17 August 2023 , 22:42
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The BBC are investigating the hiring of five senior presenters after its recruitment process was labelled a "sham", it has been claimed.
The corporation announced the broadcasters who would be fronting the new-look BBC News in February, following an amalgamation between its UK and International teams. Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings, Matthew Amroliwala, Yalda Hakim and Maryam Moshiri were confirmed as the main presenters for the revamped show.
Geeta Guru-Murthy, Martine Croxall, Jane Hill, Ben Brown and Annita McVeigh lost their roles after David Eades, Joanna Gosling and Tim Willcox all took redundancy. The decision to make the changes sparked an ageism row.
The Times today alleges that the presenters who were handed the jobs were told they were the frontrunners well before the formal recruitment process had actually begun. They state a probe, headed by BBC Studios' HR chief Daryl Maitland, began back in June.
Matthew Amroliwala was given one of the five jobs earlier this year (BBC)They're investigating the suggestion that bosses knew who they wanted in Autumn 2022 - despite interviews for the roles taking place months later in the New Year. The publication spoke to a presenter who went for one of the jobs and described the process as a "sham".
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The hopeful said bosses "were behind a fig-leaf selection process that was predetermined months before anyone did a job interview". Another claimed the selection process was "rigged" and a third candidate said the name of the five stars was "common knowledge" before the interview process.
However, a fourth person said the roles were earned "fair and square". Mirror Online have approached the BBC for a response but previously they stated they do not "comment of HR issues".
The BBC were earlier this year accused of ‘appalling’ treatment of the news anchors after a string of cuts at the channel. It was claimed the axed employees are being paid but not working while the BBC sorts out the structure of its slimmed down news organisation.
According to Deadline, there is currently no clear resolution to the staffing issue which has apparently led to colleagues becoming increasingly riled about the BBC’s treatment of the women. One BBC journalist, who does not work for the news channel, told the publication it was an ‘appalling’ situation.
“I think there is a huge amount of sympathy [for the presenters]. I don’t think it’s rocket science to say they have been treated badly,” another newsroom source added. It has been noted that all the presenters are women over the age of 45 with over 100 years of experience working at the BBC between them. It is not known how many male employees are affected.
The BBC has faced lawsuits over equal pay and ageism in the past and in 2011 was found to have unfairly sacked female Countryfile host Miriam O’Reilly for being too old. And in 2020, Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed left the corporation facing a huge bill after winning an equal pay case.
She argued she was due around £700,000 in back pay because of the difference between her £440 an episode rate and the £3,000 paid to Jeremy Vine for hosting the similar Points of View programme. An employment tribunal unanimously found the BBC had failed to provide evidence the pay gap was for any other reasons than gender discrimination, though they continued to dispute this.