BBC caught in another race storm as Ofcom boss blasts corporation for lack of diversity amid Jon Holmes' departure

The BBC is not doing enough for ethnic minorities and older women on TV, it has been claimed.

Head of the TV watchdog Ofcom, Sharon White, blasted the corporation and said that the BBC was not doing enough to be fully representative.

“It is not doing as good a job as it should,” White said, according to the Daily Star.

It comes as the BBC found itself amid a race storm after EastEnders actress Tameka Empson was eliminated from Strictly, and as BBC 4's Jon Holmes was ousted for being “white and male” after working 18 years on The Now Show.

He wrote in the Mail On Sunday: “Should I, as a white man (through no fault of my own), be fired from my job because I am a white man?” he asks. “Arguably, yes. You may well think I’m crap on The Now Show, and that’s fine, but to be told it’s because I’m the wrong sex and colour? I’m just not sure that’s helpful to anyone’s cause.”

White reportedly said: “We have done an awful lot of research, talking to people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and they do not feel the stories being told sufficiently reflect their stories.”

“All the research we have done broadly shows that people think the BBC is doing a good job,” she said.

“But it is falling short on those stories that reflect all of the nation and its communities.”

In a statement from the BBC, a representative reportedly said: “We don’t think any broadcaster does better in representing older women than the BBC.

“We’re proud of the fact that the BBC of today has a huge range of women presenters across TV and radio including Mary Berry, Carol Klein, Anne Robinson, Felicity Kendal, Joan Bakewell, Jenni Murray, Mary Beard, Gloria Hunniford, Angela Rippon, Julia Somerville and Kirsty Wark.”