This what happens when ownership of the media isn't controlled, and neither is their responsibility to actually report the truth rather than make up lies all the time, eg in USA thanks to Reagan.
“I’m sorry if you’re offended” - I'm offended by her everyday bigotry.
Simple example of the thinking of those Reform types. People coming from Ukraine, no problem; people coming from any other theatre of war, big problem. Only difference is the colour of their skin.
Bigotry is taught. Non-influenced little children play happily together. One of the best things about SureStart was the inclusion and integration of all from very young, and the soft parenting of all attendees. That should have been Labour's priority. Stupidly, too much concentration on £ instead of actually helping the country reset into a kind society.
Spot on as usual. It’s not representation that makes Sarah Pochin furious. It’s the loss of control. She’s used to seeing Britain through a narrow keyhole: a world where ordinary life looks like her living room, everyone else just extras.
Advert panels, diversity reports, stats — none of it matters. What she’s really afraid of is ordinary people actually being ordinary on screen: Black, Asian, older, working-class, disabled, queer. People living normal lives without a script telling them how to look, speak, or move.
Pochin’s meltdown is a reminder that inclusion isn’t about numbers; it’s about power. Who gets to be seen as “default”? Who gets to occupy narrative space without permission? And she’s losing that battle, one advert at a time.
I was at a Talking Pictures TV event recently, and the lovely Sarah (Noel's daughter) went to ascend to the stage but tripped up on the first step. Cue a heckle from the audience... "You need a stair-lift, love!"
There then followed an explanation of how the advertising on the channel is managed by a specialist company and the channel owners get no say in the kinds of adverts that get shown - if they did, then they would change it up a bit, because they're as fed up as every one else of the never ending adverts for hearing aids, stair lifts, funeral cover, "specialist" underwear and short excursion cruises.
Fascinating. I live in a very white part of the country, where you really notice if black or brown people come to visit. What we do have is a really large population of elderly and wheelchair users. I don’t watch tv but I hear people talking in various degrees of bigotry and a lot of hopelessness and loneliness. I am sure portrayal of the wide spectrum of humanity would help even out consciousness. There is so much misinformation in msm. Thank you for this insightful piece.
I once went with my housemate (a woman of black heritage, but born and raised here and more British than me most of the time) to a canal festival. I'd not noticed of course, in my insular white bubble, but this black lad, dressed up in Morris costume (he was part of the entertainment) ran up to her and grabbed her hand. He was nearly hugging her (she would not have liked THAT!) and crying "Thank God! I've been here three days already and you're the only other black person I've seen!"
That really struck home it did. Probably my waking up moment, that one. I started taking notice - he was right of course.
I came from London in the 70s where there were obviously plenty of people of colour and moved to Devon where I’ve been ever since. I clearly remember one town I lived in for 20 years and there was literally one black man, and a kid who’d been adopted by a white family Lots of Chinese and Bangladeshi because of the restaurants. Another 20 years and it’s still mostly like that apart from students at the university in their thousands every year. I find I have a dual personality as there is my intellectual side and a sort of visceral otherness in coming face to face with blackness. I know that’s a familiar perception for them. I’ve travelled extensively in India and it’s really not like that at all. I do think we benefit from integration in order to see each other as fully human.
I'm a born and bred northerner who studied in the South East (in a sea-side town) and settled in London. Similarly raised in the 70s and 80s. Went to an international boarding school.
I can't even say "I'm used to it", because there's no alternative reality as the "from" or "other" for that concept. The story above isn't about a place per se, but about a community. I told my Nigerian partner the story and they said "What the hell are you talking about? What is this narrowboat thing, eh? Is it literally a narrow boat? *tschk* Yeah, we don' do dat." And this coming from someone from River State (the clue is in the name). The canal community, at least the type that went to festivals around 2009, were 100% white (but I have to say, even at the stalls flogging boat engines and at the lectures on repacking shaft glands and the merits of a weed hatch, pretty much 50/50 on gender; which I would say is not an insignificant little victory for equality!)
Unsurprisingly pathetic non-apology from a truly horrible person, and her nasty racist little party will likely do absolutely nothing unless forced to - apart from whine about how they're attacked all the time
I am not claiming Reform UK wrote this script. I am saying that if someone wanted to manufacture outrage for attention, this is exactly how they would do it.
It is hard to call it a scandal when the fire alarm rings on cue.
If politics is theatre, Reform UK are the pyrotechnics team.
They do not fear backlash. They appear to budget for it.
Your comments about advertisers stereotyping people with specific characteristics (be that colour, ability, age or whatever) are spot on. The expected demographic of programmes I see are clearly people my age (over 60) as all - and I mean all - the adverts are for over 50s life plans, direct cremation or other funeral arrangements, incontinence products, riser chairs etc. We're not all immobile, incontinent and waiting to die...
Whilst the racists trumped up hissy fit is about ads, TV representation in general is highly important, something I have always believed, but seeing my wife glued to Project Runway season 21 graphically highlighted this.
We binge watched the entire series in one day, with part of the reason being that she saw herself truly represented as a filipino immigrant, with a very similar lived experience.
Not only did she feel represented, but it gave her a sence of hope for her future, which is something that has been drifting away during recent years.
When the likes Pochin make racist statements at the most profound level they are denying the people they describe as being seen for their essential humanity.
Reading your analysis I've come to the conclusion that some politicians have plenty of time in their hands if their main concern is tokenistic representation in advertising...
As you say, if anything, there's a lack of representation in a meaningful way. The way we visually represent (or not) a group of people contributes to shape narratives about them and the spaces they can occupy and in what capacity. Black authors have been talking about this for years and how they're expected to produce books centered around poverty, or discrimination and suffering instead of just being allowed to write stories where characters are just people going about their lives who happen to be black.
I think Sarah Pochin should get a copy of Screen Deep by Ellen E. Jones and binge watch Bridgerton, which has been mentioned several times as a great case study for positive representation on screen.
I’ve heard comments about having a problem with diversity on tv being discussed on YouTube many times. Then Sarah Pochin finally gets wind of it and desperate to trigger Reform voters echoes these comments herself. Her comments were unashamedly blatant. Then she desperately looked for some research to twist. I think the reason she backtracked is because she’s not sure how far she can go in this toxic climate…yet. This constant desire to keep escalating the issue is worrying me. I think the more desensitised people get to this toxicity the further politicians like her will go. Facts for her are to be ignored or twisted.
The purpose of advertising is not to show the country as any individual would like, or to accurately represent different groups, it is to sell stuff. Nothing more, nothing less. The 'stuff' could be something intangible like an idea but is more likely to be a product. Research within the ad. industry shows that the type of inclusive ads. being seen now increase sales in both the short and long term.
Wonderful article which, as ever, has dissected the nonsense and illustrated the evidence of the situation instead of the bias and bigotry. Sarah Pochin is now reported as saying that it was not her intention to cause any offence. As an MP and a former magistrate one would hope that she would understand that her intention is irrelevant. As with discrimination of any sort it is the recipient’s view that is paramount , not the intention of the perpetrator.
I think Husband and I should start complaining about something. Erm, there aren’t enough people like us on TV. I was born in Hamburg and Husband is Jewish and was born in New York, we are in our thirties and have four sons. We live in a ground floor flat and have one rather old car between us. Husband is a self employed plumber. Why aren’t we on TV more? Why do people in adverts have such large kitchens and bathrooms? Anyhow, seriously, reform is a racist group and is full of racists, some of the ones we know seem to be unaware they are racist, due, presumably, to lack of something, brains maybe.
The problem is too many Reform faces on TV. Four MPs and 50% of the MSM coverage
Spot on! Seems to me Reform and their goons are overepresented, and have been for far too long.
Obviously, brown people are expected to be invisible and know their place - along with older/disabled/larger people.
I find astonishing that this woman has the arrogance to be publicly racist, like it's now accettable.
This seems to have become acceptable since Brexit. It is not and must never be allowed to become normal.
This what happens when ownership of the media isn't controlled, and neither is their responsibility to actually report the truth rather than make up lies all the time, eg in USA thanks to Reagan.
“I’m sorry if you’re offended” - I'm offended by her everyday bigotry.
Simple example of the thinking of those Reform types. People coming from Ukraine, no problem; people coming from any other theatre of war, big problem. Only difference is the colour of their skin.
Bigotry is taught. Non-influenced little children play happily together. One of the best things about SureStart was the inclusion and integration of all from very young, and the soft parenting of all attendees. That should have been Labour's priority. Stupidly, too much concentration on £ instead of actually helping the country reset into a kind society.
I'm truly worried about this country.
Spot on as usual. It’s not representation that makes Sarah Pochin furious. It’s the loss of control. She’s used to seeing Britain through a narrow keyhole: a world where ordinary life looks like her living room, everyone else just extras.
Advert panels, diversity reports, stats — none of it matters. What she’s really afraid of is ordinary people actually being ordinary on screen: Black, Asian, older, working-class, disabled, queer. People living normal lives without a script telling them how to look, speak, or move.
Pochin’s meltdown is a reminder that inclusion isn’t about numbers; it’s about power. Who gets to be seen as “default”? Who gets to occupy narrative space without permission? And she’s losing that battle, one advert at a time.
I'm not usually one to complain but, as a senior citizen, I'm sick and tired of seeing ads where someone is trying to sell me a funeral. ; )
Also stairlifts and rising chairs.
And that goes for incontinence pads as well.
I was at a Talking Pictures TV event recently, and the lovely Sarah (Noel's daughter) went to ascend to the stage but tripped up on the first step. Cue a heckle from the audience... "You need a stair-lift, love!"
There then followed an explanation of how the advertising on the channel is managed by a specialist company and the channel owners get no say in the kinds of adverts that get shown - if they did, then they would change it up a bit, because they're as fed up as every one else of the never ending adverts for hearing aids, stair lifts, funeral cover, "specialist" underwear and short excursion cruises.
It’s almost as if there’s a systemic bias towards destabilisation of society.
Fascinating. I live in a very white part of the country, where you really notice if black or brown people come to visit. What we do have is a really large population of elderly and wheelchair users. I don’t watch tv but I hear people talking in various degrees of bigotry and a lot of hopelessness and loneliness. I am sure portrayal of the wide spectrum of humanity would help even out consciousness. There is so much misinformation in msm. Thank you for this insightful piece.
I once went with my housemate (a woman of black heritage, but born and raised here and more British than me most of the time) to a canal festival. I'd not noticed of course, in my insular white bubble, but this black lad, dressed up in Morris costume (he was part of the entertainment) ran up to her and grabbed her hand. He was nearly hugging her (she would not have liked THAT!) and crying "Thank God! I've been here three days already and you're the only other black person I've seen!"
That really struck home it did. Probably my waking up moment, that one. I started taking notice - he was right of course.
I came from London in the 70s where there were obviously plenty of people of colour and moved to Devon where I’ve been ever since. I clearly remember one town I lived in for 20 years and there was literally one black man, and a kid who’d been adopted by a white family Lots of Chinese and Bangladeshi because of the restaurants. Another 20 years and it’s still mostly like that apart from students at the university in their thousands every year. I find I have a dual personality as there is my intellectual side and a sort of visceral otherness in coming face to face with blackness. I know that’s a familiar perception for them. I’ve travelled extensively in India and it’s really not like that at all. I do think we benefit from integration in order to see each other as fully human.
I'm a born and bred northerner who studied in the South East (in a sea-side town) and settled in London. Similarly raised in the 70s and 80s. Went to an international boarding school.
I can't even say "I'm used to it", because there's no alternative reality as the "from" or "other" for that concept. The story above isn't about a place per se, but about a community. I told my Nigerian partner the story and they said "What the hell are you talking about? What is this narrowboat thing, eh? Is it literally a narrow boat? *tschk* Yeah, we don' do dat." And this coming from someone from River State (the clue is in the name). The canal community, at least the type that went to festivals around 2009, were 100% white (but I have to say, even at the stalls flogging boat engines and at the lectures on repacking shaft glands and the merits of a weed hatch, pretty much 50/50 on gender; which I would say is not an insignificant little victory for equality!)
'diversity seasoning' - proper lol moment :)
Unsurprisingly pathetic non-apology from a truly horrible person, and her nasty racist little party will likely do absolutely nothing unless forced to - apart from whine about how they're attacked all the time
The Pattern (in my view)
Say something guaranteed to provoke.
Wait for the outrage.
Offer a polite half-apology.
Change the subject to a culture war.
Tell supporters you are being silenced.
Announce a new campaign on that topic.
I am not claiming Reform UK wrote this script. I am saying that if someone wanted to manufacture outrage for attention, this is exactly how they would do it.
It is hard to call it a scandal when the fire alarm rings on cue.
If politics is theatre, Reform UK are the pyrotechnics team.
They do not fear backlash. They appear to budget for it.
They never get cancelled.
They just get renewed for another season.
Your comments about advertisers stereotyping people with specific characteristics (be that colour, ability, age or whatever) are spot on. The expected demographic of programmes I see are clearly people my age (over 60) as all - and I mean all - the adverts are for over 50s life plans, direct cremation or other funeral arrangements, incontinence products, riser chairs etc. We're not all immobile, incontinent and waiting to die...
Too many of the wrong type of faces on tv. So stop showing them all the time. We don’t want Farage, Tice, Pochin and Yusuf
I would find those faces acceptable on TV, but only if they had brought back Tiswas.
Whilst the racists trumped up hissy fit is about ads, TV representation in general is highly important, something I have always believed, but seeing my wife glued to Project Runway season 21 graphically highlighted this.
We binge watched the entire series in one day, with part of the reason being that she saw herself truly represented as a filipino immigrant, with a very similar lived experience.
Not only did she feel represented, but it gave her a sence of hope for her future, which is something that has been drifting away during recent years.
When the likes Pochin make racist statements at the most profound level they are denying the people they describe as being seen for their essential humanity.
Instead they are being othered.
Reading your analysis I've come to the conclusion that some politicians have plenty of time in their hands if their main concern is tokenistic representation in advertising...
As you say, if anything, there's a lack of representation in a meaningful way. The way we visually represent (or not) a group of people contributes to shape narratives about them and the spaces they can occupy and in what capacity. Black authors have been talking about this for years and how they're expected to produce books centered around poverty, or discrimination and suffering instead of just being allowed to write stories where characters are just people going about their lives who happen to be black.
I think Sarah Pochin should get a copy of Screen Deep by Ellen E. Jones and binge watch Bridgerton, which has been mentioned several times as a great case study for positive representation on screen.
I’ve heard comments about having a problem with diversity on tv being discussed on YouTube many times. Then Sarah Pochin finally gets wind of it and desperate to trigger Reform voters echoes these comments herself. Her comments were unashamedly blatant. Then she desperately looked for some research to twist. I think the reason she backtracked is because she’s not sure how far she can go in this toxic climate…yet. This constant desire to keep escalating the issue is worrying me. I think the more desensitised people get to this toxicity the further politicians like her will go. Facts for her are to be ignored or twisted.
The purpose of advertising is not to show the country as any individual would like, or to accurately represent different groups, it is to sell stuff. Nothing more, nothing less. The 'stuff' could be something intangible like an idea but is more likely to be a product. Research within the ad. industry shows that the type of inclusive ads. being seen now increase sales in both the short and long term.
Wonderful article which, as ever, has dissected the nonsense and illustrated the evidence of the situation instead of the bias and bigotry. Sarah Pochin is now reported as saying that it was not her intention to cause any offence. As an MP and a former magistrate one would hope that she would understand that her intention is irrelevant. As with discrimination of any sort it is the recipient’s view that is paramount , not the intention of the perpetrator.
I think Husband and I should start complaining about something. Erm, there aren’t enough people like us on TV. I was born in Hamburg and Husband is Jewish and was born in New York, we are in our thirties and have four sons. We live in a ground floor flat and have one rather old car between us. Husband is a self employed plumber. Why aren’t we on TV more? Why do people in adverts have such large kitchens and bathrooms? Anyhow, seriously, reform is a racist group and is full of racists, some of the ones we know seem to be unaware they are racist, due, presumably, to lack of something, brains maybe.