Selina Scott BBC sexism and ageism dossier 'will trigger revolution at broadcaster'

Veteran broadcaster Selina Scott, who has compiled a dossier into the 'malign sexism and ageism against women' at the BBC, claims it 'will trigger nothing short of a revolution within Television Centre'.

Once the 'golden girl' of the corporation, the 59-year-old says her report, which has been sent to boss Sir Michael Lyons 'will shock any fair-minded person'.

Miss Scott, who began presenting the ITN News at Ten in 1982, and also launched the BBC's Breakfast, began her research following the departures of high profile presenters such as Moira Stuart, Anna Ford and Arlene Phillips. She claims that older female workers in broadcasting feel they have a 'best by date'.

Ageism crusade: Selina Scott said the report delivered to BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons last week would 'shock any fair-minded person'

The former newsreader says she was told she will be 'treated forever like a leper by the broadcasting industry' for taking action against Channel Five for ageism.

In 2008, Miss Scott won a landmark £250,000 out-of-court settlement from Channel Five in 2008 after she was dropped from news presenting because of her age.

She successfully sued the broadcaster for age discrimination, claiming she had been told she was 'too old' to replace Natasha Kaplinsky during her maternity leave.

But she has since experienced a 'final rejection' from both the BBC and ITV, saying: 'I experienced in this period a disregarding, unthinking, almost casual maiming which leaves women like me with their confidence and career in tatters but which is done in a sly and at times almost unspoken and Machiavellian way.

Ageism victims: TV presenter Arlene Phillips (left) and newsreader Moira Stuart (right) were also pushed aside by the public broadcaster



'You are rarely told outright you are wanted. There is never a conversation. It seems to be conducted by whispers in corridors. It's insidious, cowardly, and unworthy of the great traditions of a public broadcaster like the BBC.'

In the report, compiled with charity Age UK and legal firm Equal Justice, Miss Scott says the BBC Trust must order an inquiry into ageism against women.



Heyday: Selina Scott on the set of Breakfast Time in the 1980s

'The dossier contains an exhaustive account of blatant and sometimes malign sexism and ageism against women within what is probably the major tastemaker and social arbiter in Britain,' she writes.

Despite a 1998 investigation by Age Concern which revealed 'older men' far outnumbered their female counterparts on BBC screens - by 72 per cent compared to just 28 per cent - not much has changed in the ensuing decade argues Miss Scott. If anything, sexism and ageism has worsened she says.

'What happened to this report and what has happened on our screens since?' asks Miss Scott. 'Nothing. The obsession with youth and rejection of older women in television have increased.'

BBC bosses are currently facing an age discrimination case from Miriam O'Reilly, 52, after her departure as a host of Countryfile.



And BBC1 had thousands of complaints when it replaced Miss Phillips, 66, as a Strictly Come Dancing judge with singer Alesha Dixon, 31.



Writing in The Daily Telegraph, she once again hit out at some of the BBC's most successful female presenters and executives, labelling Anne Robinson 'Cruella de Vil' and the panellists on Loose Women as 'gossiping harpies'.

She claims Miss Robinson has shamelessly transformed herself into a caricature like the Disney character in a bid to overcome institutional ageism at the corporation.

There are also harsh words for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who she claims promised to champion the report when he was in opposition, but now refuses to become involved.

