‘Talent’ is just another filter to protect the privileged, says Paul McGilchrist ; pay revelations may destroy the goodwill that keeps the BBC alive, says John Keane ; there’s no pay gap for freelancers at the bottom, says Tony Staveacre

Emily Bell’s critique of BBC attitudes to its highly paid presenters is well-aimed, but shares with others an unquestioning attitude to supposed “talent” (BBC is paying too much for talent it can afford to lose, 24 July). Grossly inflated salaries everywhere are now routinely justified on the basis of this mystical, unquantifiable attribute, which is of course very convenient for those presumed to possess it. It not only enables their value to be measured against entirely different criteria to other workers in the same organisation, but gives legitimacy to the invisibility of the tools used to assess it.

Talent was once the preserve of the gifted – those for whom the marriage of aptitude and competence produced exceptional expressions of a given skill. Now, however, it is simply a descriptor, identifying those whom the market favours. It has even spawned its own self-aggrandising industry among HR departments that increasingly employ “talent directors”. On the other hand, perhaps this is the dawn of a new democratising principle. Perhaps we shall see a financial premium for the many individuals who are undoubtedly extraordinarily good at their jobs in the canteens, restaurants, admin and estates departments of blue-chip companies and the BBC. Until then, “talent” in the 21st century should be recognised for what it is – just another filter to protect the privileged.

Paul McGilchrist

Colchester, Essex

• In the interests of transparency I can disclose that I was recently paid the princely sum of £55 to contribute to a Radio 3 evening discussion programme, a task that probably took up several hours of my time and was remunerated, I imagine, at a rate considerably less than the call-out for a heating engineer. I participated because it’s nice to be asked and because I am glad that the BBC exists to provide such programmes. You might describe this as goodwill, perhaps, but recent pay revelations forced on the BBC by political pressure and vested commercial interests may yet help to dry up this remaining well of goodwill, thereby further serving to hasten the corporation’s inevitable demise as it struggles at the same time both to provide quality public service broadcasting and to compete in a ruthless marketplace. Perhaps I need a better agent.

John Keane

London

• There is no pay gap at the ground level, for those of us who value occasional freelance contracts, where jobbing actors, musicians and writers are paid according to an agreed scale, same for all. Expert commentators are often paid nothing, unless they ask for a fee. The headline-grabbing star salaries are figures plucked from the air, resulting from tough individual negotiations between BBC contracts managers and showbiz agents, who’ll settle for whatever they can get away with: 10% of £400,000 will do very nicely, thank you.

Tony Staveacre

Blagdon, North Somerset

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