BBC employment discrimination - part 1

With only a day to go before the new employment regulations to combat age discrimination, in this and the next blog we look at the BBC's own very mixed record on the issues of equality and diversity.

The BBC boasts that it is "a unique institution, owned by the British people and independent of political and commercial interests," and its purpose is "to enrich the life of every person in the UK" - but we uncover the truth: the BBC still discriminates by age, gender and sexual orientation.

On 13 September 2006 Newsround Bias blog discovered evidence of discrimination against older kids. I was so surprised by this that the following day I emailed Newsround's website editor, with a copy to Newsround's editor, asking for an explanation as to why it seemed responses from 15 year olds were being systematically discarded. At the same time I asked why Newsround's website never included lgbt news or gossip, giving, as an example, Matt Lucas's intention to 'tie the knot' with his partner Kevin McGee.

On Friday 22 September 2006 I received an email from the head of CBBC. On the point about lgbt news he said Newsround tries "to avoid coverage of post-watershed celebrities," which explains why the story about Matt Lucas wasn't covered. However I noticed there are some other stories about both Matt Lucas and David Walliams on Newsround's website. But fair enough, I'll just wait longer to see whether they include any gay celebrity news or gossip in the future.

Mr Deverell confirmed that CBBC services discriminate by age, but said that doesn't mean that they completely exclude all children outside the core audience of 6-12 year olds. The BBC, he said, offers other services for kids both older and younger.

In response to what he said about age discrimination, I replied that if Newsround doesn't want to hear from older kids then perhaps the web feedback page should emphasise that, because of the "Creative Future" policy, preference is now given to under 12 year olds. I said it seems older kids aren't receiving the same standard of service from the BBC, and also mentioned the Council of Europe's "all different, all equal" campaign. I added that the British Psychological Society had made clear that young people should not have to put up with homophobic bullying and that it should be combatted from Key Stage 1. Therefore Newsround should not avoid the topic.

The new age discrimination laws have been given a lot of publicity on the BBC news channel. Funny thing is the BBC appears to think it's such a special institution that it doesn't need to obey the same laws itself. British businesses, it reports, are unprepared for the new employment legislation. In part 2 of the blog we see how the BBC is at least as muddled as British businesses.