Media Must Preserve Working-Class Voices – Lorraine Kelly
TV presenter Lorraine Kelly stressed the importance of better representation of working-class voices in the media, warning that “if you’re only going to hear elite opinions we’re never going to get anywhere.”
Career Challenges and Changes
Kelly, a familiar presence on national TV since the mid-1980s, appeared on BBC’s Desert Island Discs to discuss recent ITV cutbacks. Her show will be reduced to 30-minute episodes airing just 30 weeks a year starting in 2026.
“Things have to change. I have been through so many regime changes in my life. For me this is just another one, but it’s seismic.”
She expressed sadness about the disruption of the “great team” she works with and hopes many jobs can be saved despite the challenges. “But you know what, it’s just the world we live in,” she remarked.
Personal Background and Barriers
Growing up in Glasgow and later East Kilbride, Kelly recalled being “crushed” when told she would not get a BBC job because of her “working-class Scottish accent.” Her TV career began when an Australian at TV-am, unfamiliar with her accent, hired her.
“I really worry about working-class people not being given the opportunity that I had.”
Summary
Lorraine Kelly highlights the urgent need for the media to maintain diversity by including working-class voices, which remain underrepresented despite her own breakthrough against accent-based bias.