Why so little diversity in RTE?

maninasia

No one from Eastern Europe or Asia came to Ireland with the ambition of being a TV presenter,

You surveyed them all yerself yeah ?

SharkMX

We are hiring 2 new people for our team. They are not allowed to be white and not allowed to be men.

maninasia

Rte?

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289499#Comment_121289499

Obviously not, but common sense would indicate that it's not a popular career path for immigrants, espically those that would not have English as their native language.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

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

Are you trying to portray RTE as woke, or saying they should be....?

RTE are traditional - they recycle TV personalities and traditional values - and that's not a good recipe for any emerging personalities, be the white or otherwise.

kowloonkev

Good idea. We could pay them less too!

maninasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289511#Comment_121289511

Common sense would indicate that at least some of them would like to be a TV presenter.

Wanderer2010

I never got the whole snobbery towards working class people in Ireland, which is a tiny dot of a country. Surely a huge percentage of people living here are working class already? The whole avacado eating, D4 Insta beauties are such a tiny, tiny fraction of the population that they dont even feature when it comes to hierarchies in society. I think a lot of people who call themselves middle class are just working class people who lost the run of themselves and presumes a decent house and a college education automatically makes them superior to the people and family they grew up with.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289564#Comment_121289564

Yeah they might but they know that's not likely to happen, they know that their Irish born kids will have a much better chance.

Quitelife

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289184#Comment_121289184

Anto & Deco aren’t interested in work , too busy robbing tourists in city centre

Strazdas

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

But even Ray Darcy has said he is very struck by the lack of diversity when he walks around the building in Montrose.

I've read a couple of articles about this and why it might be a little more difficult for people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds to break into the national broadcaster. Apparently, nepotism is one factor....middle class white Irish people are likely to have a lot of pre-existing contacts in the media industry compared to working class people and those from diverse / ethnic backgrounds ('who you know' and all that).

snotboogie

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

Diversity in media is definitely a talking point in Thailand. Thai Chinese and mixed race Thai/Europeans are massively over represented in media there. Japan is hugely monocultural in comparison to Ireland. Ireland is about 12% non white-Irish, Japan is about 3% non Japanese.

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289651#Comment_121289651

the fact that Ray Darcy said it should be enough to know it is sh**te idea

Have RTE really been looking down their noses at the working class though?

Most of their key presenters aren't from some kind of snooty background. Gay Byrne grew up in the Liberties and was the son of guy who worked loading barges in Guinness.

Joe Duffy's hardly stuck up.

Most of the presenters are from fairly normal backgrounds and there's plenty of strong urban and rural accents to be heard, compared to BBC.

I also don't really buy the notion it's a closed shop. I know quite a few people who got jobs in RTE with zero connections, including on air, who came from backgrounds in local radio, print, or who came through the various media courses.

There are a few D4 heads around, but it's not the majority of presenters or people in there and many of the worst D4 accents are acquired and you discover they're actually from Cavan or something.

Financially and in terms of the way it's structured and managed, it's a mess - we can see that fairly clearly, but I think there's a bit of an element of just bashing it over the head going on at this stage too. It just needs a good shake up and probably a complete restructure to put it on a sound footing, but I just think we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater and you've people who are just throwing out the angry at the media line.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289709#Comment_121289709

Or maybe Ray should retire and let someone non irish to take the 300k per year job?

I think though you're also looking at a time lag. The majority of people currently at the peak of their careers in broadcasting began them at least 20 years ago, a large % of them would have begun careers in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. If you go back to those eras, Ireland was remarkably non-diverse. It's become far more cosmopolitan in a very short space of time, mostly since the early 00s. It'll take a while for people to start showing up as high profile presenters and journalists, but it will happen.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289439#Comment_121289439

The question re: Indians, Asians, and you could add to that Poles, yes they don't seem to be included when it comes to positive discrimination. They don't seem to have a voice or group trying to better things for them in society. Perhaps they are doing well enough on their own steam?

I remember watching one of those outside campus youtube videos a few years ago, and it highlighted how positive discrimination was only in favour of African American people. They spoke to an Asian guy who said he didn't mind as he was doing grand on his own. So maybe some sections of society are more vested in trying to better themselves without the need for help?

BrianBoru00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289484#Comment_121289484

Are you suggesting that a "settled" traveller and a non settled traveller are now two distinct groups 🙄

Hyperbollix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289605#Comment_121289605

Would agree there. If we're doing a like for like comparison with English middle class, then the only middle class in Ireland is the old money Dublin/Cork elite who would have had a grandfather in Trinity or UCC 60/70 years ago and come from a long line of white collar professionals. Add to that, the big farmer set in rural Ireland who sent their kids to boarding schools / seminaries over many generations...

The rest of the modern Irish middle class are actually working class who were probably the first in our families to go to third level in the 90's and 2000s. Our Dad's worked hard and our mothers reared kids at home. That cohort now have decent pay, showhouses, 2 cars, lots of foreign travel, etc etc, but if 2008 happened again or some IT or pharma crash, they'd be just as fúcked as anyone working in a factory or retail.

duffysfarm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289778#Comment_121289778

would close rte and sack everyone if i had my way but thats a separate thread

silliussoddius

Let’s close the thread. The OP established their progressive credentials, let’s wait for the next thread.

Atlantic Dawn

For advertisements there's a huge over compensation of diversity. I can't remember the last time I saw a white straight couple in an ad selling something.

holliehobbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289439#Comment_121289439

Just to point out it’s ad not add. However compared to British tv ads we don’t have a lot of diversity.

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289501#Comment_121289501

So those hiring practises sound both racist and sexist. Diversity, am I right?

Frank Bullitt

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

The invasion of the Americanization of thinking continues.

"Why no person of colour or somebody from Eastern Europe..." would that make you feel better about yourself? Being a White Saviour when no one asked you, it is just about how you feel about yourself really, nothing to do with diversity in the slightest.

GSBellew

We don't have enough Junkies and Alcoholics presenting television shows either, surely we need to get one into a prime time slot, this is an idiotic suggestion obviously, because they would be no use.

Now I am not saying that there are no suitable eastern european candidates or other nationalities but I do not see it as a positive move to select a person based on race alone to the exclusion of other people who may be better suited.

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121291280#Comment_121291280

Those were the instructions. They also are to be preferably Irish, but not of Irish descent. Meaning not white.

beastfromtheEast

OP back here and I hate woke culture and quotas and gender and race swaps in entertainment it is insulting to all concerned.

Swapping a pre existing role sex or gender suggests people of colour and women are not good enough to play a new role while at the same time is insulting to the people you are erasing.

Having said all that I enjoying lots of stuff from the past in which women and people or colour or other backgrounds playing original roles.

Look at Netflix for example Squid Games was a massive hit with I really enjoyed.

I am not suggesting RTE needs quotas but what I am saying is RTE is a closed shop.

As regards people of Colour or Eastern Europeans I am not suggesting they would be even interested is hosting or watching a two hour show of Z listers being interviewed I myself and male and white and I am not interested in watching it.

People should not be selected for their race or gender or for their sexual preferences.

However if you go in any workplace in Ireland you will find a mix of all the above.

Going into a hospital or care home you will find a great mix of people doing great jobs who were not selected for their gender race age or anything else.

Tuning into RTE it looks totally out of touch with the rest of the nation and the fact that it parrots some woke talking points just goes to show how hypocritical it is.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289501#Comment_121289501

Literally breaking so many laws it's unbelievable which is why I'm going to say, I don't believe you.