Capital Xtra presenters criticise firm's response to Black Lives Matter

The highest-profile presenters on the UK’s biggest black music radio station have accused their own parent company of failing when it comes to responding to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Capital Xtra breakfast show hosts Yinka Bokinni and Shayna Marie Birch-Campbell said they were “embarrassed” by statements on race issued by Global Radio in response to the recent protests.

“As two black women who front the breakfast show on the biggest black music station in the UK we were honestly embarrassed by the response from Capital Xtra, especially the seemingly ‘copy and paste’ job in terms of the statement released,” the pair wrote in a joint statement on an internal discussion board, according to messages passed to the Guardian by concerned members of staff.

“It’s upsetting to receive messages from black people who work in the company who are scared of coming forward and at first we weren’t even sure if this was a forum for presenters to share their opinions, but honestly we don’t know what else to do.”

The pair said progress on race needed to be made across Global Media, the privately controlled conglomerate that owns stations including Capital Radio, Heart, and Smooth. It also owns LBC which includes among its presenters the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, whose on-air criticism of the protests has angered some staff at Capital Xtra.

Bokinni and Birch-Campbell said: “Honestly, we are exhausted. As black women in the public eye and forward-facing representatives of this company who are actively speaking out against white privilege and fighting for change, we currently don’t feel like we have the backing of the place we call home. We are more than open to having discussions and being involved in working out how we can move forward.”

Staff are also angry at the lack of diversity on the Global Media board. The company has 10 board members but only gained a female executive at the end of April, with staff now calling for senior representation for black workers.

One source at Global said they were “saddened by the lack of genuine commitment to diversity” at the company and claimed: “There’s never been any genuine commitment to BAME representation or developing female leaders.”

The breakfast show presenters issued their statement following staff discussion of comments made by Global founder and president, Ashley Tabor-King, which prompted a lengthy discussion on the company’s internal work discussion forum.

When the discussion became strongly critical of Tabor-King and Global’s progress on racial equality, a manager turned the comments off and proposed moving the entire debate from the main group for all staff to a different discussion forum exclusively for staff from a BAME background.

This prompted further objections from staff, with one black employee addressing the manager they held responsible for the decision to turn off the comments: “How can you expect us to have conversations on ‘positive solutions’ if senior members of staff like yourself are so uncomfortable that they decide to disregard and dismiss the issues that many of us have pointed out?”

A Global spokesperson said: “Every Global employee is now a member of the BAME group on our internal platform and the conversation was not, and is not, limited for anyone.

“We have also taken several steps in recent days, including the formation of a BAME committee, with an appointed independent expert to advise us, in order that faster progress can be made and this evening all our radio brands will hold one minute’s silence so that those suffering, or who have suffered, can be recognised with respect and dignity. All of our outdoor digital displays will concurrently also carry appropriate messaging.

“Over the last 12 months, representation for ethnic minorities has increased from 8% to 13%. The Global Academy at which 39% of the students are from a BAME background recently enabled 15 apprentices to start full-time apprenticeships at Global.

“All this said, we recognise there is still a lot of work to do … Like a lot of businesses, we are honest enough to say that we are still finding our feet and learning fast.”