BBC backlash after Flanders is parachuted in to present Today
A FRESH female voice as guest presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme this week seemed to be a victory for BBC women who have campaigned for gender equality.
But that was not quite the case. The woman in question was Stephanie Flanders, who left the BBC in 2013 for a job in the City, but was considered better suited to the job than any women currently on the corporation’s payroll.
To add insult to injury, a well-placed BBC insider praised Ms Flanders by saying: “Today is for grown-ups and Stephanie has a good understanding of subjects. She is a heavyweight.”
The comment did not go down well. “Stephanie has done a great job and I wouldn’t criticise her at all. But to say that we don’t have any heavyweights here? Not good,” said one female BBC journalist. “I’d say there are plenty of women who are qualified.”
Another said: “It is odd, because the BBC has a whole news department of gifted and talented women.”
Ms Flanders will be followed by CNN’S Christiane Amanpour, who will guest-present Today next month. The only BBC presenter to be offered a stint is Carrie Gracie, the China editor.
Listeners were equally puzzled to hear Ms Flanders two days in a row. “Isn’t it a bit insulting to the BBC’S many equally brilliant reporters that she waltzes in over them?” asked Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
But Kirsty Lang, presenter of Radio 4’s Front Row programme, tweeted: “Enjoying listening to the excellent Stephanie Flanders presenting @ BBCR4TODAY.”
Ms Flanders left the BBC to become a chief market strategist for JP Morgan, but recently announced she is moving to Bloomberg Economic, saying: “When Bloomberg’s editor in chief asks you to help build and lead the most powerful engine of economic analysis and reporting in the world, you don’t say no.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We are proud to have a range of women guestpresenting alongside our brilliant regular presenters across BBC News, including on the Today programme.”
The guest presenters were chosen by Sarah Sands, the former Sunday Telegraph editor, who took charge of Today this year. A friend of Ms Flanders, she has written of attending dinners and birthday parties with her, and noted that at one Financial Times party, men surrounded Flanders “as if she were a strange though gorgeous specimen”.
Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph radio critic, said there were “terrific” reporters on the show who should be given a chance to present. She said of Sands: “She is not using her own innate news sense and she is not being editorially firm with the presenters she’s got. She should give some of her own reporters a crack.”