Who's Afraid Of The "R" Word?

Large sections of British society want to portray much of the discussion around racism, sexism and other diversity issues as “Political Correctness gone mad” but is that just another way to shut us up?

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last weeks (or are living on a diet of X-Factor and the Apprentice) you will know that racism is once again in the headlines. First there was Tiger Woods’ former caddy wanting to put things inside the golfer’s orifices, then there was England captain John Terry insulting Anton Ferdinand and finally last week Fifa President Sepp Blatter saying racism could be solved with a friendly handshake.

These events have caused some people not to ask if society is becoming more racist but whether we have all become too sensitive about racism and name calling and once again to ask is this all “Political Correctness gone mad”? The BBC topical discussion and phone-in programme “Sunday Morning Live” joined in with the debate with three panellists – Gerry Robinson, Carole Malone and John Amaechi – trying to answer these very questions. The two white panellists Gerry Robinson and Carole Malone both thought society had become too sensitive and ordinary white people now live in fear of saying the wrong thing and being accused of being racist. Carole Malone described an incident where she was too scared to even describe a shop assistant as black just in case this was misconstrued as being racist.

I’m not doubting Carole Malone and Gerry Robinson’s experience in shops but when it comes to working in TV the truth is normally the reverse. Accusing anyone of racism (or much worse of being a racist) takes tremendous guts. Accusing anyone of the ‘R’ word can jeopardise your job, your career, social standing and risk being alienated by your colleagues.

Being accused of being racist almost has the same social opprobrium as being a called a paedophile or wife-beater. While it is a sign of progress that racism is now seen as completely unacceptable in a way it wasn’t thirty years ago the stigma attached to the label can scare people from raising the issue let alone pointing fingers.

Take the simple act of blogging for example. I often have discussions with black colleagues about the issues of prejudice and racism in the television industry but when I suggest they blog about it as I do (or talk to other people in power about it) they regularly tell me that they don’t want to “rock the boat”. They tell me that I have a “safe” staff job at the BBC and I’m senior enough to say the things I say without fear of receiving my P45. They feel that raising any of the points they regularly talk about when amongst colleagues and friends from diverse backgrounds could mark them out as troublemakers. They worry that talking about racism in the television industry is the equivalent of calling people in very powerful positions in the industry (their current and future bosses) “paedophiles”.

We have got to find a way in which colleagues can raise issues of race without fearing that they are committing career suicide. Similarly we need find a way to look at inequality and race related problems in the television industry without those in power becoming overly defensive, fearing that they are being labelled “racist” and pushed in the same corner as wife-beaters, rapists and paedophiles.

The recent incidents involving Sepp Blatter, John Terry and Steve Williams show that racism is still an important problem that needs to be addressed. But just as everyone from David Cameron to David Beckham realise a friendly handshake won’t solve racism neither will being afraid of using the ‘R’ word.

Could better TV have stopped the London riots?

Two days before the London riots kicked off Professor Peter King of Imperial College London appeared on a Radio 4 programme called Voices From The Old Bailey. The series looks at old court transcripts and examines what they say about the history of the time. I know hardly sounds like the most riveting radio. However as coincidence would have it last Wednesday they were discussing old court transcripts involving riots. It was on this programme that Professor King defined riots “as an argument continued by other means” (an obvious re-working of the famous quote “War is the continuation of politics by other means”). This is echoed by the fact that the recent London riots only started after the police at Tottenham refused to meet the people protesting over the police killing of Mark Duggan – the peaceful argument became violent – the police have subsequently apologised for not meeting the Duggan “family's needs more effectively”.

But what lessons does this teach people working in the media? If Professor King’s definition is correct then I think the recent riots point to a massive failure by those of us working in television, radio, print and online.

Successful media should act as a platform for Professor King’s pre-riotous “arguments” to take place. Remove that platform, deny people the ability to have that argument and one result according to Professor King’s definition could be riots.

Twelve years ago (a life time ago) I used to provide on such media platform for the black British community; I produced the Schumann Shuffle. Broadcasting every Saturday morning it was a current affairs radio phone-in on Choice FM, tackling the big issue of the week affecting the listenership. For a station that was 99% music based, broadcasting to an audience we were told weren’t interested in politics, it surprised everyone except me and the presenter (Geoff Schumann) that we quickly became the highest rating programme on the station.

We discussed everything including deaths in police custody, legalisation of drugs, and failing schools. My personal favourite however was when Geoff tackled the crisis in Zimbabwe and the 1992 Land Acquisition Act (although we did give it the catchier title of “Can white people ever be African?”). What the experience of producing the show taught me however is that black people are crying out for a serious platform to discuss politics on their own terms. The callers spanned the whole spectrum of the black community; from the suburbs to the inner-cities, from pensioners to school children, and from right wing “hangers and floggers” to the most liberal minded. But most importantly we tried to get studio guests of standing; Trevor Phillips was a regular fixture, Members of Parliament made appearances and high ranking police frequently popped in. When our listeners called in they felt they were the ones being listened to and were being taken seriously. To paraphrase Prof. King; for large sections of the black community there was no need for the argument to be continued by other means.

While there is no doubt that I look back at my time on the Schumann Shuffle through rose tinted glasses, the fact of the matter is that back then there were far more media platforms for arguments reflecting the concerns of African and Caribbean people. Black Britain was a current affairs programme on the BBC and the newspapers The Voice and New Nation both had quality journalism with decent circulations. I doubt anyone could seriously argue that BBC 1Xtra plays the same function now (although it does have some great documentaries targeted at a youth audience).

When it comes to the riots it is often all too easy to blame the politicians put it all down to vague socio-economic factors or demonise the lawless looters themselves. As black people working in the media however I think it is incumbent on us to ask what responsibility we should bare, or at the very least how we can make things better. Giving rioters and “potential rioters” a forum to air their grievances peaceably would be a good first step.

Learning From The Ladies

Working in news and current affairs can be slightly obsessive. You constantly think that somewhere in the world there is a breaking story that you are missing or an investigation that you should be undertaking.

In my paranoia of missing the next big story I have been known to surreptitiously check the news on my iphone at dinner when I think no one is looking. My four favourite iphone apps for doing this are: the BBC (of course), Al Jazeera (it’s good to get a different international perspective), The Economist (for its concise analysis) and the New York Times (it is the most widely read newspaper in the world).

It was actually while checking the news on my iphone Guardian app over a recent meal that I learnt about one of the biggest diversity stories of the year: The New York Times has just appointed Jill Abramson, its first female executive editor in its 160 year history.

With Helen Boaden (Director of BBC News) at the helm of the largest broadcast news organisation in the world and now another woman appointed the head of the world’s most read online newspaper, this is a great achievement in increasing diversity.

As I read the article about Jill Abramson’s appointment, her extraordinary background and the massive challenges she will face, a little story at the end of the piece caught my eye.

Anne Marie Lipinski was the first female editor of another major American newspaper – The Chicago Tribune. During her 7 years as editor there, she set up the “Large Ladies” dinner – a place where influential women in the world of newspapers could meet once a year and share their experiences. She describes it as “a small, but very hearty group”. During a chat with Helen Boaden, I remember her mentioning that years ago she too helped set up a group where woman in BBC news could meet informally.

As far as I am aware, neither of these two groups were overtly campaigning or had any specific goals and aims. Their purpose was simply to allow people – who were working in environments where they were massively outnumbered –  to meet and not feel so alone. The feeling that you are not alone is vital if you are going to achieve in life and have any sense of perspective. The women didn’t just meet to do short term networking to land their next jobs – they met to nourish their souls. In the end, of course, as Helen, Anne Marie and Jill can testify, it clearly did help some of them at least to achieve a wonderful career as well.

I often write blog posts for sites like the TVCollective and they clearly help forge that sense of community online between non-white people working in TV, and that’s great – it’s crucial. But I believe there is no substitute for creating that sense of community in the real, non-virtual world. You can make stronger bonds over a glass of wine than over a hundred emails.

So if we are going to replicate the recent successes of female news editors and want to see the first black Head of BBC News or the first non-white editor of any of my favorite iphone news outlets, maybe I’d better put the iphone down and just sit down for dinner with my black colleagues in news…

Anybody hungry?