DIARY
DOMINIC LAWSON Perhaps the oddest aspect of the Prince of Wales's attack, earlier this month, on the legions of the politically correct was his placing of the BBC on the side of the good guys, alongside the armed forces and the police. Those who actually listen to the BBC's domestic radio programmes know that its news and current affairs output is deeply imbued with the ethos of political correctness. They will not be surprised by this week's news: that the Corporation has been awarding employees who have gone through homosexual 'marriage' ceremonies a week's holiday to go on honeymoon and gift vouchers worth £75. This was manage- ment's response to fierce agitation from the BBC Lesbian and Gay Group, who regard- ed the existing BBC marriage voucher scheme as 'discriminatory'. Meanwhile, I cannot resist sharing with readers the details of a BBC document which came through my home fax machine last week, and must clearly have been intended for someone else with a dangerously similar telephone number. The document is head- ed 'Woman's Hour. Presenters' Welcome Pack', and consists of no fewer than 13 Pages of instructions on how to present possibly the most influential of all BBC programmes. Indeed, it was the sheer bulk and boringness of the document which con- vinced me that it was genuine. But there are some gems of BBC PC-Think which are worth preserving, such as: '3. Do not be surprised that a woman has achieved some- thing. 4. Do not be surprised that an older person has achieved something. Don't refer to their age, even in passing, unless it's strictly relevant. 5. Do not be surprised that a black person has achieved something. Wherever possible, allow them to introduce the fact that they are black. Don't write it in.' Perhaps my favourite is '12. Forgive us — we know you know this one. Do not give your own opinions on air.' Of course not: they might fail to correspond with the cate- chism of the BBC thought police. The mys- tery remains: why does the Prince of Wales think that the BBC is on his side in the war against political correctness? Perhaps Mr Jonathan Dimbleby knows the answer.
Anerican readers of The Spectator are constantly sending me items from their own media, which make the political correct- nesses of the BBC seem wan by compari- son. The Seattle Times, for example, pub- lishes the following list of terms forbidden from use in its property rental advertising section: 'Adult. Bachelor. Couple. Family. Mature. No children. One person. Retired. Sex. Single. Two people. Christian. Execu- tive. Exclusive. Handicap (not suitable for).
Integrated. Membership approval. Mental- ly ill. Religious. Older persons. Senior citi- zens. Physically fit person (ideal for). Pri- vate. Race. Restricted. Senior discount.' The Seattle Times adds helpfully, 'This list is by no means complete.'
Forget all that Brixton stuff. We learned a few days ago that Mr John Major's father was, in fact, a farmer. Where did we learn this? In Farmer's Weekly, naturally. The Prime Minister's interview with dear old FW is an interesting example of a new trend: frightfully famous people spurning the newspapers and giving their exclusive interviews to not frightfully famous maga- zines. Last month Mr Raymond Seitz chose to give his final interview as United States Ambassador to the Court of St James's to the Kennel Gazette, the journal of the Ken- nel Club. Mr Seitz's characteristically wide- ranging revelations appeared, without any vulgar fanfare on the part of the magazine, in between such delightful articles as 'Dog care at the turn of the century' and 'The Swedish spaniel championship'. Mean- while, at the other end of the diplomatic
`Miss Wilson's a temp — she's only with us today.'
spectrum, Mr Fidel Castro has chosen to break his silence in the American press by means of an exclusive interview with Cigar Aficionado. Unlike the editor of the Kennel Gazette, Mr Marvin R. Shanken cannot resist a bit of a gloat at his scoop. In his edi- tor's note to the summer edition of Cigar Aficionado Mr Shanken enthuses, 'In a sig- nificant departure, Castro [has given] one of his very rare one-on-one interviews in his 35-year reign — not to the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, CBS, ABC or CNN, but to the editor and publisher of a two-year-old, small-circulation, special- interest magazine called Cigar Aficionado. Pinch me! Am I dreaming or what?' No, Mr Shanken, you are not dreaming. It is all there, 5,000 words of question and answer with Fidel Castro, including the claim that President Kennedy, who imposed the still enforced — trade embargo against Cuba in 1962 'always made sure that his friends who visited Cuba bought him back his favourite Cuban cigars'. At one point Castro appears to broach the idea that he and President Clinton could smoke 'a cigar of peace' in the White House, but then Marvin R. Shanken informs him that `Hillary has created a no-smoking policy in the White House'. Castro dolefully replies, `Then I guess President Clinton and I will not be able to smoke our peace pipe or cigars in the White House.'
Iwonder at the reason for this new trend in the way important people choose to hand out the favour of an interview. In Raymond Seitz's case, it is simply that the man loves dogs. But in the cases of John Major and Fidel Castro there is something else. They are — justly — terrified of the no holds barred approach of the leading interviewers of the press: such journalists are not intimidated by mere world leaders. But the less hardened reporters of the recreational magazine business are still reassuringly sycophantic. Thus Farmer's Weekly will ask John Major how someone with 'an ostensibly urban background had such an obvious empathy with agriculture'. While Cigar Aficionado's dialogue with Castro goes like this: 'Shanken: To an afi- cionado, cigar-making is like one of Beethoven's symphonies. Castro: You are right. Shanken: Non-smokers have no idea about the labour and passion that goes into tobacco-farming and cigar-making. Castro: Yes.' Who will be next for this new form of power journalism? Boris Yeltsin inter- viewed by Vodka Aficionado, perhaps. Or even His Holiness the Pope, being grilled by Polish Chess Problemist Monthly? I can't wait.
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