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Eddie Mair Leaves Radio 4. The 'pay Gender' Row Goes On.
28 Answers
It's been announced that Eddie Mair is leaving the BBC, possibly for LBC and a huge pay rise.
Once again the BBC is incapable of seeing what is going on under its corporate nose, and acting to make things right.
The notion that male presenters should take a pay cut to bring them in line with female presenters is one way of uniformly insulting and upsetting the entire workforce.
With one fell swoop, the BBC tells its female presenters that they are not worth paying as much as male presenters, and it tells male presenters that they are not worth as much as they though they were, and they are only worth as much as female presenters, who are clearly valued less, because they are paid less.
Mr Mair, to his eternal credit, refused to play this ludicrous game, and continued to draw his salary commensurate with his outstanding abilities as a journalist and presenter, coupled with his huge popularity with listeners - factor that is top of the listeners' priorities, but bottom of the BBC's.
His perception that he will be overlooked for the Question Time role, having been fatuously ignored for Newsnight in favour of the dubious Evan Davis, means that he is taking his skills to a rival broadcaster, where he will be appreciated and paid in line with his value.
Is the BBC management actually populated by idiots, or are they simply wilfully ignoring what is going on?
Once again the BBC is incapable of seeing what is going on under its corporate nose, and acting to make things right.
The notion that male presenters should take a pay cut to bring them in line with female presenters is one way of uniformly insulting and upsetting the entire workforce.
With one fell swoop, the BBC tells its female presenters that they are not worth paying as much as male presenters, and it tells male presenters that they are not worth as much as they though they were, and they are only worth as much as female presenters, who are clearly valued less, because they are paid less.
Mr Mair, to his eternal credit, refused to play this ludicrous game, and continued to draw his salary commensurate with his outstanding abilities as a journalist and presenter, coupled with his huge popularity with listeners - factor that is top of the listeners' priorities, but bottom of the BBC's.
His perception that he will be overlooked for the Question Time role, having been fatuously ignored for Newsnight in favour of the dubious Evan Davis, means that he is taking his skills to a rival broadcaster, where he will be appreciated and paid in line with his value.
Is the BBC management actually populated by idiots, or are they simply wilfully ignoring what is going on?
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One only has to listen to PM on the (rare) occasions that EM is away to realise just how good he is at his job.
He delivers a seamless mix of the important, the trivial, the amusing and the deadly serious - all stitched around the interruptions for headlines and updates. His replacements deliver a disjointed dogs dinner of a programme which is barely listenable to for more than a few minutes.
The BBC (of which I am normally a staunch defender) is taking very careful aim and hitting both feet with the shotgun over this gender equality botox ... again.
He delivers a seamless mix of the important, the trivial, the amusing and the deadly serious - all stitched around the interruptions for headlines and updates. His replacements deliver a disjointed dogs dinner of a programme which is barely listenable to for more than a few minutes.
The BBC (of which I am normally a staunch defender) is taking very careful aim and hitting both feet with the shotgun over this gender equality botox ... again.
It's quite simple & nothing to do with 'the gender gap' , the BBC just can't afford the pay rates that can be offered by large commercial organisations. As said, commercial organisations do not have to divulge pay rates. But it is pretty fair to guess he will be getting at least 5x more than the BBC could offer. I expect most of us would do the same if we were lucky enough to be in his situation.
Eddie - // t's quite simple & nothing to do with 'the gender gap' , the BBC just can't afford the pay rates that can be offered by large commercial organisations. As said, commercial organisations do not have to divulge pay rates. But it is pretty fair to guess he will be getting at least 5x more than the BBC could offer. I expect most of us would do the same if we were lucky enough to be in his situation. //
Your position infers that Mr Mair is jumping ship because he can earn more elsewhere.
The fact is, he could have taken that job any time in the last five years, and any station would offer him what he wanted for a salary.
The fact that he hasn't indicates that his loyalty to the BBC is not based on its remuneration, rather perhaps its reputation and his pride at working there?
One has been attacked, and the other has been ignored - that in my view is why he is going now.
Your position infers that Mr Mair is jumping ship because he can earn more elsewhere.
The fact is, he could have taken that job any time in the last five years, and any station would offer him what he wanted for a salary.
The fact that he hasn't indicates that his loyalty to the BBC is not based on its remuneration, rather perhaps its reputation and his pride at working there?
One has been attacked, and the other has been ignored - that in my view is why he is going now.
Canary - // Being consistently and relentlessly under attack (you only have to look at some of the threads in Answerbank), the BBC has not surprisingly become very very defensive. Regrettably that clouds their judgement. //
The attacks made on here by me, and others, are based entirely on the BBC's own wilful stubborn stupidity, and they deserve everything they get - except public financing!
The attacks made on here by me, and others, are based entirely on the BBC's own wilful stubborn stupidity, and they deserve everything they get - except public financing!
jno - // they're righting past wrongs. That will take time and money, always does. Someone's bound to get hurt and sometimes it will be the BBC, who've perpetrated it all. //
No argument, but to me, the notion of telling one section of the workforce that it is not worth the same as the other, and then telling the more expensive section that it has to lose money in order to come down to the lower level, meaning it isn't worth the money either, is a comprehensive method of alienating everyone simultaneously.
What's wrong with - 'Ladies, we are a deeply chauvenistic and out-of-touch bunch of old-school ties who still think Lord Reith in in charge, and gels should do the typing and make the tea.
We are deeply sorry, and are happy to recognise our appalling attitudes, and pay you in line with your mail colleagues, because you deserve as much as they are paid.
Oh, and Eddie, we should have given you Newsnight, we dropped of there as well, but of course we will give you Question Time because you are the right person for the job.'
Problems solved.
There you are BBC, you didn't have to pay six figures for a 'management consultant' - it's just common sense, and that's free.
No argument, but to me, the notion of telling one section of the workforce that it is not worth the same as the other, and then telling the more expensive section that it has to lose money in order to come down to the lower level, meaning it isn't worth the money either, is a comprehensive method of alienating everyone simultaneously.
What's wrong with - 'Ladies, we are a deeply chauvenistic and out-of-touch bunch of old-school ties who still think Lord Reith in in charge, and gels should do the typing and make the tea.
We are deeply sorry, and are happy to recognise our appalling attitudes, and pay you in line with your mail colleagues, because you deserve as much as they are paid.
Oh, and Eddie, we should have given you Newsnight, we dropped of there as well, but of course we will give you Question Time because you are the right person for the job.'
Problems solved.
There you are BBC, you didn't have to pay six figures for a 'management consultant' - it's just common sense, and that's free.
>>why aren't all the BBC 'stars' lining up and jumping ship ?
Because the BBC "look after you" in the long term and keep using you.
Look how many shows Terry Wogan did over the years, or how much work Graham Norton gets with the BBC now.
If you jump ship you may get a pay rise in the short term, but the commercial channel can drop you like a stone if your ratings fail or you become unpopular.
Paul Hollywood left the BBC to go with Bake Off. But when they stop making Bake Off will they offer him more work?
If he had stayed at the BBC he would have had a "job for life" with them, in the way Mary Berry has, appearing on all sorts of BBC programs.
Because the BBC "look after you" in the long term and keep using you.
Look how many shows Terry Wogan did over the years, or how much work Graham Norton gets with the BBC now.
If you jump ship you may get a pay rise in the short term, but the commercial channel can drop you like a stone if your ratings fail or you become unpopular.
Paul Hollywood left the BBC to go with Bake Off. But when they stop making Bake Off will they offer him more work?
If he had stayed at the BBC he would have had a "job for life" with them, in the way Mary Berry has, appearing on all sorts of BBC programs.
Old_Geezer - // But they're all vastly vastly over-paid anyway. What's the BBC to do ?
Bring them all down to a level of salary comparable to the same skill level elsewhere in society, and take any hit. Watch the commercial stations then realise they're mugs for throwing away the ad revenue and drop also. //
Deciding that anyone in an occupation where their output is unquantifiable, is 'overpaid' is very hard to do.
It applies to anyone who has a specific skill which the vast majority of the population do not have, and that applies a lot in the arts, and also in sport.
So your wish to find a 'comparable role' elsewhere in society is unlikely to be accommodated, because there is no such thing.
Broadcasters will pay what they need to, in order to attract the talent they want.
Now you or I ma argue that the talent is not worth paying in washers, but listening figures and advertising revenue make those decisions and drive those salary levels, and that is where we are.
So the idea that suddenly the BBC will pay everyone £50 a week starting Monday is unlikely to gain any traction in the media world.
Bring them all down to a level of salary comparable to the same skill level elsewhere in society, and take any hit. Watch the commercial stations then realise they're mugs for throwing away the ad revenue and drop also. //
Deciding that anyone in an occupation where their output is unquantifiable, is 'overpaid' is very hard to do.
It applies to anyone who has a specific skill which the vast majority of the population do not have, and that applies a lot in the arts, and also in sport.
So your wish to find a 'comparable role' elsewhere in society is unlikely to be accommodated, because there is no such thing.
Broadcasters will pay what they need to, in order to attract the talent they want.
Now you or I ma argue that the talent is not worth paying in washers, but listening figures and advertising revenue make those decisions and drive those salary levels, and that is where we are.
So the idea that suddenly the BBC will pay everyone £50 a week starting Monday is unlikely to gain any traction in the media world.
Guilbert - // >>why aren't all the BBC 'stars' lining up and jumping ship ?
Because the BBC "look after you" in the long term and keep using you.
Look how many shows Terry Wogan did over the years, or how much work Graham Norton gets with the BBC now.
If you jump ship you may get a pay rise in the short term, but the commercial channel can drop you like a stone if your ratings fail or you become unpopular.
Paul Hollywood left the BBC to go with Bake Off. But when they stop making Bake Off will they offer him more work?
If he had stayed at the BBC he would have had a "job for life" with them, in the way Mary Berry has, appearing on all sorts of BBC programs. //
I think there is a lot of merit in your argument.
The BBC is unshackled by commercial considerations, and this does lead it to swing too far the other way, forcing the execrable Wogan onto the public long after his ability to self-deprecate himself out of existence, while simultaneously knowing of his invincibility made him a total parody of his former character.
It does seem that the BBC gets it wrong on so many levels far too often.
Because the BBC "look after you" in the long term and keep using you.
Look how many shows Terry Wogan did over the years, or how much work Graham Norton gets with the BBC now.
If you jump ship you may get a pay rise in the short term, but the commercial channel can drop you like a stone if your ratings fail or you become unpopular.
Paul Hollywood left the BBC to go with Bake Off. But when they stop making Bake Off will they offer him more work?
If he had stayed at the BBC he would have had a "job for life" with them, in the way Mary Berry has, appearing on all sorts of BBC programs. //
I think there is a lot of merit in your argument.
The BBC is unshackled by commercial considerations, and this does lead it to swing too far the other way, forcing the execrable Wogan onto the public long after his ability to self-deprecate himself out of existence, while simultaneously knowing of his invincibility made him a total parody of his former character.
It does seem that the BBC gets it wrong on so many levels far too often.
Eddie - // Perhaps he got a new offer which was even bigger than the previous offers? //
i am sure Mr Mair, or his agent if he has one, will be letting his increasing disatisfaction with the BBC be known, and that may encourage his prospective poachers to sweeten the deal further, although as I said, I don't believe he is motivated purely by the money.
i am sure Mr Mair, or his agent if he has one, will be letting his increasing disatisfaction with the BBC be known, and that may encourage his prospective poachers to sweeten the deal further, although as I said, I don't believe he is motivated purely by the money.
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