The Newsroom

Michael Buerk

Anna Ford hits back (August 2005)

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SH
Showbizguru
Enough,already... or Noelfirl will scweam and scweam and scweam.
NE
Noelfirl
Showbizguru posted:
Enough,already... or Noelfirl will scweam and scweam and scweam.


http://www.uncleblink.fsnet.co.uk/Store/Train.jpg
RT
rts Founding member
A storms a brewin'!! Anna Ford hits back.
CW
cwathen Founding member
I think Anna Ford's true feelings can best be summed up by this line:

Anna Ford posted:
If you've been subjugated for 2,000 years, it's your turn

She, and no one who believes in 'positive discrimination' is not in any way interested in true equality, she's just interested in shifting the balance of power.

Without wishing to impune the competence of these two ladies, there is no doubt in my mind at all that both Lorraine Heggesey and Jane Root landed top BBC jobs (controller of BBC1 and 2 respectively) priceslessly because they were women, in the interests of 'equality'. That's not to say that they couldn't do their jobs, that's not to say that they weren't the best candidates for their jobs (they may well have been), but I've no doubt that when the positions were advertised it was a foregone conclusion that one of the female applications would get the job. Indeed, there are agencies which high profile companies use who specialise in finding candidates who do not fit traditional stereotypes, just so that employers can claim to promote equal opportunities.

I'm still waiting for the day when the BBC actively recruit a wheelchair-bound newsreader just so they can stick the litlte 'Positive about Disabled people' logo onto the bottom of their letterhead.

Prefixing the word 'positive' onto discrimination does not stop it from being discrimination. Excluding stereotypical/dominant groups, giving a disproportionate advantage to certain groups, or having a box-ticking agenda of quotas which in themselves mean that only a certain number of a certain group will be employed is not equality.

True equality means not fitting people in to categories at all. It does not mean discriminating against the stereotypical group so that the only group is disporportionaltely represented. If it so happens that the best candidates for most executive jobs happen to be white and male, then so should most executive jobs go to white males. The difference between then and now however, will be that the white male got his job over the black lesbian woman because he was the best person for the job, not because the black lesbian woman was ruled out because she doesn't fit the stereotype.
TE
TELEVISION
I completely agree with what Anna Ford and her female colleagues have said. I was, to be honest, slightly surprised by Buerk's outburst.
TV
TVN
Yes, I was surprised with the thig from Buerk.

But not as surprised as I was with Ms Ford. And hasn't she had her fair share of husbands?
DV
DVB Cornwall
There's going to be a discussion on News24 Now.
BA
Bacchic
cwathen posted:
Without wishing to impune the competence of these two ladies, there is no doubt in my mind at all that both Lorraine Heggesey and Jane Root landed top BBC jobs (controller of BBC1 and 2 respectively) priceslessly because they were women, in the interests of 'equality'


Presumably, you mean 'precisely', rather than 'priceslessly', which doesn't actually mean anything at all. What evidence do you have for this allegation? Did you sit in on the appointment boards for these two posts? No? Then could it be that you're just another ignorant student tw*t who has plucked these slanderous allegations out of the air. 'It's political correctness gone mad', you'll no doubt whine. Grow up, sonny, and face the facts - women are more often than not the best candidates for all kinds of jobs these days, especially in the creative fields. Stick to trying to become a primary school teacher - though, please, don't attempt to teach the kids English.
TV
tvarksouthwest
cwathen posted:
I'm still waiting for the day when the BBC actively recruit a wheelchair-bound newsreader just so they can stick the litlte 'Positive about Disabled people' logo onto the bottom of their letterhead.

I take it you have not seen Holby City lately.

The BBC now has an edict whereby its continuing dramas must have regular disabled characters.
TV
TVN
Seriously?

Its like when the blind society of America complained about an episode of ER when a blind man committed sucide. As if a blind person comitting suicide is any worse than anybody else doing it!
TE
TELEVISION
TVN posted:
Yes, I was surprised with the thig from Buerk.

But not as surprised as I was with Ms Ford. And hasn't she had her fair share of husbands?


Not to change the subject, but to be fair one of her husbands died from a brain tumour in the late eighties.
TV
TVN
Really? I didn't realise that.

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