To think Nihal Arthanayake is being ridiculous

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He lives in a country where the majority of the population is white, but says it has mental health problems from a workplace which is mainly, yes, white. However does he deal with everyday life?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/bbc-diveristy-nihal-arthanayake-radio-5-journalism-diversity-fund-b1123658.html

The man is a bore. He’s crap on the radio. And yeah, if you live in a country where 90% of the population are white then chances are 90% of your workplace will be too. It’s not racist to say that, just factual.

I would like to hear all his comments in order, in context, before I tried to muster an opinion. Not snippets over-emphasied & taken out of order & context.

He's a sensitive interviewer so I would hear him out, in context.

I’ve never actually heard of him so I assume this is a way of gaining publicity.

The media have us all thinking that everywhere is so so diverse and multicultural and anywhere where white people are the majority is ‘racist’. But the fact is this is a European country where most people are white, and shouldn’t be made to feel bloody bad about that!

Well said. I don't know hom but the comment is too ridiculous and could be being taken out of context

I find him so tedious on the radio - my skin crawls during his obsequious interviews - he seems to think he is Dr Anthony Clare - he's worse than a hagfish oozing hyperbolic slime over his guests - the one with Paul Weller was a perfect example - PW could not have been less engaged - he broke off several times (Probably to scream into a jam jar) - at one point he said something like "hold on... the cat's just pissed up the door..." - he could not wait to get the interview over with.

Well, it's not factual, as the UK is a country where 82% of the population is white, so to be representative 1 in 5 of the faces at the BBC should be non-white, although in Manchester the white population is lower (67%), so that should be more like 1 in 3.

I'm so pleased I’m not the only person who finds this man insufferable. I once heard from him on the radio bawling out a colleague and accusing him of being racist because he mis pronounced his name! Wasn’t there some sort of spat with Ben Fogle too? I just can’t listen to him, he has such a condescending patronising tone.

I listen to him quite often in the radio. Most interviewees engage with him well. I’m not a Weller fan and he’s a bit awkward squad anyway. Most are interviewed about their new book, album, show etc so are selling something. If he’s just talking about diversity at the BBC, he’s not the first. I prefer people to be there on merit. Nothing else.

Im glad Colin Murray is leaving the radio 5 late show. You won’t hear anyone who prefers the sound of their own voice more! He’s irritating!

I used to work at the BBC, until about 4 years ago. We got a specialist EDI company in to review the workforce, who came back and said Black and Minority groups were well (over) represented in the BBC workforce.
The problem that they identified was Social Diversity, too many Oxbridge types.

I like him. The world would be a bit dull if we all had the same views about people.

@ExtraOnions That was the bigger problem as I understand it but bright people are always needed. I think it’s been discovered that when organisations recruit not knowing which university applicants attended, they get more Oxbridge educated employees! The BBC has always been an employer of choice by “Oxbridge” types. What matters to me is whether they do a good job or not.

Yeah, he is a known dick.

This has definitely put me off him, I’m not racist but surely in uk we are predominantly white (I’m Jewish but I class myself as a white British Jew) so there’s going to be a more white workforce wherever you are (unless you work in an organisation specific to your race). Wherever I’ve worked there’s been a couple of other Jewish people but that’s London and probably representative of the ratio (unless it’s a Jewish organisation where you get majority of Jewish staff due to closing early on a Friday etc).
idk about Manchester, but I can think of quite a few Black/Asian bbc presenters.

Never liked him. Obsequious interviewer.

Other options are available, like changing jobs. I have been seconded on a couple of occasions into other companies and a unwelcoming attitude to outsiders is evident regardless of colour.

This man is an idiot. Also a racist towards white people.

Really? In what way is he racist towards white people?

I understand where he’s coming from. POC are underrepresented across editorial roles in the media.

He was right about the thing with Ben Fogle to be fair...

I like him and have learnt a lot from his programme.
It's impossible to know what he actually said from that article, but he's entitled to comment on how diverse or not he finds the BBC.

I thought this got deleted!

i think everyone has a moan and this is his moan for today.

I don't know what the demographics are in the backoffice, but...doing a quick count of BBC newsreaders, 25% are from ethnic minority backgrounds (as opposed to 18% across the UK population), so they're actually slightly over-represented in those roles.

As is often the case with these things...perception and reality can be very different.

He lived in London for 20 years before moving North. From the 2021 census, Greater London is 53.8% white. Salford is 82.3% white. That’s a big difference.

It's disingenuous to compare the whole of Greater London to Salford. (Salford is just the borough that houses the BBC).

Greater Manchester's white population is 76.4%.

Pretty much everything he says is ridiculous. Can’t listen to him any more.