A few days ago Jonathan Ross, speaking by phone to Gaydar Radio, mentioned that his elder daughter is gay. Needless to say there was quite a lot of media interest in Jonathan's comment, not least because Mr Ross is regarded by some, including Newsround Blog, as a bully. This is based on numerous remarks by Jonathan himself, although widespread accusations that Ross once suggested gay children should be put up for adoption are unfair.

One example of the aforementioned unfairness, which came about as a result of a widely reported incorrect quotation, occurred in Wednesday's edition of the Daily Mail: "Jonathan Ross has proudly revealed that his daughter Betty Kitten is a lesbian - despite once joking that gay children should be adopted."

Newsround Blog has nothing but contempt for both the Daily Mail and for Jonathan Ross, but we do try to be accurate. In this case Ross meant to suggest that a gay child would need to be registered with an adoption agency in order to be able to start a family when they later settle down with a partner.

Recording of Radio 2 comment (9th May 2009) on YouTube.

The timing of the Jonathan Ross interview on Gaydar Radio might not just be down to chance. Ross is to host the British Comedy Awards this evening - his first really high profile TV appearance since leaving the BBC. Maybe Ross wanted to garner publicity for the event and get better viewing figures, or maybe he wanted to spoil any newspaper 'exclusives' about his daughter which might follow. Actually his daughter Betty Kitten had not kept her sexuality secret on her Twitter feed, but few people knew until the Gaydar Radio interview.

It remains to be seen if Jonathan will make any references to his family on tonight's show - my guess is he won't. He told Gaydar Radio that his children's sexuality was "none of my business" and "certainly none of my concern."

So what has happened to the old Jonathan Ross - Jonathan Ross the casual homophobe, who apparently saw nothing else in gay people other than their supposed sex lives, and who demonstrated that attitude week after week on his Friday night BBC TV show. Has he changed? Time will tell.

Lastly, it should be said that there are those in the LGBT community who, despite his record of homophobia, hold Ross in high esteem.

Gaydar Radio interview (MP3 download)

A recent survey of boys' role models found that most boys look to their dad as their principal role model. David Beckham was in first place after fathers, and second-placed was politically incorrect Jeremy Clarkson. Newsround did its own straw poll last week, asking both boys and girls who they would choose as role models.

One of Newsround's stories yesterday was about 13-year-old Sarah who was has been shortlisted in the Miss Teen Great Britain competition, which according to its director is aiming to find a realistic role model for all teenagers.

Since she was about 9 years old Sarah was bullied by kids at school. They called her 'big' 'fat' and 'ugly' which made her lose heart. Sarah feels that personality is more important than outward appearance, and hopes that taking part in the competition will help her regain her confidence.

Challenging gender stereotypes was, no doubt, one of the aims of Sadie J - the subject of my previous blog. Sadie presumably picked up a lot of her car maintenance knowledge from her garage mechanic dad, Steve. She wanted to be perceived as a bit more 'girly' partly in an attempt to appeal to boys. Her friend Kit, on the other hand, has typically 'girlish' interests such as manicuring his nails and sewing sequins on his jeggings. In fact the actor playing Kit is so convincing in the role that the subtitlers thought Kit was actually a girl (see screenshot below)


So far, so good. Sadie J shows us that not all girls are 'girly' and not all boys are going to be the next Jeremy Clarkson. But what does it say about the less thorny topic of sexual orientation, which was portrayed years ago on BBC children's TV?

All the romance we saw in the first episode of Sadie J was boy-girl stuff. And when the perfect opportunity came to make the story LGB inclusive this is what happened -

Joe: I don't care what you look like Sass. Or you Chloe. I'm sorry but none of you are really my type.

Chloe: Fine. Your loss. FYI you may be hot, but you're still a nerdy-birdy!

Sadie: But, but what is your type?

Well obviously at this point we could have discovered that Joe had a crush on another boy - perhaps Keith the apprentice mechanic - who'd just crashed the party on Joe's motorbike. But the writers wimped out with -

Joe: Call me a geek, but I prefer somebody who likes what I like: the Sci-Fi Channel, quantum cosmology, inter-stellar combustion fusion ...

Dede: ... though technically they cover the same ground.

Joe turns to admire Dede, and we hear the romantic strains of #Flying Without Wings# as Joe imagines Dede slowly walking towards him.

Of course, that was just the first programme of a new series, but the question remains: Will CBBC ever be prepared to combat all prejudice by fully embracing diversity?

Challenging stereotypes alone is simply not enough.

Sadie J

A new comedy series called Sadie Jstarted its run on CBBC last Friday. In episode 1 Crushamondo, Sadie played by Georgia Lock is trying to ditch her past tomboyish ways and hoping to go on her first date.

Sadie has two best friends, Dede and Kit. Dede is a girl with an interest in science who used to run a 'geeky' society with Joe Taylor a few years previously, before he'd lost a lot of weight. Her other friend, Kit, is like a 14-year-old version of Boy George with interests in drama, the arts and fashion.

Sadie catches sight of the new slimline Joe in the 'Y' youth club, and instantly develops a crush on him, which isn't reciprocated. Her clumsy attempts to woo Joe only make things worse, till eventually she decides to seek advice from Dede and Kit.

Sadie tells her two friends that Joe prefers her rival 'Trog-Face' Chloe. Dede responds that all the boys at the 'Y' club fancy Chloe, though Kit disagrees. Kit offers Sadie his expertise, giving her a makeover in the belief that Joe would then be smitten and want to date Sadie J.

Meanwhile we see Sadie's younger brother Danny, and his friend Jake who apparently has a huge crush on Sadie. Danny and Jake are singing together as a karaoke band, and Jake wants to impress Sadie with his musical 'talent'

In the other main subplot, myopic mechanic Keith is trying to do without his glasses in order to impress postgirl Clare whom he rather fancies. Mayhem abounds at the MOT garage whilst Keith awaits Friday's delivery of new contact lenses.

After initial disappointment Sadie surprises herself when Joe actually accepts her offer of a date at the 'Y' Club karaoke night party. But later, at the party itself, he confesses that neither Sadie nor Chloe are really his 'type'

The episode concludes with Jake tunelessly serenading Sadie with a karaoke version of rock band Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You," to which Sadie responds to camera: 'Oh pur-leeze(!)' as the closing credits start to roll.

Does the BBC treat some groups worse than others? I think that question was answered decisively when Miriam O'Reilly won her case of age discrimination, and BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob graciously went on to acknowledge that the BBC hadn't got it right. Mr Yentob was also, I believe, amongst those few in BBC senior management to recognise that the weekly deliberate homophobic jibes on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross were indefensible, and had to cease.

For reasons which are not entirely clear, the BBC appears reluctant to reveal figures about LGBT-related complaints. Attempts by Pink News to determine the number of complaints about the Stephen Green interview on BBC News in December were met with a refusal on the grounds that the BBC does not release figures when there is “evidence of a lobby.” Yet evidence of lobbying was clear in the case of Sachsgate and, more recently, the cot death baby swap story on EastEnders, where the BBC did publish complaint figures.

In 2009, my own request for the number of complaints relating to the 'Should homosexuals face execution?' debate was turned down "for several very good reasons, chief amongst them being our desire to maintain our independence and impartiality."

The BBC Trust published its Strategy Review in December 2010, and one of the four Key Objectives is a commitment for the BBC to "set new standards of openness and transparency." The Trust also says that the BBC should "do more to serve all audiences." Newsround Blog welcomes the BBC Trust Strategy Review and will endeavour to hold the Corporation to account, based on the Key Objectives.

BBC loses discrimination case

Over the years Newsround Blog has drawn attention to discrimination at the BBC, not just against LGB people, but also sexist, ageist and disablist discrimination. Today Miriam O'Reilly won her complaint of age discrimination after being dropped from Countryfile.

Former Controller of BBC One, Jay Hunt, had given evidence in Miriam's case, but on behalf of the BBC. Ms Hunt was, incidentally, one of Jonathan Ross's strongest supporters at the BBC, insisting to me on several occasions that Mr Ross was not being homophobic on his weekly Friday night shows.

Newsround Blog is currently investigating why three particular weather forecasters are being dropped from our screens this month. If the selection process was transparent we should be able to find out the rationale.

Last year Tomasz won a Television and Radio Industries Club award as best TV weather presenter. So why is he one of the people leaving our screens? Perhaps there was a clue last January.

More details when available.

A little more humility on the part of the BBC would not go amiss. In fact, had the Corporation seen fit to offer a full and unreserved apology for the 'Should homosexuals face execution?' debate, it might well have avoided the recent accusations of homophobia over the much less serious offence of a BBC news report on 28th December 2010. The BBC summarily dismissed concerns in a one sentence statement which was broadcast on Newswatch last night.

It would have been a simple matter for the BBC to have offered a sincere apology at the end of Newsnight on Thursday after a guest, Carmen Callil, referring to the Australian cricket team and responding to Kirsty's interjection, said "No, it’s not a feminine side, it’s sort of a poofter side, isn't it?"

Prejudice related to sexual orientation is a serious issue in sport, and homophobia is a significant reason why there are no openly gay football players in the main leagues. So it's disappointing to see macho and unsportsmanlike attitudes being promoted on BBC children's TV:

From yesterday's Newsround report on England winning The Ashes -

Ore Oduba: Oh yes, victory was ours. Take that, you Aussies. In your crying faces!

And last year the programme portrayed the England football team as donkeys, complete with braying sounds, after they'd been eliminated from the World Cup competition -

Newsround's portrayal of England team - 28 June 2010

Joe Tidy: (On 18 December 2010) Now if you didn't know yet, CBBC have a whole new football show starting in January next year. It's called Match of the Day Kickabout. It'll focus on all things footie, from your school team way up to the Premier League.

MOTD Kickabout began its run on CBBC this morning at 7.40am

Ore Oduba: ... If you wanna know about footie, Match of the Day Kickabout is the show for you. We've got the news, we've got all the action, we've got the biggest players, because here on MOTD Kickabout we wanna get right under the skin of what it means to be a true footie fan....

Studio guests on the first show were Dion Dublin and Ian Foster.

The show kicked off with discussion of the FA Cup third round. Dion predicted a 2 - nil win for Man U. Dan Walker gave us a preview of Football Focus. Neil Warnock chatted to Ore about his wishes for QPR. A comic 'interlude' introduced the MOTDK mascot, Max T. Monkey. Ore said Max could be going to a pitch near you.

The second half of MOTD Kickabout began with transfer talk, including David Beckham's move to Spurs. After that Jermaine Jenas showed viewers around his millionaire mansion which includes a swimming pool and a gym. Ricky Boleto tested Ore's football knowledge in the 'Outwit Ore' quiz, which ended the programme.

Racism was a widespread problem in UK football during the 1960's, 70's and 80's, but thankfully today it's a lot less common. Homophobia is a different matter though, and footballers are notoriously unwilling to be open about being gay. The Justin Campaign aims to change people's attitudes.

Last year we saw the first International Day against Homophobia in Football. It's held on 19 February each year. This year 19th February is a Saturday, which will mean that MOTD Kickabout will offer CBBC an ideal opportunity to discuss the problem of homophobia in sport. February also happens to be LGBT History Month, which is concentrating on sport in the run-up to the London Olympics 2012.

Newsround's end of year round-up at 5pm on 17 December included reports on natural disasters, the rescue of miners in Chile, and this on UK politics -

Ore: Back at home the race was on to pick Britain's next Prime Minister in May's General Election. None of the parties got enough votes to win, so they had to team up. Eventually the Conservatives agreed with the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition government. That meant that Labour leader Gordon Brown had to leave Downing Street so David Cameron could move in as the new PM. Since then the coalition government's announced plans to cut public spending by £81 billion over four years.

Newsround was back today after its winter break. The first flagship bulletin at 5pm this evening was presented by Sonali & Ore. There were six news stories -

1] Floods in Australia - 1'54"
2] The Ashes - 0'31"
3] Solar eclipse - 0'33"
4] Quadrantid meteor shower - 1'54"
5] Dead birds in Beebe, Arkansas - 1'40"
6] Romeo Beckham on 'best dressed' list - 0'19"

The meteor shower story included a live report from Hayley at Jodrell Bank. Her report might have confused those who don't understand the difference between a radio telescope and an optical telescope -

Hayley: Hi guys. Yes I'm at one of the world's largest telescopes. But I tell you what - we probably won't need that tonight, as the sky is going to be filled with a firework display of shooting stars. And providing those clouds keep away, then we all should be able to see them .....

Hayley was also at Jodrell Bank last month for a report on meteors, broadcast on 10 December 2010 -

Hayley: If you want to go meteor hunting, then this is the place to be. It's Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, where they've got one of the world's biggest telescopes. It's not unusual to see shooting stars on a clear night .....

Even an optical telescope would be useless for observing shooting stars, because they move through the Earth's atmosphere much too quickly. A radio telescope, like the one at Jodrell Bank, is used for detecting radio waves far out in the universe. Nevertheless Jodrell Bank carries out a wide range of research in astrophysics.

Thought for the Year

Reputations

2010 was in many ways a momentous year - from the death of thousands in Haiti to the rescue of 33 miners in Chile. Religions, too, have had their ups and downs - none more so than Roman Catholicism. The Pope was widely vilified early in 2010 for covering up crimes against children. Later the BBC attempted to salvage some remnants of the Pope's reputation with wall-to-wall coverage of his visit to Britain, substantially ignoring protests against his presence. No wonder the Pope was pleased to accede to Mark Thompson's wishes, and record the Christmas Eve edition of Radio 4's Thought for the Day.

Thought for the Day allows speakers to air their thoughts from a faith perspective. The BBC has resisted demands from atheists and humanists who believe they are equally entitled to promote a secular viewpoint. The Pope's Thought for Christmas Eve is likely to increase calls for the Radio 4 programme to be opened up to a wider pool of thinkers.

The dichotomy between religious and secular outlooks is nothing new: there are example dating back hundreds of years. Religious Christians believe in an afterlife. Othello, convinced of Desdemona's infidelity, says he would not want to kill her soul. So he counsels repentance, and eventually murders Desdemona, not recognising her innocence.

Cassio, on the other hand, bemoaned the loss of 'reputation' as the equivalent to the death of his soul: "I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial." Iago consoles Cassio, suggesting that reputation is of little consequence: "oft got without merit, and lost without deserving." But Iago was duplicitous. In complete contradiction he counsels Othello on the importance of reputation:-

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.

Reputations have been falling like ninepins over the last few years. It's not just religion which has gone down in people's estimation. So, too, have the media and politicians. The failure of many Lib Dem MPs to keep to a pre-election pledge was particularly inexcusable, and the Liberal Democrat party will never fully recover its lost reputation.

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Transparency has been stressed by both the Government and the BBC Trust. So you can rest assured that Newsround Blog will continue to scrutinise the people who matter, and especially those responsible for CBBC programmes and services.

Happy New Year

Both Newsround and Newsnight are enjoying a long Christmas break. But news doesn't stop for Christmas, so BBC reporters are still working assiduously to get angles on current affairs.

Lizo Mzimba spent ten years working for CBBC Newsround, securing many scoops on Harry Potter and Doctor Who, which were amongst his passions. All this showbiz knowledge must have come in useful when applying for the BBC's Entertainment Correspondent. Lizo was a popular Newsround presenter, although he had some difficulty particularly with live outside broadcasts. That continued to be the case when he interviewed David Furnish at the funeral of Stephen Gately last year. Lizo had asked Furnish about newspaper reporting of Gately's death, but when Furnish specifically mentioned Jan Moir's controversial article in the Daily Mail, Lizo visibly panicked, stopped the interview and transferred back to the studio.

On Tuesday this week Lizo reported the birth of a son in California to Elton John and David Furnish. Included in Lizo's report was an interview with Stephen Green from an organisation called Christian Voice.

Despite its name, Christian Voice has some extreme views, and Stephen Green is on record as calling on the public to support Uganda's desire to clamp down on homosexuality. Uganda had been considering the death penalty for gay people. Last December, the BBC was criticised for asking the public whether gay people should face execution. The BBC has never issued a proper unequivocal apology for putting the question up for public debate.

The inclusion of Stephen Green's comments in Lizo's report on Tuesday was a big mistake - though it wasn't quite in the same league as last year's 'execute gay people' Have Your Say question.

Currently every time the BBC reports an LGBT-related news item, the Corporation seems to believe that it needs to be 'balanced' with an anti-LGBT point of view. Lizo's report was just the latest example. Mistakes like these will continue unless and until the BBC fully understands and accepts generally held principles of diversity and inclusiveness.

Lizo deserves only part of the blame. After all, years of working for an organisation with a non-inclusive ethos are bound to influence the people employed there.

Seven weeks. That's how long it took for the BBC to correct Newsround's misreported Government Comprehensive Spending Review. If only they'd sort out all the discrimination on CBBC in seven weeks.

Joe McElderry is still being depicted on TMi's Hedz as the person Cheryl most wants to avoid. And other X Factor stars such as Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke and JLS are getting a lot more media attention than Joe, although he did appear on on 3 December singing his new single, which subsequently debuted at number 68 in the charts.

Whilst lesbian and gay characters are non-existent on CBBC dramas, the channel sometimes touches on same-sex affections - but you can be pretty sure that such references will be in a mocking or facetious manner. For example (2 December 2010) Hacker Dog has a huge crush on Ore from Newsround:


Iain Stirling: Hacker, what's the matter with you man?

(romantic music begins)

Hacker: What d'you mean "what's the matter?" (Hacker kisses the picture of Ore)

Iain: It's not good. There's something different about you

Hacker: Oh Iain - it's Ore. I just LOVE him. He's such a wonderful man. He's a hero to me. (Hacker kisses Ore's portrait twice more, loudly)

Eventually we discover exactly why Hacker is so enamoured of Ore. It's because of Ore's penchant for sandwiches.

It would be wrong to imply that CBBC doesn't mock opposite-sex romantic relationships as well. But there is a significant difference in that it acknowledges opposite sex romance as a phenomenon of real life ...

Ricky puts a question to X Factor finalists (9/12/2010)
(studio chat following Ricky's report on Thurs 9 Dec 2010)

Ricky: And d'you know what else I found out?

Ore: What?

Ricky: Harry from One Direction fancies Frankie from The Saturdays ...

Ore: Really?

Ricky: .. He really really yeah properly fancies her.

Ore: Get in line Harry, alright. I think I'm next up.

Bet CBBC Newsround wouldn't have been so forthcoming if Harry had said he fancied someone from a boyband. So I'm trying to find out exactly what is CBBC's policy on inclusiveness, because so far there's no level playing field and the channel is completely failing to tackle the causes of homophobia and homophobic bullying.

Asked to name a top BBC journalist, many people might suggest Jeremy Paxman or Andrew Marr. But apart from just being well known journalists Jeremy and Andrew have something else in common - they're both not entirely happy with blogs. In 2007 Jeremy said that the problem with blogs is the same as their strength: they don’t operate by conventional journalistic rules about checking facts. And this year the BBC's Andrew Marr was just downright rude to bloggers.

If Jeremy is worried that blogs don't operate by conventional journalistic rules such as checking facts, then what does he make of some of the mistakes on CBBC? For instance, last April CBBC misled children into thinking that Election: Your Vote was the first time they'd given kids a say in election politics.

And also on the topic of mistakes, the BBC has now admitted that Newsround misreported the total of cuts in the Government's spending review.

On Thursday afternoon Newsround's three webpages which had quoted £130 billion were all amended to £81 billion. There really was no excuse for a seven week delay before correcting such a major mistake. However the 'Last Updated' info on each of the pages is the same as before, and therefore incorrect.

Evan Davis didn't spot the major mistake, but then he didn't foresee the current economic mess we've been landed in either. The impending collapse in our economy was obvious to some people. Better BBC journalism, more critically-minded of politicians and their policies, could have helped avoid it.

Previously Newsround Blog has hinted that there's an undercurrent of (internalised) homophobia in the showbiz world and in the media. Remember last year Simon Cowell's mock indignation at a spot-on comment by Dannii Minogue?

A recurring feature of The X Factor is banter amongst the judges, usually instigated by Simon Cowell, sometimes unfortunately taking the form of innuendo and stereotyping. Last night, for example, Mary began with a song closely associated with gay icon Gloria Gaynor, Never Can Say Goodbye:-

Cheryl: It's such a club classic. I love to see you out of your comfort zone and not singing a ballad cos it's just nice to see the difference. And I thought Brian [Friedman] did a great job with the visuals. So well done.

Simon: I don't think Brian was responsible for that. I think this was a scene out of Louis' bedroom. (To Louis) Literally, it's exactly how I see you going home every night ...

Louis: And what about Mary's singing?

Simon: ... putting on Gloria Gaynor. Lots of people singing and dancing to the song ..

Louis: Simon, you're supposed to review Mary

Mary: I like Gloria Gaynor

Simon: So does Louis

Louis: (To Simon) So do you - you like Gloria Gaynor, too

Anyone watching X Factor last night could not have failed to notice that the singers and judges were wearing red ribbons to mark World AIDS Day, which falls every year on 1st December. AIDS was discovered about thirty years ago, originally in members of the LGBT community, and it took on a certain stigma. So raising awareness to tackle HIV prejudice and help stop the spread of HIV is welcome.

The BBC's decision to broadcast Panorama on Monday, and expose corruption at the heart of FIFA, was entirely correct. The English bid to host the 2018 World Cup should have been withdrawn immediately, and the likes of David Beckham, the Prime Minister and Prince William should not have demeaned themselves by going to Switzerland and talking to the dishonourable and despicable FIFA organisation.

Well done to Newsround. Earlier this week it picked up a Children's Bafta for a special programme called Living with Alcohol. Personally I think Sonali's reports from Haiti and Afghanistan were more deserving of the gong. Also it was good to see Newsround on Monday including a report from the Shetland Isles about the efforts of Tam Baillie, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People. Tam has toured Scotland, to find out concerns of kids in all parts of the country.

The Bafta award ceremonies celebrate the achievements of broadcasters and TV channels. But what about brickbat ceremonies for getting things badly wrong or misleading viewers? CBBC ought to get a brickbat for the channel that's done least to promote LGBT equality.

And Newsround deserves criticism for its misleading reports and misinformation. I've still not heard from the BBC about the Government spending cuts of 20th October 2010. Will the cuts amount to £81 billion over four years as it says on this webpage, or instead do they add up to £130 billion as Ricky told Newsround viewers and as it currently states in the text of this webpage and on this one and on the link below:-


I've been asked about Newsround's reporting of World AIDS Day. In fact none of Wednesday's bulletins mentioned it, and AIDS is rarely talked about on Newsround these days. A quick search of Newsround's website shows that AIDS was discussed and reported a lot more during the first half of the decade.

Homophobia in showbiz and in the media

Kirsten O'Brien once suggested that lots of the people working for CBBC are gay. It's actually quite a common stereotype. In a sketch from Little Britain, Daffyd tells his mum there's loads of jobs he'd like to do - hairdresser, airline steward, children's TV presenter - but he'll never get a job because, as he puts it, they simply don't employ the gays.

But if there really are so many 'gays' working for CBBC, why doesn't the channel have a good diversity record? Instead it avoids LGB characters in kids' dramas, and is unable to cope with the sexuality of stars like Joe McElderry.

In contrast, heterosexual representation is no problem for CBBC. Leah, for example, is unable to keep her sexuality to herself in this clip. You'll see Leah make no secret of her attraction to Zac Efron. Does anyone seriously believe that, if she had lesbian proclivities, Newsround would be happy to broadcast a similar show of affection for a female celebrity?

Apparently Leah also quite likes teenage superstar Justin Bieber. So much so that the programme she presented on 8th November captioned Justin as a "mega hunk" when he was featured following his success at the MTV Music Awards:-


Leah: ... the mega hunk did well last night, beating Kanye West to win Best Male.

You'd think a famous writer would have insight into the world around him and into humanity. But when Anthony Horowitz answered questions in Newsround's When I Was 10 spot he simply demonstrated rather narrow-minded thinking. In answer to:-


Anthony Horowitz: Erm .. it was an all-boys school.

Even though there are thousands of LGBT people in showbiz, the industry as a whole has a history of discrimination.

Eight years ago, at a time when CBBC was inclusive, Newsround reported Declan Donnelly's concerns that show bosses were treating Pop Idol winner Will Young, who had recently come out as gay, worse than runner-up Gareth Gates.

It looks like a similar cause for concern exists now, with winner Joe McElderry attracting less media attention than the X Factor runner-up, Olly Murs. The difference, these days, is that no-one now seems willing to speak out against prejudice. It is also the case that some of the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing outcomes are likely to have been the result of racism rather than intrinsic artistic merit.

Take a look at this sketch from Hedz in TMi Friday. It seems that Cheryl Cole isn't very pleased to have Joe McElderry as a replacement date. Cheryl ends the sketch with "Just my luck." Although I can think of an innocent explanation, given that CBBC has form in regard to anti-LGBT discrimination many young viewers will assume that Cheryl's reaction is a result of Joe's sexual orientation.

Similar Joe McElderry/Cheryl Cole sketches culminating with the "Just my luck" exclamation have been screened in more recent episodes of TMi.

Cheryl is landed with Joe - again
Why would CBBC, with many LGBT people working for them, make homophobic jokes and resolutely refuse to deal with homophobic bullying? Any suggestions?

No one could justifiably claim that Newsround has overlooked the BBC's duty to bring the UK to the world and the world to the UK. The year began with Ore, in South Africa, reporting on the country's recent history and its preparations for the World Cup.

Sonali gave Newsround viewers an insight into how people in Haiti were coping in the aftermath of the earthquake. And more recently Sonali flew out to Afghanistan to see what it's like for young people in that country.

But whilst Newsround has done excellent work with its reports from around the world, its reporting of local news has been less than satisfactory. Yes, there's been plenty of showbiz news - especially X Factor - but what about news specially relevant to young people? In the summer we heard about the lack of spending on schools, but the programme didn't follow up on the story. Lots of young people are unhappy about the hike in university tuition fees, but again that's an issue given little coverage by Newsround. And then there's Michael Gove's new education plans - why no details on that issue?

For a period during the summer Newsround took some account of the BBC Trust's remarks not to underserve particular groups. We saw the views of older children as well as those in primary schools. But it didn't last long. Come on CBBC, kids in Britain deserve much better.

Sometimes things move rather slowly at the BBC. For instance, remember my doubts about the accuracy of Newsround's report on the Government Spending Review? Well, I'm still waiting to hear back on that matter.

Newsround hasn't yet said anything about David Cameron's message of support to young people. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister also recorded a video for Anti-Bullying Week. He points out that it's when people are young that prejudice such as homophobia can take root.

The Deputy Prime Minister: Right now there are simply too many children growing up thinking that 'gay' is an insult.

Newsround became news itself when the press picked up on something Mark Sedwill told Sonali about the safety of kids in Afghanistan. Newsround dealt with it yesterday at 5pm:-

Sonali: .. we're going to talk about what it's like growing up in a war zone. Over the years here on Newsround we've told you how British troops are fighting in Afghanistan trying to make the country a safer place.

Ore: But what's it like being a child there, trying to get on with life with the violence around you?

Sonali: A few weeks ago I travelled to Afghanistan to find out. While I was there I met loads of kids. Here's what some of them told me about what it's like growing up in the capital city, Kabul.

[film of Afghani kids speaking to Sonali]

Ore: Forty-eight different forces from around the world are involved in trying to bring about peace in Afghanistan, but it is going to take a really long time.

Sonali: While I was out there I went to the foreign forces HQ in Kabul, ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) to find out why the country is still such a dangerous place to live in

[film with Sonali & Mark Sedwill] - Sonali: Kids I've spoken to say they do sometimes feel unsafe. Their parents won't let them out in case a bomb goes off here.

Mark Sedwill: Here in Kabul, and in the other big cities, actually there are very few of those bombs. The children are probably safer here than they would be in London or New York or Glasgow or many other cities. Most children can go about their lives in safety. It's a very family-oriented society. So its a little bit like a city of villages. Now winning doesn't mean a big victory parade in a place like this. What it means is, that we bring peace and security to the people here .. [film ends]

Ore: Well today Mark Sedwill said he meant that security has improved in Kabul, and that it's safer than many other parts of Afghanistan. And now with us on the sofa is Hannah Reichardt from Save the Children. [turns to Hannah]: Hannah, can you compare London and Glasgow with Kabul?

Hannah Reichardt: We don't think the comparison's particularly helpful. But what we know is that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world for a child to grow up. One in four children who are born in Afghanistan won't live to see their fifth birthday. And they're dying from preventable diseases like diarrhoea and lack of food.

Sonali: So kids don't only have to worry about security, but there are so many other things because Afghanistan is so poor.

Hannah: Exactly. Seven million children are out of school, which is a horrific number. All of these children who are suffering in Afghanistan live in families that don't have enough money. That don't have jobs and the means to support themselves. Lots of children don't have enough to eat, which leads to long-term stunting. Which means they'll never reach their full potential in life.

Ore: But the troops have been there for quite a long time. Have things improved for kids in Afghanistan?

Hannah: In parts of Afghanistan things have improved. But in other ways life has got a lot tougher. For some children access to school is actually harder now than it was. And access to healthcare, just basic things like being able to see a doctor when you're sick.

Ore: Hannah thank you very much for coming in.

Sonali: Thank you. And don't forget you can watch our special film from Afghanistan tonight. It's called 'Growing Up in a War Zone' and starts at 6.15 over on the CBBC Channel.

*Edit note (11 December 2010): The YouTube video of Nick Clegg has been removed because Nick broke a pledge to his constituents by not voting against an increase to university tuition fees. Also see this news item.

CBBC's Kids and Conflict season starts tomorrow. The season is made up of the three-part drama Combat Kids, two Newsround Specials from Afghanistan presented by Sonali and a documentary, Toy Soldiers, looking at the lives of kids with a parent in the army.

It's been more than a week since Takeover Day, and I'm pleased to say that Newsround did get involved this year. CBBC should remember that it's supposed to be a day-long event, so kids should have been presenting the 7am bulletin onwards. But instead it seemed that there was an embargo until 5pm. Maybe we'll see more participation in future, but at least it was a start.

Newsround marked the start of Anti-Bullying Week with celebrities talking about school bullying. On Tuesday Lauren, from the Anti-Bullying Alliance answered questions on the Newsround website. On Wednesday CBBC transmitted a repeat of "Whose side are you on?" which was mentioned in my previous blog.

Despite a promise six months ago to tackle homophobic bullying, the Coalition Government failed to announce any new initiative during Anti-Bullying Week. However the Prime Minister, David Cameron, did send a message to young people:-



The Prime Minister's words are unlikely to have any significant effect on reducing homophobic bullying unless or until there is a broad-based change in attitude, especially in schools and on BBC children's TV. Whereas Newsround reported yesterday (noon bulletin) on David Cameron's concerns for the safety of the trapped miners in New Zealand, the programme has yet to report anything about his message to UK schoolkids.

The BBC's recent record on diversity is poor. In July 2008 I discovered evidence that a BBC children's message board devoted to bullying problems had been systematically filtering out messages related to help with homophobic bullying. Although that message board has now been closed, similar discrimination continues on BBC children's TV, and on the website.

LGBT History Month is just around the corner - a belated chance for the Government to announce some concrete proposals for tackling homophobic bullying, and in the intervening period an opportunity for CBBC to change for the better.

A few years ago Newsround promised to participate in Takeover Day, but it all fell through and they haven't even mentioned the annual event since then. Well there's another chance tomorrow because it will be Takeover Day 2010. So CBBC ought, by rights, help empower kids by letting them take control of Newsround, deciding what news stories are covered and fronting the programme itself.

Next Monday 15 November is the start of Anti-Bullying Week and Newsround Blog hopes that CBBC includes something to help prevent homophobic bullying. So far it's a form of bullying which Newsround has avoided talking about. But experts believe that it won't be reduced unless and until the problem of homophobia is tackled head-on (see blog on 20 October 2010, and the YouTube video mentioned in that blog)

Over the last few weeks Newsround has asked celebrities to look back at their lives as 10-year-olds and reveal, amongst other things, if they fancied anyone at school. But gay celebrities are treated in a very different way. Suddenly CBBC doesn't want to know anything about who they fancied at school or even who they fancy as grown-ups. When LGBT people are treated as outsiders on BBC children's TV it's no wonder they're seen as a target for school bullies.

Remember last year Newsround made a film about bullying - it was called Whose side are you on? - and centred around the concept that if you just stand and watch as your friend gets bullied rather than doing something to help her or him, then you're on the same side as the bullies themselves.

So let's see if anything changes this year. Will Newsround mention homophobic bullying or will it once again show that it is, in effect, on the side of the bullies?

One BBC drama is worth mentioning. It faces up to issues which CBBC fails to do. Jamie attends a faith school and gets bullied daily. He doesn't tell his family about the bullying, which has become so bad that one day Jamie tries to commit suicide. Moving On - Losing My Religion is available on the BBC iPlayer till the end of Anti-Bullying Week.

Whether or not Miriam O'Reilly wins her claim against the BBC will probably be more down to which side has the better legal team than anything else. Miriam claims to have suffered age and sex discrimination, and believes the Corporation took revenge because she was thought to be behind stories criticising the BBC for dropping older women presenters.

Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson, now Minister for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone, expressed her own concerns about age and sex discrimination at the BBC last year, when she blogged about Arlene Phillips losing her job as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. Lynne later told her Party Conference that she was unable to to describe her feelings about the BBC decision "in parliamentary language".

Stephen Fry is often quick to proffer an opinion on almost anything that takes his fancy. Recently he commented on female sexuality. Last year Fry took umbrage at a homophobic article by Jan Moir in the Daily Mail. But when, a short while later, the BBC asked audiences if homosexuals should face execution, what did Stephen do then? Nothing - not a single tweet of criticism.

CBBC presenter Andrew Hayden Smith came out as gay a few years ago. Andrew gave an interview to Attitude in May 2006 and commented about not being able to include a gay kiss in Dr Who because "they couldn't push it that far." Andrew ceased to be a CBBC presenter in July that year.