Is the BBC in the middle of a culture war? | Justin Webb

Speaking to Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell, journalist and presenter Justin Webb presented his new book "The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and Other Train Wrecks", a memoir on his childhood and life in 1970s Britain.

He also talked about changes at the BBC, which he joined in 1984.

He said: "The weird thing about the BBC is that it's a mirror of everyone's image."

He added: "Tim Davie... said 'The BBC is now in the middle, in a huge culture war that's going on around' and that wasn't the case, actually, when I joined. But on the other hand, it was also the case.

"I mean, I remember, you know, going back to racial things, I just remember picking up the phone in the newsroom when I was a trainee, and I tremulously picked up the phone as nobody else was picking it up. And the person said, 'Give me Bob'.

"So I held up the phone and said, 'It's for Bob'. And all these faces turned around, because everyone in the radio newsroom in 1984 was called Bob. It was a certain sort of person. And that's changed enormously, actually the makeup of the BBC and I think that's a good thing."

Listen to Justin Webb's interview in full with Aasmah Mir & Stig Abell.

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