Read this: 06/12/2019 Radio 4 Feedback

BBC sounds music Radio podcasts Andrew did or did not do well in the company of a convicted paedophile, is this scandal more significant than the acrimonious split between Prince Charles and Princess Diana I think this is bigger and I think it you can see it's bigger in the same scale as the actor in 1936 is that kind of impact I've been talking to the BBC royal correspondent Jonny dymond about the Scandal and the difficulties of royal reporter does he fancy being a prince himself never ever ever and from the ruling to the working class when we look at the data.

So this is not a value judgement and often that socioeconomic background has a stronger effect on whether you're successful in job applications the rate at which new progress will be finding out if there are any practical.

Which can be taken to make the creative industry less elitist and taken out of their comfort zone this week to listen to free thinking on Radio 3 now.

They have some advice for its producers decide to your target audiences.

Is it people who are having a really lovely indulgent book club style moment with their favourite book or is it to explore you know just enough teasers and contacts to potentially introduce something to new people that story.

Unsurprisingly the general election has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, but another story which has hit the top spot has been Prince Andrew's connection with the convicted paedophile.

Jeffrey Epstein this followed is Newsnight interview with Emily maitlis, which has been described as a car crash for the prince the controversy was given further impetus this week with a powerful Panorama in Virginia giuffre family Roberts she claimed she was traffic does a teenager to have sex with Prince Andrew he denies any form of sexual contact or relationship with her, how much calories should the BBC be diverted to the story particularly in the midst of a general election campaign here are some of your comments Sean hey.

Thank you for the prince and Panorama programme an important issue.

We should all be aware of please pursue this story until we have some real answers John Webster lovelo.

I've just

The first half-hour of Mondays p.m.

Programme the story will not go away that's because the media is just plugging another piece of Media telling me it was not featured in upcoming News Bulletin at 5:30 awful Beverly K I would like to flag up the over-the-top coverage of Prince Andrew's interview the amount of time data to an affair an extremely serious to those persons concerned but hardly of world shaking importance compared with climate change brexit or the general election royal correspondent Jonny dymond.

Johnny is the coverage of Prince Andrew Newsnight interview on the subsequent Panorama programme over the top but I don't think so I would say that was inside but I don't think so we do spend a surprising amount of time agonizing over what we cover and what we don't it's a very frequent of your conversation because if you look at.

Papers you will see a huge number of royal stories nearly every day and most newspapers.

You don't see that on BBC out, but in particular.

You don't hear the BBC Radio app, but I cover large the radio and online my colleague networks or does most of the television but radio in particular doesn't cover much in the way of The Royle Family which is why I sometimes when we do have a big story like Prince Andrew and it does make it on the radio.

It feels like there's a lot more coverage than there actually is because there is so little else but in the Prince Andrew story I think this was a very important story.

It's a very serious set of allegations the relationship with Jeffrey Epstein I think was widely judged to be an extraordinarily difficult one to defend this is the Queen's second son and it has

And this is the critical thing the my decision over coverage it has ramifications for the institution as a whole this is not just a story about someone's private life, but it is a Weider story about how someone in a public role is behaving but says it's hard world climate change brexit all the general election Prince Andrew will never one would think anyway be king is it really that important what he has done.

He has done it a lot of people.

I know this very well Sydney think that royal coverage is an irrelevance and we shouldn't be doing any of it they're not Monica's they're not royalists.

They don't care much about your family.

They think the whole thing is frippery a lot of people don't and I would ask those who think that is all nonsense to try and put themselves in the shoes of those who actually think it's important.

Interesting how big are roast or do you think this is compared to say the breakup of the marriage between Diana and Charles and indeed Andrews separation from his own wife is bigger.

This is bigger and I think you can see it's bigger with the withdrawal of Prince Andrew from public Life the withdrawal from Public life.

I put up there you know in the same scale as they not as important as obviously the abdication in 1936 is that kind of impact how difficult is it to cover the royal family because I don't speak at will open the anyway because Prince Andrew has there are lots of people who want to make money out of talking about the royal family and are probably very ill informed.

Have you found this one of the most difficult because the foreign correspondent who worked at Westminster how difficult is it to cover the royal family difficult it's very strange a for some of the reasons that you.

Some of the reasons I've mentioned already.

I mean it is very very strange because you don't get to speak to the principals as you would be really in any other job for a business correspondent you speak to business political correspondent politician.

I don't get to speak certainly on the record to any of the people that I cover I barely get to speak to people who know them.

It's a very mediated relations is also difficult because of the very strong reactions that people have is a Marmite story people either.

Love it or absolutely hate it and the people who love it.

Generally think we're being grotesquely respectful towards the Royals and the people who hate it but we shouldn't be covering it anyway.

You know it's very curious in this hard mix that you are covering a public institution where audience those that are interested in it are particularly interested in the Private Lives of the individuals in it and the palace chooses to draw a sometimes.

Treeline over, what is public and what is private and so yes, it's a very very strange job.

I think they're a colleagues on different beats you have harder jobs much harder, but it is a very strange one in 2018 on the BBC's guilty of at forming in its coverage of the royal family the BBC's and she said whether to celebrate or report big royal events to think that's true now.

Yes a bit of that certainly.

I think it's a difficult story to cover for the BBC because we are a national broadcaster, because we have had a long and very deep relationship with the royal family because various different bits of the BBC not necessarily news but different bits of the BBC treasure a close relationship with the royal family.

I think news has probably changed a bit since Jeremy made those comments but yeah, there is a sense of.

But there aren't in other areas.

Do you have a census on your boss's would actually like you to follow stories rather than to break them.

No I don't I mean I I totally and completely on board the criticism that we cover stories sometimes by reporting on the reporting and that is generally because there are sources within the palaces that will speak the records the newspapers that we simply cannot as broadcasters or will not use because we want them to be on the record but I take that on board but the idea that play bosses don't want me to break stories.

I absolutely promise you is completely wrong.

I am harassed night and day, but my phone keeps asking me to follow up push harder go Firma check with the palace double check that with sauces know you know they are they are very keen on it.

There is sensitivity in.

I think around the monarch, but there is no question on something like the Prince Andrew story or on various elements of other stories that have been around the place.

They are as agreed on this story as they are on others reporting upon them.

It's fine.

It's fine.

It's as I say.

It's a really frustrating at times and I don't particularly like being assaulted and abused not physically I should say but by critics and friends such as in a Radio 4 listeners have said the hostility towards the rebuilding is used to do Israel Palestine that was a walk in the park.

I don't particularly like that.

It's a strange job and I'm very fortunate to enjoy some aspects of it, but I wouldn't want to do it as long as some of my colleagues have done it, but it that way my thanks to Royal correspondent Jonny dymond, please do let.

Your thoughts on that item or anything else to do with BBC Radio here's how to get in touch you can send an email to feedback at bbc.co.uk or write a letter address is feedback PO Box 67234 London se1p 4ax you can follow activity on Twitter by using a BBC R4 feedback or you can call us and leave a phone message on 03345 standard landline charges apply for a could cost more and some mobile networks of those details are on our website last 2-weeks with experimented with exposing to young university students to BBC Radio for the first time this week once again asking younger BBC Radio listeners.

Just about other concerns and listen to a program.

It wouldn't normally tune into this week.

We have any Thompson from Oxford and let's Gainsborough who's from Exeter Alexa just to get a sensible eating habits, what would be your top TV programmes if you're stranded on a desert island will be my top 1 something like more or less.

I really enjoy the thought of getting under the numbers type programs and the Moral Maze probably what about you? What are your top three probably pick Woman's Hour and love loosens, and then I really like Saturday Live where we asked you to listen to none of those course.

I'd rather to freethinking broadcast on Radio 3 on Wednesday 20th November at 22 and available to listen to on BBC sounds now.

It was bad George Eliot sew Henley how would you describe the program explain what it's about so it was discussing the novel of George Eliot novel The Mill on the Floss the were several a group of experts having a sort of conversation about it and brought out into the philosophical and

Good debates around around the novel and the furniture the wonderful actress finish always reading extracts and also contributing we have all of us ABT so piteously standing with little socks when we lost sight of another or nurse and some strange place.

Thank you.

This is another that you know and love well Fiona what qualities that you see in this character Maggie tulliver said that she was avoiding autobiography.

We also read with an I and I read the book I hadn't actually I read something by George Eliot but not the Mill on the Floss so that was a problem wasn't it to begin with I thought it would be I am aware of George Eliot middlemarch, but I haven't read this one and I think to begin with the required for people on the panel and then also credit.

Is referenced and it took a bit of time for me to warm up and be able to distinguish? Who was who but they didn't just talk about the novel.

It was a broader discussion that works on the Floss before you listen to this program.

No, I haven't actually never read anything by George Eliot the so for me.

I seen it as an opportunity to learn a bit more about George Eliot I knew very little about how an author and but I was interested to know more and did you learn enough about her as a person on the Floss and the particular period which she wrote it.

No, I didn't and it's saying about whether or not it was problematic coming not read the book for me.

This was a bit of an issue.

I couldn't tell if the program was the avid lover of George Eliot who is having quite urgent 45 minutes on one of my favourite novels or whether it was for someone like me who hadn't read the novel and potentially new relatively little about the author and I would have liked to attend.

Time exploring George Eliot and positioning her and her time I guess would you prefer program which was about George Eliot at has a or did it work trying to both focus on this particular work the Mill on the Floss and talked about her and her time.

I think it could have done both it didn't for me but probably with what I know if I have to have one it would have been the focusing on George Eliot I think as well for me a program like this is possibly about to entice you into reading a book and perhaps gave me a little bit in some places than they should have done in a plot spoilers to take away the potential during the future of reading the books.

I think they could have achieved both but for me this one didn't want to do you think about the experts.

Did they took as it were to themselves rather than to the audience? Yes, and it somewhere like that because it did feel like quite an intimate relaxed.

Club atmosphere at times I think it works best when they did bring it into the context of say the 19th century or even into how it could be read as an adult compared to how does a child I found this of quite in-depth discussion of the philosophical texts that George Eliot Hood referenced in the novel a bit dense if I'm honest I mean sometimes when people listen to these programs.

They say too as well.

We Wunderlist to this and we would have listened to the after the first 5-minutes of the switched off, but we're glad that you as it were made us listen all the way through the impression you had about this program.

I'm afraid not I think I just came away feeling a bit disappointed that there were definitely bits where it peaked my interest so when they were talking about as her saying that respect as a child and the perspective of a parent that was when I pop in Mosul status as a writer maybe I will pick up this book but the rest of it.

I just felt like it almost teetered on the edge of being something that I'd be interested.

Started talking about gender but they didn't for me explorer and if within that's of nineteenth-century contexts and what that might mean today and sort of the era of the me too.

So no I I listen to the end because I was going I think I probably had a big switch off in the middle.

I think it dragged the little bit it could have been slightly more quickly some of the points for a bit meandering but I really enjoyed Fiona Shaw's readings throughout.

I thought they really enhance the program.

I probably wouldn't have listened all the way through because my spanners ridiculously short but I think it was good for me to listen all the way through but I think at the end there were some quite interesting takeaway.

Is that they only came to in the last 5 or 10 minutes of the program if you were going to tell the Producers suppose this is radio programme view in the BBC in a conference room in the end of the discussion you have to recommend something.

I'll give some advice.

To the programme makers, what would advise be next to your target audiences? Is it people who are having a really lovely indulgent club style my favourite book or is it about trying to explore you know just enough cheeses and contacts to potentially introduce something to new people.

I don't feel like they successfully did both.

Yeah.

I think I would agree broadly with that.

I think the Producers could decide whether they want it to have a relaxed intimate conversational atmosphere or is it more of an academic lecture with several people making a point where you out of your comfort zone on this one word answer any yeah? Yeah, well, I suppose we succeeded in that sense.

Thank you very much indeed now.

How can you get in and get on at the BBC in June a study by the Sutton trust and the social?

Commission found that the tiny a litre of privately educated people many of whom went to Oxbridge continue to dominate high-ranking jobs.

Not just at the BBC we discussed this in the last the last series and these were some of your comments Peter Ward from Narberth in Wales the BBC's commitment to increasing diversity is probably sincere, but unconscious bias and the People Like Us syndrome should not be underestimated when considering how executive search about choosing who should write report or present the news the accents and voices one his place is one sees and particularly the issues addressed seen predominantly those of a privilege segment of society Trevor Rothwell Ipswich can the BBC tell more representative surely the decline in local media and that's local trainee jobs.

Can't help no can their replacement by Ant

Internships another freelance work you've got to be able to support yourself to undertake such roles and most I suppose we'll be in London so what can be done about this perceived bias someone is offering organisations such as the BBC in the cabinet office advice is Nick Miller is the chief executive of the bridge group which owns me now essential Collection analyse data and look at the progress of employees from different social backgrounds.

What have you discovered at the BBC the data really matters because we can start to try and bust some myths so BBC publishing is available on their website.

We've looked at the rates of progression from candidates from different social backgrounds and it feels particularly important as a narrative moves on from not just about who gets in the who gets a head and how and what we find is that those from Lower socioeconomic backgrounds progress moderately more slowly in the lower to Middle grades, but then once those same can.

Get to the higher grades.

They progress more quickly, so they've got a tough start to begin with if you come from a middle-class background check if you're going to the university president of South Cambridgeshire public school your suggest your initial progress will be faster and greater.

I'm not even suggesting that we have evidence to demonstrate that and I should know this by saying it's not unique in any way to the BBC we find this across the number of broadcasters in across the number of professions as well in London have no beds to sleep in the air, which cost them nothing while they get started looking the casualised workforce largely, working-class people who don't have that the bank of mum and dad to bail them out probably just looked into it.

I can't live if I do that.

Yes, I suppose there are a number of factors are play Here those factors certainly affect whether young people or even more older people choose to pursue.

That someone like the BBC my offer but those things don't particularly explain the differential in progression rates, they might explain why someone might leave for example and we find broadcasting sector a lot of courier services self sorting so employees have started somewhere like the BBC get to an age.

Where they starting to think about mortgages and families or or adoption metre and your money starts and matter more and security matters more so I think the range of factors at play here and it's pretty systemic across the whole of the sector.

I would say you know the combination the combination of short-term contracts of non linear progression routes that often require you to move between multiple departments compounded by the fact of course the majority are rooted in London and your concern is that there's a great danger that like employees like it may be an unconscious bias, but if you know the language you know the way to behave you know the way to address it may have been the same school or dare.

You're like to get my promotion because the person is appointed feel comfortable with you.

Yes, I think the conclusion we're coming to larger these policies are not unconscious.

I think they call them out personally our concern with all their records unconscious bias training plays a party are concern is it leaves one feeling that you can't do anything about it.

You know so we tend to talk to those who are Talent in organisations like the BBC about really being a student about interpreting signals of Talent what does it really mean to be an effective broadcaster and what matters much less so let me give you just one example in a will talk and again.

It is not you think to the BBC by any means.

We'll talk to hiring managers all people in in charge of teams and ask them to get to head round here and how it went surprise you to hear that often the responses.

It's about Talent and hard work and I'm picking that word Talent and often you know that it's the best person is really fascinating so off.

Skin responses well round here you need attributes like confidence or gravitas and to refer back to your question.

You know those things have deeply situational SO14 confident and easily exhibit gravitas in situations that feel familiar if you're with people who feel familiar and like you and your environments that you recognise.

Do you think about the changing nature broadcast in the sense that increasing the BBC is pretty programs how to independence and not directly employed people and freelancers.

Are you could say even more vulnerable than those employed within the organisation the effect of sodium radio they work for the BBC but they've been as it were put outside so are you able to analyse what's happened? The freelance world which is largely dependent on the BBC certainly more more complex and I think here it's important to recognise the BBC is taking some actions in.

Careers you don't need me to rehearse Lucia but of course the BBC is operating in this wider ecology in the broadcasting sector and there are some things within its control and something without however you I do for the BBC has an important role here convenient role as the national broadcaster to convene the sector to say you know these deeply challenging systematic characteristics of the sector that work against diversity in all sorts of ways.

How can we have a sector start to think about how we can alleviate some of those affect well BBC I would say was the first broadcasted to monitor and publish he says he recognised by its employees and the tax called attending the educational backgrounds of staff parents and Sons other aware of this.

You one of them actually doing about in what can be done.

I mean some people have suggested things blind CV recruitment and data is important, so data is not action but you know there's no they can help Focus your efforts and introduce an extra layer of accountability and I think they're

We went through with the BBC of collecting so I can make background data on the workforce.

Also help provide a whole range of conversations like you know when we say class.

What do we mean? How do we find someone to commit background and I do think the data collection unit starts to spur on infinite action in a really meaningful way so the BBC published and some of your listeners.

May have come across last year and action plan around social and economic diversity which both look good source of entry routes around apprenticeships hiring practices as you referenced but also I think importantly starting to think about who is the head of the BBC and how not just about who gets in and finally I wonder whether or not this problem can be successfully resolved if the majority of broadcasting work is still remains in London which is more expensive than the rest of the country of probably more middle-class isn't one of the solutions to this to move more programming out of London Interiors like Leeds Sheffield Manchester

Of course Wales and Scotland that's the way in which are more likely to address this class bias, if you like, yes, I think if you asked me within the broadcasting sector one thing that would make the most difference probably be it and of course we're seeing that with the move at the BBC to Salford of Channel 4 to Leeds so I think we're starting to see that now expect will see more thanks to Nick Miller chief executive of the charity and that's it for this week next week at this time the votes would have been cast and counted and we should know which party or parties will form the next UK government in a feedback will be talking to Kamal Ahmed BBC News editorial director about the corporations election coverage.

Has it been fair balanced thorough and informative did it the issues that matter apart from brexit and the NHS do let us know your thoughts and the questions you would like me to put him about the BBC General Election coverage until next week.

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