FORMER Wellington Weekly News reporter Clinton Rogers was part of a Daily Mail newspaper ‘expose’ this week on older and experienced BBC males leaving the corporation, writes Barry Knott.

Clinton 64, who lives at Bradford-on-Tone, left Points West last month after 40 years.

The Mail claims that ‘Auntie’ is being forced to make deep cuts but ‘what a coincidence that almost every on-screen departure is a white, old man – while so many glamorous female presenters survive’.

Clinton is pictured in the article with 20 other older males in a two-page spread – who had been with the BBC in total for more than 500 years.

The Mail claims that in the USA: “Every current affairs programme, be it political or local news, analysis or entertainment, is presented by someone from central casting. Often they are a black, Hispanic or Asian female, though occasionally you will find a young man. Either way, they are always impossibly good looking.”

That is the way the BBC is starting to go with its programmes, says the country’s best-selling newspaper.

The Mail says what viewers do not see on US television are the ‘craggy, older reporters, the ones with faces like badly packed suitcases. Their creases and lines speak of hard-won experience, earned through decades of interviews and fact-finding.

“They bring invaluable insight, knowledge and news instinct – but that counts for nothing compared to white teeth and taut skin.”

Talking from his home on Wednesday, Clinton said: “I was amused to read the Daily Mail article. I am not a fan of the paper and do not buy it. It was pointed out to me by a friend. For the record, I chose to leave the BBC. It is because I thought 40 years was long enough. My boss said he was sorry to see me go but accepted it was my choice.”

However, he joked: “I do accept I am old and crinkly.”

WWN reporter Barry Knott, who has known Clinton throughout his journalistic career, said: “Clinton was one of the most experienced regional reporters on television and will be exceptionally difficult to replace. There is nothing about Somerset he does not know. He was brilliant in presenting the facts for viewers to understand – from court cases to the countryside, even the most complicated story.”