Date: 8th January 2001

BBC Chief: BEEB "Hideously White"


BBC Director-General Greg Dyke has described the corporation as "hideously white" and unable to attract and keep employees of different ethnic backgrounds. "The figures we have at the moment suggest that quite a lot of people from different ethnic backgrounds that we do attract to the BBC leave," Dyke said in an interview on BBC Radio Scotland Sunday.

"Maybe they don't feel at home, maybe they don't feel welcome." The BBC later issued a statement saying, "The BBC has a responsibility to reflect in its workforce and in its output the diverse nature of the community we serve, and indeed which funds it. We want a BBC where diversity is seen as an asset, not an issue or a problem."

Source: Studio Briefing