GRUMPY OLD TV PRESENTERS CLAIM THEY’RE BEING BOOTED OUT OF THE BBC BECAUSE OF AGEISM
January 2nd 2008 11:00
British television presenter Kirsty Young has denied claims that the BBC is ageist as she prepares to take over as presenter of the Crimewatch program, the Guardian reports.
The perceived fear in the UK is that older television presenters are being kicked off the air to make way for bright young things, although the ironically named Kirsty Young, while obviously bright, is not exactly young – she’s 39.
But Nick Ross, who had presented the show for 23 years, left last year amid suspicions that he was axed because he was approaching his 60th birthday.
Fiona Bruce, whose precise age has not been given by the Guardian, was transferred to Antiques Roadshow, although there has been no reference to irony regarding this move.
And Bruce herself replaced an even more antique presenter of that program, the iconic Michael Aspel, who is knocking on the door of 74.
The departure of the two male veterans led to allegations that new appointments were being made on the basis of age as much as ability.
When Nick Ross announced in June last year that he would leave after corporation bosses failed to tell him they were ordering a revamp of the show, he said he had wondered if his age was an issue.
Meanwhile, Kirsty Young sprang to her own defence saying she is no mere young stripling.
She said, “If I was 22 and some leggy, pouty bird, then I could see it, but they are stretching it a bit thin. And Fiona and I are of the same generation."
- From MediaBlab
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