types, and middleclass. Unlike me, they’ve never known hardship, or been on an estate where single parents go without food so their kids can eat. How can they connect with ‘their’ communities? It’s race and social class that’s the problem with the BBC.”
Eastern Eye has been contacted by current staff who say repeatedly that managers, what the BBC calls leaders, recruit in their own image. Davie acknowledged this in his speech after taking charge, telling staff that diversity was “mission critical” and not to hire “in your own image”.
One south Asian leader welcomed Davie’s words, but said, “The proof will be in the figures. You can have all the warm, fuzzy words you like, but the problem is changing the culture of recruiting white privileged mates.”
The figures are not encouraging. The BBC aggregates its leadership number across a wide range of bands (E, F and SL or senior leadership). The Corporation set itself a target of 15 per cent by 2020 and, for the past three years, its annual reports show it has missed it.
In BBC Nations and Regions, leadership is at 4.4 per cent. At the lowest band (A), BAMEs make up 18.5 per cent, while at the top (SL) it really is a case of “snowy peaks” at 7.1 per cent.
“By not saying when he wants to achieve his 20 per cent target, the DG risks repeating the same mistakes once again,” said one leadership source. “He says people won’t be promoted; (but) you know as well as I do that these white guys find ways of promoting c**p, incompetent people, their mates who look, speak and act like them.”
The select committee will now quiz the director general in what is being described by one member as “a big session”. But it is clear there is unhappiness.
One MP told Eastern Eye, “I am getting LOTS of BBC folk, including presenters, writing to me.”
Eastern Eye approached the BBC for comment on Davie’s appearance before the select committee and allegations of systemic, structural and institutional racism.
But a spokesman said, “Tim answered this at the press conference last week and we have nothing more to add.”
Butler warned that unless Davie acts, the BBC would lose viewers, and the battle for a licence fee.
“There has to be a clear commitment from the director general about how he intends to dismantle the systemic, structural and institutional racism that exists in the BBC.
“They've already lost quite a lot of viewership, over certain demographics, and people have lots of choice about what they watch and how they watch. It’s not just the BAME communities, it’s people who believe in equality, justice and fairness.”
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event