Bl**dy Esther Ranzen to be a Dame
radio4extracrap
Posts: 2,933 Forum Member
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The late Bernard Braden and Barbara Kay will be so pleased (not)...
Did she know about Saville? Did she keep quiet? Strange, Savile nowhere near Child Line or Children in Need - surprising.
Did she know about Saville? Did she keep quiet? Strange, Savile nowhere near Child Line or Children in Need - surprising.
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It most certainly is. All the 'leaked' recipients are a complete waste of space. One can easily imagine that the rest are no better.
That's life.
If only Cyril was around to give us an "odd ode" about it.
I agree. She was an excellent radio journalist and has done amazing work for children in distress.
Why would she be pulling a line around which is what you do when you are towing?
Didn't she come out and say that she had strong suspicions, but felt powerless* to follow them through? Some have speculated she started Childline out of guilt that she didn't act on those suspicions.
* An interesting definition of powerless here, being the host of the most watched show on a Sunday night and married to a senior BBC executive.
Considering all the names of the recipients of honours these days Esther Rantzen is most deserving.
Back in the day when she created Childline the subject was something most of us considered as unthinkable, that children could be in danger and fear for their safety, and lives in some cases. Particularly before the emergance of social media and mobile phones it was a breakthrough idea. She is committed to the cause, and it was no overnight success, the years have cemented its success. The same goes for her elderly loneliness campaign and helpline which would go unnoticed had she not brought it to the forefront attention.
As for Saville .......... There were many many peple who 'suspected' Saville, but who did not have the firm evidence to report such a major figure of society, a figure who did so much 'work for charity'. None of his victims reported him, a substantial thread on DS was removed as the 'insinuatuions' were so shocking and potentially libellous if the juggernaut that is Saville had sued ....... however the comments seemed very believable as there were so many of them. Everybody ran scared of suspecting Saville, let alone reporting him, he seemed to cover his tracks with probable threats. Hindsight is a wonderful thing ....... we all know NOW, but would we have suspected it then, if we had not been a victim?
She has done lots of good work for charity and founded Childline in the 80s. So why not then and why now given the wider background issues.
It could be an attempt to keep the lid on the genie's lamp a bit longer.
toe/tow the line
to do what you are ordered or expected to do He might not like the rules but he'll toe the line just to avoid trouble. Ministers who refused to toe the Party line were swiftly got rid of.
See take the line of least resistance, cross the line, draw a line under, draw the line, draw the line at, drop a line, fall in line, feed a line, lay it on the line, step out of line
See also: line, toe
To add to a long list of previous awards for her continuing professional and charity work.
In 1991, Rantzen was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting, and has received honorary doctorates from six universities (including the Southampton Institute, the London South Bank University, the University of Staffordshire and the University of Portsmouth) for her humanitarian work and her career as a broadcaster. She is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford and Liverpool John Moores University. She was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 17 June 2006 for services to children and to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 New Years Honours List.
Rantzen has also received a number of professional awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in Film and Television organisation, the Royal Television Society's Special Judges' Award for Journalism, their Fellowship, and Membership of their Hall of Fame. She was the first woman to receive a Dimbleby Award from BAFTA for factual presentation. She received the Snowdon Award for services to disabled people.
You have a good point, however she did something by setting up Childline.
IF she has suspected him though, to put her head on the guillotine, be the lone voice to accuse Saville of the abuse he inflicted, when most of the GBP would consider her a liar, the mental conflict she would have had to bear would have been immense.
I am only summising her plight, however put yourself in her shoes, then remember the great and good Sir Jim'll Fix It, and the image back then of the selfless fundraiser, wonderful caring man who fixed it for children and spent his time helping ill and suffering youngsters at various hospitals. The GBP thought he could do no wrong, why would anybody believe her?
Yes, it's hard to put myself in her position all those years ago, I'd like to think I would have done something, but in all honesty as you say it was a different time so I cannot be that certain. What irks me was the way she has portrayed herself as powerless at the time, his victims were powerless, she was not.