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"The BBC reportedly wants to hire a female newsreader over the age of 50. Director general Mark Thompson is said to have made the request of news director Helen Boaden, the BBC reports. A BBC spokesman said: &amp;quot;News has a pretty good story to tell with Kirsty Wark, Martha Kearney and Maxine Mawhinney all flourishing - as well as highly experienced women out in the field like Bridget Kendall, Caroline Wyatt and Orla Guerin. &amp;quot;However, we&amp;#039;d be the first to say that it&amp;#039;s important not to rest on our laurels in this area and ensure we reflect the public we serve. And of course, this isn&amp;#039;t an issue just for the BBC - other broadcasters face the same challenges.&amp;quot; Broadcaster and government adviser Dame Joan Bakewell said that she had held meetings with Thompson and Boaden where it was agreed that there was &amp;quot;a case to be answered&amp;quot; in this area. &amp;quot;I said there was a conspicuous absence of older women, of all the segments in society, that isn&amp;#039;t seen,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;We get lots of jowly white-haired men, that&amp;#039;s no inhibitor of employment for them, but it seems to have been eliminator for women until now. I&amp;#039;m glad it&amp;#039;s changing.&amp;quot; Earlier this year, Bakewell accused the BBC of getting rid of female newsreaders once they reach 50. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/media/news/a178975/bbc-wants-older-female-newsreader/>