Gray & Keys In Sexist Row

[dom9]

They should look at what Tennis have done and follow their example.

Equal prize money and all that. A lot of female umpires.

In Tennis, I think they are misguided, simply because the women play to the best of 3 sets, rather than 5. They should also change the rules so that they play to the best of 5 sets imo.

[Arn]

In Tennis, I think they are misguided, simply because the women play to the best of 3 sets, rather than 5. They should also change the rules so that they play to the best of 5 sets imo.

[Shaggy]

Can't believe this interview is still ongoing, over an hour now

He's still considering handing in his resignation. "Of course I am, my mate's been sacked."

[Shaggy]

It’s over now. I think he's gonna be stunned when he comes out and sees how his apology has gone down. Getting absolutely destroyed on Twitter, by journos and fans alike.

Great listen that. I don’t think he’ll be back now. Debacle ‘apology’, had a pop at Rio, Karen Brady, journos, ‘jealous people’....surely there’s no way back now.

[Tee]

@bglendenning: If Keys doesn't stop digging soon he'll be able to front Sky's coverage of the fifth ODI between England and Australia

[Shaggy]

Keys also claimed a 'professional footballer' (Rio?) shouldn't have commented due to past favours. Apparently said footballer rang Keysy when he was in a spot of bother and asked for a few favours.

Suspect that was a big mistake.

[Fredo]

Has anyone noticed the talksport website title?

"Talksport - For men who love to talk sport"

Own goal?

[Reece]

Has anyone noticed the talksport website link title?

"Talksport - For men who love to talk sport"

Own goal?

They have no female presenters either

[Tee]

Has anyone noticed the talksport website title?

"Talksport - For men who love to talk sport"

Own goal?

This just gets better and better.

[Shaggy]

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/01/sky-sports-keys-gray-melvin

Do me a favour, love: sexism at Sky Sports

Anonymous
Published 26 January 2011

An insider lifts the lid on boorishness and misogyny at Sky Sports

So Andy Gray is toast. His job as a Sky Sports football pundit was already hanging by a thread after a recording emerged of him swapping off-colour remarks about a female linesman with colleague Richard Keys. Then came the 12-second YouTube video showing Gray waving his crotch towards his female co-presenter, Charlotte Jackson, and asking if she would tuck his mic in. "Charlotte, can you tuck this down here for me, love?" Sky announced his departure soon after.

Barely had Gray's face returned to its normal colour after learning that he'd been sacked than an off-air video appeared showing Keys asking pundit Jamie Redknapp about a girlfriend. Keys refers to the woman as "it" and asks Redknapp if he'd "smashed it". Enjoying the moment, he quips: "Mind you, that's a stupid question. If you were anywhere near her, you definitely smashed it. You could have gone round there any night and found Redknapp hanging out the back of it." Keys's sacking, at the time of writing, seems likely.

The speed at which more and more revelations are stacking up is astonishing. Isn't it odd that as soon as incontrovertible proof of Gray and Keys's attitudes first emerged, the floodgates opened? Someone on the inside has a grudge to bear - and access to incriminating footage. (When I worked at Sky Sports and messed up, a producer would say "one for the Christmas video".) But who? The list of suspects is long: in the past two decades, the pair have upset as many people as they've watched football games.

The sexism of Keys and Gray was clear back in 1998 when the pair sniggered like school boys as they introduced highlights of the Women's FA Cup Final. Until now, though, it would have taken a brave person indeed to speak out. That's because Sky Sports holds such a dominant position in the world of sports broadcasting.

Sky's reach is not just domestic; its footage is viewed internationally. It has working relationships with ITV (Champions League), BBC (English Premier League) and the American network ESPN. If you fall out with Sky, you can fall out with everyone. Hence I am not putting my name to this article.

But how did the channel get into a state where its top presenters felt so comfortable expressing such crude opinions? The answer lies in its management structure, and how the football department is kept sacrosanct, separated from the rest of the output.

The football team is led by Andy Melvin - a brilliant producer/director who has virtually re-invented the way the game is covered on TV. He's often compared by his staff to Malcolm Tucker, the foul-mouthed yet gifted spin doctor in The Thick Of It. Melvin certainly doesn't care what people think of him. As I once heard him say, "I'm not here to win a ****ing popularity contest."

In the days when ITV was hiring staff for the launch of its digital channel, Melvin was keen to retain the services of ex-Spurs forward Clive Allen as a pundit. The pair reached a compromise on a salary, but Allen made the mistake of going to his agent. The agent phoned Melvin to see whether the deal might be improved. Melvin was polite, and asked the agent to get Allen to phone him. When Allen did, most of the words flying out of Melvin's mouth began with either "f" or "c". Allen was out of favour from then on. Melvin's vision of how football should be televised has been realised through Richard Keys, an experienced journalist who came to the channel from TV AM, and Andy Gray, who'd enjoyed a successful playing career. They were later joined by Geoff Shreeves, and the three have supported each other with ruthless efficiency. They in turn have been protected by Melvin. One Sky insider described the three as "bombproof" - at least before this week.

The practical effect of their dominance is that few Sky producers wanted to work on Super Sunday, despite it being the channel's flagship football programme. That's because what Keys, Gray and Shreeves decide goes. Not the producer. For example, while presenting a European Championship Qualifier between the Faroe Islands and Scotland in 1997, Keys was caught off-air talking to a producer who had asked him to do a few on-air promos - short advertising spots for future games. "Nay promos, can't be arsed . . . that's it. Daft little ground-silly game. **** off." Sky later apologised, and explained that Keys was at the end of a six-hour shift. He didn't apologise.

I've seen Keys berating production staff with a stream of invective down the years; I've seen one researcher pushed close to the edge. The man eventually left Sky Sports, confiding to me he couldn't take its "bullying culture".

It's telling that when, in May 2009, Sky Sports' managing director Vic Wakeling announced he was retiring after 15 years at the helm, Andy Melvin wasn't chosen to replace him. Many had assumed he was a shoo-in, but his abrasive style was not universally popular, and instead Sky turned to the genial Barney Francis to replace Vic. In practice, Barney was in charge of everything but football and the Melvin/Keys/Gray/Shreeves team rode on.

Ultimately, to denounce Keys and Gray for their unpleasant comments is just dealing with the effects, rather than the cause of the problem. For a start, if Sky Sports is serious about eradicating sexist views, it needs to look carefully at its policy of hiring glamorous female presenters for spurious duties. It hardly encourages a culture of respect for women.

Many years ago I watched in horror as a female presenter struggled with a cricket story and froze when she came to the letters "LBW" on her auto-prompt. She said: "Smith was out lubuwu" and looked quizzically at the screen. Another female presenter once called Wolverhampton's ground as "Moulinex".

I've worked in sports broadcasting for many years, and Sky remains at the forefront of some of the best coverage that exists. I have also witnessed there one of the worst reactionary cultures and some of the basest conservative thinking ever. Let's hope the former wins out.

[fah-q]

Doesn't Moir write for the Mail? If so, then I think it's unlikely.

But to the main point, I admit I don't go out of my way to find sexist drivel like the comments you refer to. The thing about the internet is there is always someone (including me obviously) somewhere ready to sound off about something.

There are still a lot of dinosaurs around. But thirty years ago lots of people were inured to casual racism. Yet you don't hear it anywhere near so much now (Ron Atkinson etc.) because everyone knows it's offensive. And once that starts happening, the underlying attitudes behind casual prejudice change and it becomes rarer.

I hope so anyway.

I hope you are right, I really do. However I can assure you that sexism and racism are alive and well, sadly. The amount of stuff I hear on a daily basis in the workplace and socially that gets passed off as banter is staggering.

[Shaggy]

For a start, if Sky Sports is serious about eradicating sexist views, it needs to look carefully at its policy of hiring glamorous female presenters for spurious duties. It hardly encourages a culture of respect for women.

Many years ago I watched in horror as a female presenter struggled with a cricket story and froze when she came to the letters "LBW" on her auto-prompt. She said: "Smith was out lubuwu" and looked quizzically at the screen. Another female presenter once called Wolverhampton's ground as "Moulinex".

Lubuwu

[Neil Young]

I hope you are right, I really do. However I can assure you that sexism and racism are alive and well, sadly. The amount of stuff I hear on a daily basis in the workplace and socially that gets passed off as banter is staggering.

Oh yeah, I'm sure you're right. But I do think it's changing. It's just the pace is slow and there's along way to go.

[Shaggy]

Richard Keys has told talkSPORT he and Andy Gray got things totally wrong with their comments about Sian Massey last weekend.

The Sky Sports front man admits calling lineswoman Massey’s abilities into question was entirely inappropriate and that there’s no place for their “prehistoric banter” in the modern workplace.

Keys told the Hawksbee & Jacobs Show: “I rang Sian on behalf of Andy and myself and made it an official apology, which she accepted.

“I expressed my disappointment that Andy and I, in misguidedly having a little fun, had got it wrong. It was wrong.

“She and I enjoyed some banter together and we left on very good terms. She was in very good spirits and I explained that I was misguided. There was no excuse for anybody to make any excuse for anyone. It was wrong.

“I wanted to apologise on Monday, but was told I couldn’t. There are some dark forces at work.

“I’ve been trying to find an opportunity to do so [apologise]. There’s a firestorm raging out there and it’s been very difficult to try to get across the way I’m feeling and about the inaccurate reporting that’s out there.

“It was my idea to come and talk to you. I don’t have an agent or a spin doctor. I don’t tweet or blog, and finding myself in the middle of something like this is most discomforting.

“I’ve never had a problem in my life saying sorry when I’m wrong. It was wrong. We were wrong, totally and utterly wrong.”

Part one can be heard here:

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/4783/0/richard-keys-exclusive-we-were-wrong-totally-wrong

[barnes10]

honestly tho, whats wrong with a bit of banter like. its not like they do understand the offside rule is it...