Why so little diversity in RTE?

beastfromtheEast

RTE had a reputation as jobs for the boys and with recent scandals more and more people are boycotting the licence fee.

The country has been through the mill in recent years we have had COVID a housing crisis violent unprovoked assaults on the streets energy and food inflation to top it all off.

RTE in my opinion likes to virtue signal by running down working class areas and labelling them racist for protesting the above problems.

Ryan Tubridy is the tip of the iceberg as far as RTE goes and we have missed an excellent opportunity to have somebody and something fresh echo the voice of the nation on Friday nights for a start.

The Late Late Show is only the tip of the iceberg like I said but is signals intent.

RTE have stuck with the status quo.

Why no person of colour or somebody from an Eastern Europe background or even a working class person or a mix of all to flagship Friday nights?

RTE in my opinion is doomed when instead of echoing the news it is the news?

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319837/why-so-little-diversity-in-rte

boo hoo - country which is predominantly white has a tv broadcaster which is predominately white, how unfair. people should get jobs based on their skills and not their skin colour. if they get jobs based on their skin colour is that not racist?

maninasia

He's correct though , very little diversity there.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289110#Comment_121289110

why do you assume the OP is a he?

anyway on a side point how do you think the likes of Niall Boylan would go down on RTE, say as a newscaster or hosting Prime Time? Or someone from the travelling community? The D4 middle income, middle age RTE fans would have connuptions!!

The ironic thing is that they would be absolutely fine with a Nigerian/Indian/Ukranian newsreader because we have now become conditioned to that being ok ("we need to be diverse, we need to accept multiculturalism, we need to allow change, we welcome refugees")....... yet our own ethnic minoritiy people or people from a lower income,lower education, lower class areas in Ireland are discriminated and looked down upon every single day!

Bring in a few travellers to RTE and people who live in Ballymun.... not Ballsbridge. That's diversity too. (actually I forgot about Joe Duffy, the original of the species)

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289110#Comment_121289110

How do you measure it?

whisky_galore

It's like asking how many white folks are presenters on Nigerian or Thai or Japanese tv.

Bet they don't beat themselves up about 'diversity'.

Short answer: everyone on RTE is family or friend or friend of a friend. Ireland is predominantly white in case you haven't noticed.

Fr Tod Umptious

There are plenty of people from working class backgrounds working in and in front of the mic or camera in RTE.

I think when people think working class they think some sort of an Anto or Deco, Dublin inner city caricature, or something similar.

But the working class is obviously much much broader than that.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289178#Comment_121289178

But Japan is almost entirely Japanese so not really a fair comparison?

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319837/why-so-little-diversity-in-rte

They also stole the country's supply of commas.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319837/why-so-little-diversity-in-rte

Why no person of colour or somebody from an Eastern Europe background or even a working class person or a mix of all to flagship Friday nights?

Had you someone in mind who is qualified to host a 90-120 minute live TV show? It's not easy you know, the online experts will tell you differently, but ignore them.

Also Is Kielty not from a working class background who grafted and worked his way up?

NIMAN

Don't forget, the highest paid person at rte is working class. Mr Joe Duffy.

The census figures released yesterday had non-irish as 12% of the population now in Ireland.

I'd expect to see a few more diverse folk appearing on rte over the next few years....if it survives its current financial mess.

OP, you're making the classic mistake of just assuming "diversity" is a good thing, as if that word always means something positive is happening.

Enact "diversity" in practice and watch the standards drop, as the focus is on secondary characteristics of the person (sexuality, skin colour, nationality etc.) rather than their inherent skillset to practice the role itself.

I am unashamedly, 100% against diversity quotas if it means the quality of those employed is better than would otherwise be the case. And if someone gets a job because of their skin colour, by definition that's racist against the people who don't share that skin colour. The policy is a snake that eats its own tail.

Nobody cares about these secondary characteristics. It's utterly and totally boring at this stage.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289237#Comment_121289237

Ray Darcy, Tommy Tiernan, Brendan O'Connor all working class backgrounds.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289243#Comment_121289243

And all very wealthy men now.

Wasn't there a time D'Arcy said to Duffy, "sure you're not working class any more ".

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289195#Comment_121289195

They tend to keep outsiders out. Even a European living there since forever will never, ever be considered properly part of their society. But it does not worry them, and you don't see protests about it in front of the Japanese Embassy for being intolerant and racist. But the West beats itself up if we don't have a token POC in an ad for washing powder.

maninasia

I just noticed there is very little ethnic diversity on RTE compared to the country at large .

I was away for a long time and when I came back this is something that struck me.

Am I wrong?

For instance there have been huge Eastern European communities in Ireland for years but I don't remember anybody from that community working on RTE screens . Lots of Asians too..but nope..can't recall any meself reading the news or whatever . Maybe there are now but I haven't noticed . Same with the radio presenters .

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289289#Comment_121289289

yes

Geuze

There is loads of diversity on RTE.

People from Kerry, Northern Ireland, Dubs, loads of women, young, old, homosexuals, etc.

maninasia

I'm talking about ethnic diversity .

It's true there is little ethnic diversity compared to the country at large there.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289289#Comment_121289289

I very much doubt hard working men from Riga or Vilnius are mad to watch Fair City.

Some problems don't exist, and this is one of them. If in the rare event that an Eastern European comes to Ireland in the hope of presenting the lottery, they'd have to be more competent than anyone else at the role. Or else they don't get the job.

They shouldn't earn bonus points in the hiring process because of where they were born, over which they had no control.

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289251#Comment_121289251

But isn't that the nature of the beast itself? Like they're not going to get away with hiring a working class person (or any other diverse characteristic) for a lower wage because that would be active discrimination. Yes they're wealthy now having worked their way up. That is the way of the world.

As for the overall diversity - RTE is a lot larger than the presenters so there could be a really diverse workforce in behind it that we aren't seeing on screen. I think as time goes by, we will see more of that diversity on the screen too. Also I believe there is some reporting that will be required from 2025 (I think not fully sure) from the EU on the diversity levels within all businesses.

That said, as a woman, I hate the whole idea of positive discrimination. I want to know I got a job on my merits, not the fact that I'm a woman.

j2

People who are gun-ho about "diversity" don't actually want it in their immediate vicinity.

I think you’re seeing some degree of diversity on RTE. It inevitably takes a while to start seeing presenters coming though - Ireland’s become more diverse relatively recently and fairly rapidly.

Just off hand: Liz Bonin and Baz Ashmawy for example spring to mind and have both been highly successful in RTE and beyond. Zainab Boladale is a regular on Nationwide and Limerick man and former Mr World Kamal Ibrahim is a regular lotto presenter.

Other than maybe Eva Orsmond, from Finland I’m not really seeing many EU presenters coming through at high profile though. Although I’m pretty sure there is a news reporter with an eastern european name. I’m just surprised at this stage you’re not seeing more ppl coming though the various media courses and appearing on RTE, Virgin Media etc.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289289#Comment_121289289

For instance there have been huge Eastern European communities in Ireland for years but I don't remember anybody from that community working on RTE screens . Lots of Asians too..but nope..can't recall any meself reading the news or whatever . Maybe there are now but I haven't noticed . Same with the radio presenters .

Our ethnic groups are still very much recent arrivals (mid to late '90s onwards)

I'd say if you surveyed the TV stations of Europe you would find very few ethnic presenters that are recent arrivals.

The ethic presenters are usually from the next generation and further.

No one from Eastern Europe or Asia came to Ireland with the ambition of being a TV presenter, but their Irish born kids might have that ambition

There are very few Irish born people people of eastern European or Asian parents that are at the carrer stage of being high profile media presenters.

Give it 30 or 50 years and then you will see a lot more as that ethnic group becomes more established.

BrianBoru00

Blackie Connors!

Liam Heffernan played him and was a member of the travelling community - that was early 90s.

There's a lot RTE can be accused of but lacking diversity isn't one of them and similar to the "100% Irish" - talent doesn't appear to be a pre-requisite.

Tracey Piggott - English, for a long time one of the main faces of racing coverage

Baz Ashmawy -Libyan/Egyptian/Irish heritage been making shows for close to 20 years Id say? Diana Bunici - Moldovan (moved here at 8 ) who has fronted kids tv shows on RTE.

Zainab Boladale - Nigerian (moved here at 4) has worked in the news room and now presenting nationwide.

Theres plenty of diversity there.

nachouser

I think we need a "Why are RTE so woke?" thread to complete the series.

donaghs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289243#Comment_121289243

Are there any presenters who are actually from "D4"?

May they need to hire some then to balance things out?

duffysfarm

just watched an add break on rte now this morning. there were 6 adds (one of these was by RTE itself and included non white people in it) .Of the 6 adds 2 had white men in them, all 6 had white women. 4 had black women and 2 had black men. One had a mixed race person (baz). So by looking at RTE this morning you would be forgiven for thinking you lived in Ireland.

P.S. - where are all the indians and asians? does diversity not apply to them also or do they just not complain as much?

daheff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289178#Comment_121289178

they even had a news item about it yesterday. CSO figures show Ireland is white. 1% african.

In terms of representation the amounts would seem to be reasonably correct.

maninasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289311#Comment_121289311

More competent or won't get the job?

Seriously this is RTE😳

Also don't assume you know what people want to do.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289399#Comment_121289399

Before he was Blackie Connors he was Phil Kelly in The Clash of the Ash.

Very much a "settled" character.