Newsnight Editor Attacks 'Ageist BBC'

[Teddy Bear]

When a BBC editor attacks his employers for showing 'utter contempt' for their viewers, or at least the older ones - you know the ones that have paid most over the years to be disregarded and cast aside, you can figure that he's seeing something on the inside that is really making him seethe.

As he rightly points out, unlike commercial media companies, the BBC does not have to appeal to those who are more likely to be swayed by advertising - the young. So why does the BBC justify their getting rid of older women in favour of younger, or find it so necessary to have to appeal to a younger audience?
Simple answer - they dumb down because they're DUMB.

Michael Crick attacks 'youth obsessed' BBC for 'utter contempt' of older viewers
By Niall Firth
Michael Crick, the political editor of Newsnight, has waded into the BBC ageism row by accusing the corporation of having 'utter contempt' for its viewers.
The 51-year-old said the claim that the BBC was 'obsessed with youth' was a 'gross understatement'.
Crick is just the latest big name to attack the BBC over alleged ageism in the wake of the row over the axing of Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, who is 66.

Writing in the BBC in-house magazine, Ariel, Crick said: 'It's a barmy policy which shows utter contempt for many of our viewers.

'Commercial channels have to focus on young people as they are the ones susceptible to advertising. The BBC should have no such worries.

'We should respect and cherish our older viewers who are loyal to us, and a growing part of the population.
'The average Newsnight viewer is 55. How many Newsnight staff are older than 55? Jeremy Paxman and one or two others.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'These are his own views and were not shared by the majority of respondents in the article.'
Ms Phillips' replacement after four years on Strictly Come Dancing sparked controversy when it was announced last month.
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw warned the BBC not to pander to the 'cult of youth' in the wake of her removal.
Mr Bradshaw said it would 'not be acceptable' if Ms Phillips was replaced purely on grounds of her age, though he accepted that BBC bosses may have had other reasons for their decision.
It also led Equalities Minister Harriet Harman to tell the House of Commons that she suspected age discrimination and called on the BBC to reinstate her.
Veteran broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell - the Government's official Voice of Older People - has been outspoken in her criticism of the BBC's policy on age.
Dame Joan held a meeting with BBC director-general Mark Thompson in July where she claimed that women over 50 were being banished from television screens, while men were allowed to carry on.
'It's like they have all somehow died off,' she said.

'Television has this enormous influence and the lack of women over a certain age is damaging.
'There are no grey-haired women on TV as there are grey-haired men. Mind you, having said that, women would inevitably feel they had to dye their hair to appear.'

[steevo]

Without the need for advertising revenue its hard to justify. I wonder if they're killing themselves off. Such a large older audience makes sense as they're less likely than the young to be entertained through other media such as the Internet. I wouldn't doubt its a consequence here in the States too especially with respect to certain programing.

[Teddy Bear]

To some extent it's understandable that private media companies have to appeal to those who will be more swayed by advertising to generate profit. So what excuse does the BBC have? - NONE!
I think it's more that they themselves have no creative talent inside the corporation to come up with programmes that would appeal to a wider audience, so they simply take the themes coming out of the private market and copy them.

Real creativity is not born out of an immoral corrupt mindset - so it's really not surprising that this is all that's left to them.

[Teddy Bear]

Only a few days since a Newsnight editor attacks the BBC for their ageist and youth obsessed policies when a Radio 2 presenter has quit and done the same. Reading the story below you can also see the rotten way the vile BBC higher echelon treated this man, and the way they excuse themselves.

Consider especially that regarding '....executive producer, Bob McDowall, over the content of the show.
‘Bob told me he didn’t like British dance bands. He thought they were a distraction and they were boring,’ Mr Laycock said. '

This comes from a BBC executive producer paid for by the British public to support British society. Also that many of the 360,000 listeners who complained to the BBC about their decision were simply ignored.

BBC slammed by Radio 2 DJ Malcolm Laycock
By James Tapper

A long-standing Radio 2 presenter has accused the BBC of sidelining older listeners and ‘attacking’ their music.

Malcolm Laycock, who presented big band show The Age Of Swing, said the Corporation ‘no longer exists to serve the public’ and criticised Radio 2 for replacing light music and jazz with ‘soft rock’.

The 70-year-old presenter also claims he was ‘constructively dismissed’ after 14 years presenting his Sunday-night show.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Listeners are up in arms about Radio 2 and its policy towards the older age group.

Some say, “They’re attacking the music.” What you have is show after show, hour after hour of white rock music.

'It’s just soft rock on Radio 2 all day. After Radio 2 won an award, they put up a sign above the door saying, “The most listened to station in the UK.”

'That is wrong. That’s the job of a commercial station.

‘I think the BBC has gone off the rails. It’s a great big oil tanker that is careering in the wrong direction.

'It’s not existing to serve the public any more. It’s existing to grow bigger and bigger, and for managers to earn more and more.’

Mr Laycock announced his decision to leave Radio 2 live on air after a long-running dispute with BBC bosses and his new executive producer, Bob McDowall, over the content of the show.
‘Bob told me he didn’t like British dance bands. He thought they were a distraction and they were boring,’ Mr Laycock said.

‘Last September, he sent me a message saying as of three weeks’ time, you’re to drop British dance bands and have all swing. I emailed him to say we ought to discuss it.
'I got an email back saying, “What is there to discuss?” It was rude. Since that decision I have never seen him and he hasn’t rung me.’

Although many of the show’s 360,000 listeners complained to the BBC, the decision has not been reversed.

Mr Laycock also said his role at the BBC had changed and he was doing the jobs of both a presenter and producer.

‘It was a full-time job,’ he said. ‘They were paying me just over £24,000 for 52 programmes, 52 hours of radio. It is the same average pay for a student leaving college.’

He asked Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan to be paid for his work as a producer – an extra £14,000 a year – but was told no salaries would be increased in the wake of the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand scandal.

Mr Laycock decided he would make no progress unless he threatened to quit: ‘I scripted a programme saying goodbye. Bob Shennan came to see me, saying,

“Malcolm, what can we do to convince you?”’

But he says there was little effort made to change his working conditions. ‘As far as I’m concerned, it amounted to constructive dismissal. I’ve been put into a position where I cannot carry on.’

A Radio 2 spokeswoman said: ‘Malcolm was not constructively dismissed. As we were unable to meet his demands of a pay rise of 60 per cent in his new freelance presenter contract, he decided to leave.

'A meeting was held to discuss the change in format to the show, at which it was agreed that the rigid format of 50 per cent British dance bands and 50 per cent big band music would be dropped.’

Mr Laycock began his career at the BBC in the Sixties, presenting jazz shows on Radio London and the World Service before taking over The Age Of Swing in 1995.

[Teddy Bear]

Let's just focus on just what this thread and report below really exposes about the BBC.

Any responsible body wanting to support a stable and positive society would have to say that heterosexual marriage is the ideal nucleus, and since nature has mostly endowed women as the most suited to rear and raise the family, she is the natural home-maker, with the man as the provider.

Such has it been throughout generations, and everything I've witnessed in our modern age trying to 'improve' on this has only contributed to destabilize and devalue our foundations. The only ones who really can believe they might have benefited with the changes imposed have been those who brought about them about - the ignorant and psychotic politicians and media inhabitants seeking to dumb down society to make it a willing contributor, first to fill their coffers and increase their own power, and then to accept further schemes to continue this trend.

No doubt there might be some reading these statements causing them a knee-jerk dismissal, not because they've ever really thought it through for themselves, but have simply been brainwashed to believe we have made society more 'fair', or 'balanced', with the modern altering done to generations of human growth. I will happily argue that any deficiencies in the former system could have been better rectified in other ways, which maintained the status quo, rather than those doing it's utmost to destroy it.

So given the foundation I described, I would say that any woman with the experience of raising a successful family can far greater benefit a society by sharing the wisdom and experience she has gained at that time. For most it would be the age of 45-50 onwards.

But for the BBC, this is the age when they've served their usefulness.
Now outside pressures will force them to change, but their own sick and ignorant mindset will not have changed at all.
Just their ongoing PC bullshit.

BBC culture WAS biased against its older women: Report criticises industry for sexist attitude and singles out corporation as having biggest obligation to improve

• Study examined role of women in news and current affairs broadcasting
• Criticised industry for sexist attitude and said BBC had to improve most
• Lord Best, who chaired investigation, said change was not quick enough
• BBC singled out for having responsibility as funded by the licence fee

By Sam Creighton for the Daily Mail

The BBC did have a cultural mindset of discriminating against older women, a damning report has revealed.

The study examining the role of women in news and current affairs broadcasting criticised the industry for its sexist attitudes and singled out the BBC as having the biggest obligation to improve.

Lord Best, who chaired the investigation by the House of Lords Communications Committee, claimed change was not happening quickly enough and that female presenters still become 'invisible' and 'fade away' once they reach 50.

While the report looked at the entire broadcast industry, the BBC was repeatedly singled out as having a particular responsibility due to it being funded by the £145.50 licence fee

The strongly-worded 60-page report, published today, concluded that Ofcom should play a greater role in policing how broadcasters treat women and impose sanctions on those not living up to expectations.

While the report looked at the entire broadcast industry, the BBC was repeatedly singled out as having a particular responsibility due to it being funded by the £145.50 licence fee.

The committee collected emotional evidence from high-profile female broadcasters including ITV News' social affairs editor Penny Marshall, 52, former BBC journalist Olenka Frenkiel, 59, and former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly, 57, who won an age discrimination case against the corporation.

Their comments lifted the lid on the 'bullying' tactics women are subjected to and how they are expected to abandon childcare duties if they are required to work, particularly at night.

It was claimed that there are different standards for men, particularly as they get older.

Miss O'Reilly and Miss Frenkiel suggested there is an 'informal policy' of discrimination and that while older women saw their careers dry up, their male colleagues could 'continue to function as normal, permitted to be ugly, grizzly, fat, old, and peculiar'.

With presenters including Moira Stewart, Anna Ford, Selina Scott and Julia Somerville all reportedly asserting they had been sidelined because of their age, Miss Marshall described herself to the committee as 'kind of the last woman standing'.

The report noted that while the majority of those over 50 in the UK are women, men account for 82 per cent of television presenters above that age.

It found that the UK industry compared poorly to other countries, particularly the US and Scandinavia, with the treatment of older women.

Fran Unsworth, the BBC's deputy director of news and current affairs, accepted that there had been a cultural mindset which had been biased against older women on television, but claimed this was no longer the case.

The report suggested that if the situation had not improved within a year, a new body should be set up to ensure broadcasters meet set gender equality targets.

The BBC said: 'Nearly half of the BBC's news and current affairs workforce is female with more than a third in leadership positions. We are always looking at what more we can do.'