PinkNews Awards 2018: Nominees revealed for the Broadcast Award
The nominees for the Broadcast Award at the PinkNews Awards 2018—including two star-studded podcasts, a Channel 4 dating show, and a BBC documentary on Northern Ireland’s gay liberation movement—have been revealed, with the public being asked to vote for their favourite.
The highly-coveted accolade recognises the significant and important coverage of LGBT+ issues by UK broadcasters over the past year.
The seven-strong shortlist also features the BBC’s The Victoria Derbyshire Show; ITV’s This Morning; and BBC Radio 4’s consumer affairs show You and Yours.
Last year, the gong was picked up by joint recipients LBC presenter Maajid Nawaz and ITV’s show Lorraine. Previous winners have included Good Morning Britain and The Victoria Derbyshire Show.
The winner will be revealed at the PinkNews Awards 2018 on Wednesday October 17 in central London.
You can cast your vote here.
The nominees are as follows:
First Dates (Channel 4)
The Channel 4 dating show has been praised for featuring LGBT+ people since it started airing in 2013—and a number of same-sex couples have appeared on the show this year. In February 2018, the show, which sees participants being set up on blind dates, featured trans man Nick, who has since spoken out about trans representation on mainstream TV.
This year, the programme has also included its first same-sex date between two men using sign language, while First Dates Ireland saw trans woman Laylah go on a date with pansexual man Kyle. In December last year, two men who appeared on the show—Grieg and Shaun—announced their engagement.
This Morning (ITV)
ITV’s This Morning regularly discusses queer issues, featuring openly gay Rylan Clark-Neal and his husband Dan Neal as stand-in presenters. In July, This Morning featured 14-year old drag queen Athena Heart, who was banned from competing in a school talent show. The segment left Clark-Neal cry with pride, with the presenter telling the teenager: “I’ve got to say – I think you are amazing, I really, really do.”
In June, the show interviewed Garrard Conley, who wrote his book Boy Erased about his traumatic experience of gay conversion therapy. This Morning recently featured a trans couple opening up about the abuse their gender-neutral child has received.
However, the show has also proved controversial. In August, it was criticised by LGBT+ viewers after it aired a debate between four cisgender people about whether there should be gender-neutral public toilets.
Homo Sapiens (Will Young and Chris Sweeney)
Homo Sapiens is hosted by Will Young and Chris Sweeney. (Homo Sapiens)
Popstar Will Young and film director Chris Sweeney have been widely praised for their coverage of LGBT+ issues in their podcast Homo Sapiens. Self-described as the “LGBTQ+ answer to Radio 4 Women’s Hour,” the podcast has seen the hosts exploring hard-hitting issues like chemsex, queer mental health, and LGBT+ inclusivity in schools.
Young and Sweeney also look at more upbeat topics, with one recent podcast seeing the pair visiting Hebden Bridge, a small town in Yorkshire, which has been dubbed the “lesbian capital” of the UK.
Homo Sapiens, which has been running for two seasons, has also featured interviews with prominent LGBT+ individuals and allies, including Jeremy Corbyn, Jack Monroe, Marika Hackman, Russell T. Davies, Owen Jones, Asifa Lahore, and Johann Hari.
To listen to the Homo Sapiens podcast, visit: http://homosapienspodcast.com/
Reasons To be Cheerful (Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd)
Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd’s Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast. (Reasons To Be Cheerful/Acast)
In November 2017, episode nine of ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband and award-winning radio host Geoff Lloyd’s podcast Reasons To Be Cheerful focused on transgender rights. In the episode, titled “Transgender Rights Are Human Rights,” Miliband hit-out at articles in newspaper tabloids like the Daily Mail and The Sun, saying that they were orchestrating a transgender “moral panic” that was comparable to the homophobia exhibited by the press in the 1980s.
The show featured interviews with trans campaigner Paris Lees, transgender health expert Dr Helen Webberley, and an anonymous parent of a transgender child.
To listen to episode nine of Reasons To Be Cheerful, visit: https://www.acast.com/reasonstobecheerful/episode-9-transgender-rights-are-human-rights
The Victoria Derbyshire Show (BBC)
BBC’s The Victoria Derbyshire Show is a twice-winner of the Broadcast Award, having picked up the accolade in 2016 and 2015. The show is well-known for regularly debating issues affecting the LGBT+ community.
Recently, presenter Victoria Derbyshire has discussed transgender rights, including trans kids. In August, the show interviewed the mother of a nine-year old child, who died by suicide after being bullied. And, on September 20, The Victoria Derbyshire Show explored asexuality, including an interview with one married gay couple who have never had sex.
True North: Out Of The Shadows (BBC Northern Ireland)
In February, BBC Northern Ireland’s 40-minute documentary True North: Out Of The Shadows explored the gay liberation movement in Northern Ireland. With homosexuality illegal in the province until 1982, the documentary looked at the stories of the gay men who bravely fought to change the law.
You and Yours (BBC Radio 4)
BBC Radio 4 show You and Yours has been nominated for a Broadcast Award. (BBC)
In July, BBC Radio 4’s current affairs programme You and Yours looked at the lives of LGBT+ people in the UK today. Presented by Winifred Robinson, the show followed on from the government revealing the results of its national LGBT+ survey—the largest ever research of its kind to be carried out in Britain—and featured interviews with members of the LGBT+ community, which had phoned into the programme.
To listen to BBC Radio 4 You and Yours episode exploring the lives of LGBT+ people in Britain today, visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b85m5v
The PinkNews Awards is supported by Lloyds Banking Group.
