After a 23-year career at the BBC, award-winning broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake changed his mind about the institution's capacity for change.

In this episode of Change My Mind, Nihal speaks candidly with hosts Ali Goldsworthy, Laura Osborne, and Alex Chesterfield about his decision to leave public service broadcasting for a new role as Chief Storyteller at a major tech firm. He details the growing frustration and isolation he experienced as a person of colour at BBC North, explaining why he believes the corporation is currently "cosplaying at diversity" rather than enacting meaningful cultural shifts.

The conversation examines the heavy personal toll of speaking out against institutional norms, the differences between genuine corporate accountability and public sector management, and why the political and media landscape relentlessly punishes leaders who actually change their minds.

What we discuss in this episode:

• The Illusion of Corporate Accountability: Why Nihal believes the BBC operates on a culture of fear and self-preservation rather than facing the hard truths of profit, loss, and audience data.
• 
  
• Tokenism vs. Inclusion: Nihal’s perspective on how public-facing diversity hires often mask a lack of genuine representation and support for young staff behind the scenes.
• 
  
• The Backlash of Speaking Out: The intense right-wing media criticism and personal threats Nihal faced after publicly criticizing the overwhelmingly white demographic of his workplace.
• 
  
• The Power of Admitting Ignorance: Why treating a political "U-turn" as a weakness destroys intellectual agility, and why the smartest leaders are the ones willing to admit when the facts have changed.
• 
  
• The BBC’s Right of Reply: A breakdown of the BBC's official response to the issues raised, including their commitments to strengthening talent pipelines and reporting mechanisms.
• 
  

Learn more and get involved:

• Book a session during our new Office Hours to discuss how to navigate polarized times in your own organization: opendemocracy.net/depolarizationproject.
• 
  
• Subscribe to openDemocracy’s weekly newsletter: https://www.opendemocracy.net/
• 
  
• Buy Alison, Laura, and Alexandra’s book, Poles Apart: Why People Turn Against Each Other, and How to Bring Them Together: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8711/9781847942975

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.