BBC Radio Suffolk presenter James Hazell has caused outrage for his comment he made to a caller in a debate on breastfeeding on his show on Monday 18th July. According to The Telegraph
Mr Hazell has come under fire for his comment, which has been described as ''crass'' by mum-of-two Laura Cardwell, from Ipswich, Suffolk.I've listened to the audio on iPlayer (about 1hour 50mins into the show) but as it's unlikely to still be available I've uploaded the majority of that particular call for you to listen to.
She said: "I was asked to do an interview on James Hazell's morning show for BBC Radio Suffolk. I listened to the programme later with interest, only to find what should have been a positive affirmation for breastfeeding mothers was turned into crass and ignorant nonsense. I was appalled. There is nothing more natural than nursing your baby.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but surely the point of being a radio host is to broadcast issues and listen to listeners feedback, not to push the host's views on to us."
What doesn't come across in that clip, as it's only a single conversation, is that Hazell played Devil's advocate with every caller in that section of the show. To my mind he didn't seem to support either side of the debate, using appropriately pitched questions to help draw out each caller to contribute to the show. Which surely is the real point of being a radio talk-show host?
Laura Cardwell has been part of a campaign to promote breastfeeding friendly businesses in Suffolk. How dare a local radio DJ have fun with one of his callers about a cause she supports?
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3 comments:
I've no issue one way or the other but if a woman flops her boob out at the table to my right, my eyes might not be following the erudite conversation of my dinner companion quite so much.
For me I think it would definitely depend on the woman doing the flopping JH.. .. .. .. e.g. Germaine Greer, Dawn French, I think in those situations my dinner companion would have my complete undivided attention!!
But more seriously the po-faced reaction of the breastfeeding campaigner is ridiculous - the presenter can't add some warmth and humour to a conversation on air because she believes in the cause.
If it was Germaine Greer my dinner companion would have my starter projectiled all over him/her.
If she believes in her cause that much then there's a little cafe in Tower Hamlets she might like to visit.
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