Laura’s a star but why did the Beeb only want a woman?
Her selection as the new political editor of the BBC came not with a bang but a whimper. An over- excited, triggerhappy BBC executive tweeted the news of her appointment on social media, then hastily deleted it.
Apparently the other contenders on the shortlist had not been given the bad news. Some say that even Laura Kuenssberg herself did not know of her promotion. The official confirmation of her appointment came three long hours later, another media shambles worthy of BBC spoof W1A.
So well done everyone, what an excellent mess. For a news organisation to fluff the news about its most important news appointment for ten years was not good news. This, after all, is the top job in British broadcast journalism.
But to be honest, the entire business has been hideously awkward since outgoing editor Nick robinson announced he would be moving to the r4 Today programme in the autumn. The highly regarded journalist has recently written an election diary and has received treatment for lung cancer.
I will miss Nick on daily news television. From breakfast bulletins to Newsnight updates, he was an eternal, steady presence; his crisp summations of the political situation delivered with clarity and without ego. It was never about him: not always something you could say about his rivals.
However, from the moment the plum vacancy was announced, BBC bosses made it clear that they wanted a woman for the job to give the Corporation’s political coverage more gender balance.
ALAdy person! Crack open the Babycham and the cal-free snacks. For a mere girl in the top job would be cutting edge and groovy and inclusive, not to mention super-modern and make ake them look really, really great. yet hang on a minute. Isn’t making it clear that female candidates will be favoured not unlawful discrimination by any other name? Positive discrimination is just as sexist as the negative sort and anyway, there is nothing positive about it if you’re a bloke who has toiled in the trenches for years, only to be foiled at the last hurdle by some upstart chick who has caught the boss’s eye.
So tough luck for deputy political editor James Landale, who landed the scoop of the election when david Cameron confessed to him that he would not seek a third term in power. Boo hoo to all the other hardworking and now slightly disillusioned chaps who might have fancied their chances at the top job but understood that Men Need Not Apply was the tacit message.
Should I even mention that any company which advertised a position with an understood disclaimer that ‘women need not apply’ would find themselves in very hot water indeed? Of course not.
despite all this muddle and the scramble to be politically correct, Laura Kuenssberg is an excellent choice. In my book, she would have been the number one choice even if a thousand men were in the running, which is the tragic irony of it all. She was brilliant on election night, she shines on Newsnight, she has been impressive for years.
So it has been particularly galling to see BBC executives and certain newspapers crowing about the first female political editor of the BBC. These things are not supposed to matter. No one would boast about the first black editor or first Jewish editor, after all. To do so is demeaning to Laura Kuenssberg and to all of us. Women are supposed to be equal, not singled out for special praise if we happen to do well, like the village idiot or the class clown.
In the sex wars it always seems to be three steps forward and six steps back.
Shame there was so little mention of what i s really special about Laura Kuenssberg — her age. Consider that when they were appointed to the post, Nick robinson was 42, Andrew Marr 41, robin Oakley 51, John Cole, 54 and david Holmes 49. She is only 38, the youngest person ever to be appointed to the job.
Person. Not woman. Thank you.