BBC Radio 4 PM Evan Davis

[Harriedharriet]

Introducing PM today Evan Davis introduced the segment on the abuses in the homes for unmarried women and children in Ireland saying "the appaling abuse on the CHILDREN of unmarried mothers."
I am horrified. The women were treated like sub humans, had their children wrenched, and stolen. Some of the babies died. Some were farmed out for adoption. There was an active conspiracy between the church and the state to keep them apart for ever, loose records, lie, and deceive. The cruelty and mysogny at the heart of this cannot be overstated.
I cannot begin to imagine the life long suffering inflicted on those women.
I hate that this journalist ignored them in his intro. I do not know why I am so upset. (Bring back Eddie Marr)
AIBU?

Bump

I’m at the point of giving up on the PM programme- it’s too reliant on Evan Davis who seems very stuck on his own world viewpoint. His reporting on education throughout the pandemic has been awful. So I’m not surprised he’s managed to only report part of the story here

I was so horrified reading the news reports (haven’t read the actual report yet but really want to) and so glad that it highlighted the fact that society itself massively maligned these women, families rejecting pregnant daughters, and that the men, the fathers of these children, had a huge responsibility morally for just abandoning these poor women to be treated like prisoners and criminals. Despite how awful the homes were, the women were driven into them as they had literally nowhere else to go (and sometimes were literally forced into them). A massive stain on our island.

I mean we have so far to go in many ways but thank christ we have come so far.

In that we have left behind all concept of ‘illegitimate’ children.

And yes, any comment should be about the women and children harmed.

YANBU. The BBC news article was really badly researched too. Looked quoted from Wikipedia, complete with uncritically accepting dubious information as fact.

Listen to Radio 4 at around 10.20pm tonight on BBC sounds-excellent interview with one of the women who was in one of these ‘homes’. She spoke about leaving Ireland and going to work in Luxembourg where she realised there were single women with children working with her, she hadn’t thought this was possible when she lived in Ireland. They discussed where the blame was- the church, state and/or society, very interesting and appalling.
I heard pm earlier, it’s all very ‘sound bites’ and no empathy.

@capercaillie

I’m at the point of giving up on the PM programme- it’s too reliant on Evan Davis who seems very stuck on his own world viewpoint. His reporting on education throughout the pandemic has been awful. So I’m not surprised he’s managed to only report part of the story here

Thank goodness I am not alone Capercaillie. The programme has really gone down hill, and in my view it is down to his "lets all get along and be reasonable". There is very little rigour. And he is ALWAYS blind to women in stories. Always. Agree with his reporting on education - also for him a woman area.

@ButwhereisMYcoffee

And yes, any comment should be about the women and children harmed.

Yes it should. Many women who were put through that system are still alive. Imagine them listening to that?

@Rosie2000

Listen to Radio 4 at around 10.20pm tonight on BBC sounds-excellent interview with one of the women who was in one of these ‘homes’. She spoke about leaving Ireland and going to work in Luxembourg where she realised there were single women with children working with her, she hadn’t thought this was possible when she lived in Ireland. They discussed where the blame was- the church, state and/or society, very interesting and appalling. I heard pm earlier, it’s all very ‘sound bites’ and no empathy.

Thank you, I will.

I miss Eddie

Argh, he is the voice of ‘The Bottom Line’ and seems to take the same approach to PM. . I’ve stopped listening.

@NoOneOwnsTheRainbow

YANBU. The BBC news article was really badly researched too. Looked quoted from Wikipedia, complete with uncritically accepting dubious information as fact.

It is not a story that I have followed or know much about except from today. But if you tease a story about 9,000 dead children then that is 9,000 women (and 9,000 men or maybe less depending on circumstance) who have simultaneously suffered.

@Aahotep

I miss Eddie

But Eddie hasn't gone, he's just moved to LBC. He's wonderful, just change your listening habits between 4 and 7 and hey presto, you have him back in your life

I listened to his show today and thought he didn't really seem to be listening to his interviewees, just replied with a hmm and onto the next question.

I didn't notice his intro, but imagine it wasn't written by him. The following piece on the subject seemed more balanced.

A horrifying part of history. 9000 dead.

He's no John Humphreys.

@nanbread

I listened to his show today and thought he didn't really seem to be listening to his interviewees, just replied with a hmm and onto the next question.

I didn't notice his intro, but imagine it wasn't written by him. The following piece on the subject seemed more balanced.

A horrifying part of history. 9000 dead.

He's no John Humphreys.

Well, why don't they write their own stuff? It is a flag ship show, he is the voice of it and he cannot bother to write his own material? Bloody hell.

Factual inaccuracies should be challenged. The scandal of ill-treatment and worse of unmarried mothers in Ireland is not new news and so anyone who has read even a small amount about the issue should be correct on this.

YANBU on the abuses of women, and not mincing words about who was abused. Fortunately the Irish premier’s statement didn’t make a similar mistake.

But I have actually really enjoyed PM during this year.

@SilverShins
Yay thank you

I miss Eddie too.

I followed Eddie Mair to LBC. He does a similar programme at 5pm every day.

I don't listen to radio 4 at all now. It's gone so downhill.

@Aahotep

I miss Eddie

He’s on LBC 4-7pm!

PM and the today program are very much rapid fire type presentations - and there is a lot to cover at the moment.
I'm frequently irritated when an interview that is just getting interesting is cut short due to lack of time (or equally when interviewee states "I am not prepared to comment on individual cases" or similar, and the 'journalist' just asks the same question over and over.
That said, R4 does have more in depth programs.

Well, why don't they write their own stuff? It is a flag ship show, he is the voice of it and he cannot bother to write his own material?

Maybe he does write it, I don't know, but he'll have a team of researchers who provide info to him, which he may or may not have based that on. Not saying it's ok though.