The BBC wanted black listeners and turned to Tim Westwood, white son of a vicar. A parable for our times | Jane Martinson
Of the many lessons arising from this week’s report into the presenter’s alleged bullying and misogyny, one is the corporate cynicism that sustained him
More than 30 years have passed since Tim Westwood joined the BBC, 12 since he left and three since Guardian and BBC journalists reported on allegations of abuse by a man considered by the corporation to be the voice of hip hop. Then this week, some of the many concerns raised during his 19 years working there were detailed in the latest edition of one of the BBC’s weightiest and longest-running series, Official Reports into Men We Employ Behaving Very Badly.
Westwood’s career at the Beeb ended in 2013, amid a flurry of accusations and a sense of deja vu best summarised as “oh God, not another one”. But the 174-page report is well worth reading, not just for what it says about the BBC but, as so often with the media, what it says about attitudes in Britain.
Jane Martinson is a Guardian columnist
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