Via the Jewish Chronicle we learn that:
“The BBC has been accused of racism after an article on the Blackley and Broughton constituency in Greater Manchester referred to its “wealthy” Jewish community.”
The Manchester Evening News (which has a screenshot of the original profile) reports that:
“In its summary of the Blackley and Broughton constituency ahead of May 7, the broadcaster describes a multi-cultural area containing a ‘Jewish community concentrated in a wealthy pocket of large detached houses’.
Labour candidate Graham Stringer, who is defending the seat, says the words have prompted a flood of complaints from Jewish people.
He said parts of the area’s Orthodox community suffer from some of the highest poverty levels in the country and compared the description to the Victorian caricature of Fagin in Oliver Twist.
In a complaint to the BBC, he says the description is a ‘racist distortion’.
The profile refers to Blackley and Broughton’s Muslim, Irish, West Indian, Sikh and Polish populations and points out that a third of people in the constituency live in social housing.
But the only ethnicity it describes in terms of its wealth is the Jewish community.”
By way of comparison, the constituency which the BBC defines as “the richest place in Britain” – Kensington – is described as “well-to-do” and no mention is made of its ethnic or religious make-up.
The BBC has now amended the profile of Blackley & Broughton.
“A BBC spokesperson said: “These profiles aim to portray every constituency in a few sentences. We regret part of our description of Blackley and Broughton did not accurately reflect the area and we have now changed the wording accordingly.””
Once again the BBC chooses to miss the point.
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