Credibility down the tube

A culture of disablism and bullying propped up by ineffective management threatens the legacy of a once-proud regional broadcaster, says Ian Macrae

Over recent months, ITV has said that it will cut back several areas of production. Yorkshire TV’s studios in Leeds are slated for closure and Border TV is effectively being merged with its near neighbour, Tyne Tees TV.

Tyne Tees has been part of Newcastle’s cultural fabric for more than 50 years. In the 1980s, while blazing the trail of innovative music programming with The Tube, it was also ahead of the game in mainstreaming disability and specialist shows.

As a visually-impaired, 30-something radio presenter, I was hired to co-host two series of a prime-time consumer issues slot. It also did great work with and for Deaf people. Hearing producer Bob Duncan put together, and gave control to, a team made up almost entirely of British Sign Language (BSL) users to produce Sign On for Channel 4. For the Community, the show was simply the best at bringing the current affairs agenda to them and Deaf culture to the screen.

That work with Deaf people continues with the company providing BSL resources across the ITV network. Yet those same Deaf professionals have emerged as being among the targets of a cabal of senior news journalists at the station who employed disablist language as an everyday part of their newsroom routine and banter.

Disability Now has learnt that one particular journalist, who had senior managerial responsibility for the news operation regularly and publicly used terms such as “Crips”, “Rasps”, “Mongs” and “Windowlickers” when discussing disabled people in connection with the station’s news output.

Deaf Tyne Tees employees were also the butt of disablist humour by him and others in his circle.

The Guardian newspaper recently revealed that a whistle-blower at Tyne Tees was ostracised by the ringleader and his pals for the next two years and suffered significant mental health issues as a result.

The whistle-blower made two formal allegations of bullying. Despite a conviction by an independent investigation, management at ITV downgraded the charges. The bully escaped with a verbal warning and later a written warning. He was finally suspended but left with a sum we believe to be £50,000.

As is typical in such cases, the disablist offender defended his behaviour as “black humour” – itself an arguably offensive term. But aside from his evident contempt, we’re left wondering where the disabled community stands in relation to this one-time paragon. It’s sad enough to have to note Tyne Tees Television’s diminishing regional presence and profile. What’s more distressing is the apparent loss of what we might call the station’s disability cred.