I and other Muslim professionals were recently invited to meet some of the key people at the BBC. It was a visit arranged in the hope of incorporating some more diversity at the broadcaster. It became painfully obvious to me as I walked into the gallery and overlooked the busy open plan office that although we lived in one of the most diverse cities in the world, the world of the BBC offices did not reflect that. Our group of 8-10 people stuck out like a sore thumb; myself as a visibly Muslim woman, even more so.
Last week, the BBC announced that it had partially upheld a complaint against BBC presenter Naga Munchetty. Munchetty had commented that remarks like those from Donald Trump who said four female politicians should "go back" to "places from which they came", in her experience “as a woman of colour” tended to be “embedded in racism”.
Despite initial suggestions from the contrary from the BBC, it then emerged that Muchetty’s co-host, Dan Walker (a white man), was also complained about. The complaint was titled: “Blatant political bias from both presenters”. But only the complaint regarding Munchetty was escalated, whereas the complaint about Walker was not.
