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Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is set to inflict further damage to the reputation of the British media this week. The couple’s accusations of endemic racism have challenged the tone of royal coverage and prompted the high-profile departure of Piers Morgan from ITV’s morning show. Now the aftershock is rocking the heart of Fleet Street culture.
Leading newspaper editors and journalists warn that the Society of Editors, a key industry body, will lose all credibility if it fails to announce fundamental changes and issue an apology for an initial refusal to recognise recurrent racism in some quarters of British journalism.
Ian Murray, the society’s executive director, said last week that the UK media had “a proud record of calling out racism” and criticised Harry and Meghan for making statements about the press that were “not acceptable” and made without “supporting evidence”. His statement was headlined “UK media not bigoted”.
Murray’s statement was attacked by several British newspaper editors, more than 160 British journalists of colour, and by key members of his own organisation.
A revised statement issued by the society on Wednesday, coupled with Murray’s resignation, did little to appease critics.
Continued silence will result in resignations from the board of the society in the next few days. “What we decide to do now is important: it could be a real watershed moment for the press,” said Eleanor Mills, a board member of the society and former Sunday Times editorial director.
Three or four resignations from the board, including that of Mills, are expected this week unless a pledge to improve diversity is swiftly unveiled. The ITV news anchor Charlene White is one of several leading names to have pulled out of the society’s annual awards ceremony.
Dismayed at Murray’s stance on racism, the presenter told him he must look for a new host: “Perhaps someone whose views align with yours – that the UK press is the one institution in the entire country who has a perfect record on race.”
The Daily Mirror has also dropped out of contention for a diversity award in protest at Murray’s denial of racism in British newspapers. The virtual annual awards ceremony, a prestigious event scheduled for 31 March, is now likely to be postponed. Some believe the dissolution of the entire society may be the best answer.
“This is a big test of journalists and the organisations they work for,” said Brian Cathcart, professor of journalism at Kingston University and a founder of the Hacked Off campaign. “This is not good enough. Newspapers have got to deliver on this issue now, rather than the Society patching up a new statement and then carrying on as before.”
Cathcart pointed out the Society of Editors produced a report on diversity in 2004 which described it as a “matter of urgency” that would be “addressed at the highest levels”.
On Saturday, board members calling for change, including Mills, the former BBC news chief Kamal Ahmed, Vic Motune, editor of the Voice and Polly Curtis, managing director of PA Media, were hoping a new draft statement proposing major restructuring could be approved. Simply delaying the press awards event will not satisfy those in favour of reform.
The society has had a problem with a lack of diversity for several years. Mills, who last week launched Noon a platform designed to empower women in midlife , was originally invited to join the board of the society to improve its representation of women.
She chairs the industry campaign group Women in Journalism which released a report last summer exposing the dearth of black journalism and commentators in British newspapers. Radio and television news programming fared better.
“Women in Journalism particularly wanted to do this piece of work because we felt there might be a battle coming along and evidence might be needed. It showed that newspapers are lagging behind,” said Mills this weekend, confirming that she was close to resigning from the Society of Editors’ board last week.
“If there is no stronger move to issue an apology and admission that what Ian Murray said was wrong over the next few days I will resign and I suspect I will not be the only one,” added Mills.
She and her fellow reformers have been attacked as part of a “woke brigade” in Daily Mail coverage, a suggestion she finds surprising.
“I am not sure that is how many would see me. I am a posh white woman and I understand the irony that I am speaking out on diversity. But it is about newsrooms being more representative. I am not interested in accusing individual people of being racist.”
Instead Mills wants an admission of guilt about the cumulative effect of a lack of diversity in coverage and decision making.
“It is also about a double standard in the way individuals from different backgrounds and their behaviours are judged. It is vital we change the lens we see the world through when we are reporting on things. If what we see is not a true reflection of society, then it becomes a distortion.”
Unfairness inside media organisations has generated its own headlines since the journalists Carrie Gracie and Samira Ahmed won recent battles over pay equality at the BBC. Now the Black Lives Matter movement coupled with Meghan Markle’s testimony have turned the spotlight on the country’s newsrooms once again.
“When 160 journalists of colour put their names to an open letter saying the Society of Editors is wrong and there is racism they have to listen and people who care about journalism must make changes,” said Cathcart. “There is no hiding place.”
(THE GUARDIAN)
