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| Ched Evans rape remarks: Nick Conrad is another man who needs a second chance | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| When you hear the start of Nick Conrad’s local radio show it seems astonishing that this Radio Norfolk phone-in host should have gone on to utter the most misogynist, victim-blaming claptrap heard this week on the BBC. | When you hear the start of Nick Conrad’s local radio show it seems astonishing that this Radio Norfolk phone-in host should have gone on to utter the most misogynist, victim-blaming claptrap heard this week on the BBC. |
| In a show on Monday in which Conrad out-Partridges the most famed Norfolk broadcaster until now, the presenter starts by telling a man called Bob, who supports Ched Evan’s return to professional football, to think about the impact on his victims of watching the man go on to be “celebrated as a hero … as he sticks his ball in the back of the net”. | In a show on Monday in which Conrad out-Partridges the most famed Norfolk broadcaster until now, the presenter starts by telling a man called Bob, who supports Ched Evan’s return to professional football, to think about the impact on his victims of watching the man go on to be “celebrated as a hero … as he sticks his ball in the back of the net”. |
| That the same man goes on talk about women needing to be “more aware of a man’s sexual desire”, while using all those old phallic images about not yanking a dog’s tail without expecting to be bitten and keeping snakes in the garden (the lady one, presumably) says a lot about the nature of live broadcasting but also underlying assumptions about the nature of sexual desire. | That the same man goes on talk about women needing to be “more aware of a man’s sexual desire”, while using all those old phallic images about not yanking a dog’s tail without expecting to be bitten and keeping snakes in the garden (the lady one, presumably) says a lot about the nature of live broadcasting but also underlying assumptions about the nature of sexual desire. |
| In the course of a three-hour programme, Conrad cannot seem to help himself talking about “huge amount of energy in the male body” and being “whipped up into a bit of a storm” all relating to the idea that men will be men if women provoke them, an adage as old as the original garden. Where is the responsibility for this sin/crime? Not in the poor bloke who just can’t help himself, but the evil temptress. | In the course of a three-hour programme, Conrad cannot seem to help himself talking about “huge amount of energy in the male body” and being “whipped up into a bit of a storm” all relating to the idea that men will be men if women provoke them, an adage as old as the original garden. Where is the responsibility for this sin/crime? Not in the poor bloke who just can’t help himself, but the evil temptress. |
| Conrad – whose marketing pitch that he “presents the programme which gets the county talking” really only came true after the Eastern Daily Press reported his comments – added: “What I’m trying to say is that women also have to understand that when a man’s given certain signals, he’ll wish to act upon them and if you don’t wish to give out the wrong signals, it’s best probably to keep your knickers on and not get into bed with him. Does that make sense?” | Conrad – whose marketing pitch that he “presents the programme which gets the county talking” really only came true after the Eastern Daily Press reported his comments – added: “What I’m trying to say is that women also have to understand that when a man’s given certain signals, he’ll wish to act upon them and if you don’t wish to give out the wrong signals, it’s best probably to keep your knickers on and not get into bed with him. Does that make sense?” |
| Although only one listener had complained to the BBC when the local paper reported the story on Monday, by lunchtime Wednesday, Ofcom, the industry regulator had received three. I don’t know how many more people heard the original programme on Monday morning, but I’d wager that more had commented on Twitter by Wednesday morning. Some called for Conrad to be sacked and not given his own second chance. | Although only one listener had complained to the BBC when the local paper reported the story on Monday, by lunchtime Wednesday, Ofcom, the industry regulator had received three. I don’t know how many more people heard the original programme on Monday morning, but I’d wager that more had commented on Twitter by Wednesday morning. Some called for Conrad to be sacked and not given his own second chance. |
| In an attempt to prove how even-handed Conrad had been, the show even heard from Sarah Green at campaign group End Violence against Women. Conrad asked her whether the issue of giving offenders a second chance was a “grey area”. Her answer was brilliant. No, she says, the issue of rehabilitation and the role of football in society may be worth discussing, but rape itself is not a grey area. “Really this is about rape and about how surveys constantly find that around a quarter to a third of the population when interviewed about their attitude to rape will commonly make excuses for it, or say that women are sometimes to blame or make excuses for perpetrators. | In an attempt to prove how even-handed Conrad had been, the show even heard from Sarah Green at campaign group End Violence against Women. Conrad asked her whether the issue of giving offenders a second chance was a “grey area”. Her answer was brilliant. No, she says, the issue of rehabilitation and the role of football in society may be worth discussing, but rape itself is not a grey area. “Really this is about rape and about how surveys constantly find that around a quarter to a third of the population when interviewed about their attitude to rape will commonly make excuses for it, or say that women are sometimes to blame or make excuses for perpetrators. |
| “People have some views about rape being a slightly grey area and what I want to say is this is often related to ideas about men, some men not being [able] to fundamentally control themselves because they are driven in this way and all of us should think about what that means…” | “People have some views about rape being a slightly grey area and what I want to say is this is often related to ideas about men, some men not being [able] to fundamentally control themselves because they are driven in this way and all of us should think about what that means…” |
| Conrad, perhaps with the producer shouting in his ear at this point or perhaps not, does go on to say that rape is “abhorrent” but the damage is done. | Conrad, perhaps with the producer shouting in his ear at this point or perhaps not, does go on to say that rape is “abhorrent” but the damage is done. |
| “The onus is always on the side of the criminal, the rapist, they have the responsibility, they should have not proceeded with their absolutely abhorrent actions, but also for women maybe there is an area that should be debated about how much they encourage men, how much they wind men up and then the repercussion of that,” he said. “In some cases, in some cases. Not in all cases at all. In some cases.” | “The onus is always on the side of the criminal, the rapist, they have the responsibility, they should have not proceeded with their absolutely abhorrent actions, but also for women maybe there is an area that should be debated about how much they encourage men, how much they wind men up and then the repercussion of that,” he said. “In some cases, in some cases. Not in all cases at all. In some cases.” |
| In the subsequent apology, the BBC Radio Norfolk spokesperson said: “As part of a wide-ranging discussion where Nick invited the listeners to talk frankly about the Ched Evans case, he made it clear that rape is an abhorrent act. BBC management has told Nick that some of his comments were very ill-judged and he has apologised for any offence that may have been caused.” | In the subsequent apology, the BBC Radio Norfolk spokesperson said: “As part of a wide-ranging discussion where Nick invited the listeners to talk frankly about the Ched Evans case, he made it clear that rape is an abhorrent act. BBC management has told Nick that some of his comments were very ill-judged and he has apologised for any offence that may have been caused.” |
| On Twitter, people are calling for Conrad to be sacked. Having listened to the whole thing, I don’t. I just think until all of us, broadcasters too, start thinking about our underlying attitudes to sex and sexual violence, we’ll be calling for a lot more people to get second chances. | On Twitter, people are calling for Conrad to be sacked. Having listened to the whole thing, I don’t. I just think until all of us, broadcasters too, start thinking about our underlying attitudes to sex and sexual violence, we’ll be calling for a lot more people to get second chances. |