tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042505639211319732024-03-17T20:01:13.642-07:00Black On White TVBlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-81062540695275580642024-02-19T04:21:00.000-08:002024-02-19T04:21:08.207-08:00The diversity iceberg of award shows <p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmayHIrjUWwiXTFQSUoSm9FZFVT4a-JeKrLL_gwTOalew15hFu-vF8wJVY2ONSUZgvlgDKxpy4c-5jR0zWRa3nbu_xclg-uR3CBFo6Ot06eQKp2DOUs6HjGjTdS-86pc10lwAfJH3vKbCWBm-M8FU9i68jU4uGkZ4aYSURCqE0WZn9P9p1PWmrOMWpUmv/s259/IMG_4314.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="194" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmayHIrjUWwiXTFQSUoSm9FZFVT4a-JeKrLL_gwTOalew15hFu-vF8wJVY2ONSUZgvlgDKxpy4c-5jR0zWRa3nbu_xclg-uR3CBFo6Ot06eQKp2DOUs6HjGjTdS-86pc10lwAfJH3vKbCWBm-M8FU9i68jU4uGkZ4aYSURCqE0WZn9P9p1PWmrOMWpUmv/s1600/IMG_4314.jpeg" width="194" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">(An extract from the book “Access All Areas - the diversity manifesto for TV and beyond” by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder)</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, before we get too carried away about the BAFTAs, I just want to clear up one common misconception. This is not a story about how I want more disabled, Black and working-class luvvies receiving awards and handing them out to each other. This was not an #OscarsSoWhite moment – the hashtag launched in 2015 to try to get more people of colour receiving awards. I’m not saying it is a bad campaign, but it is not what has driven me to fight for more diversity – I can’t stand the word ‘diversity’, by the way. More on that later.</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This wasn’t about the glamorous winners. After all, every few years you do see a few more non-white winners, such as in the BAFTA 2020 Television Awards which saw a few more Black and Asian people pick up gongs. This looked great but industry insiders know that just two weeks earlier not a single Black or Asian person won a BAFTA Craft Award – the awards given to the directors, writers and people who make the programmes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3ac8fe4-c0ff-7bf3-f197-e3f0ec44c1b1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Awards ceremonies cast a light on the industry they celebrate. Whether they’re for the television or film industries or an evening recognising the double-glazing or plumbing industry. Here is the secret that no one tells you: if you want to know who </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> controls the industry, take your eyes off the stage.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The stage where the awards are given out to the handful of winning nominees is merely the tip of the iceberg. The other 90 per cent of that iceberg is sat on the tables around the stage. The power-brokers who control the industry, in this case the film industry, are literally and metaphorically in the shadows. Not in some sinister cat-stroking, secret lair in the Bermuda Triangle, James Bond villain kind of way. More in the boring civil servant type of way. The studio heads, executives and media regulators are all there at the awards ceremonies. Unlike the nominees, they are there year after year – they are people that </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">control</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the industry.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Viewers might focus on the glittering celebrities who receive and then go home with the ugly-ass gongs, but if you want to change the industry, you can’t do it by concentrating on the 10 per cent above the water in the spotlight. You do it by looking at the 90 per cent below the surface who never even leave their seats.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My pun-tastic effort did not start me on a journey to change the glossy people we see on our television screens. It set me on a quest to change the people who control the industry. That is a journey I think we can all relate to, whatever our line of work.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is not just BAFTA and the film and television industry that has a problem. In the UK less than 7 per cent of police officers are non-white. Less than 10 per cent of British teachers are people of colour, and that drops to less than 5 per cent for head teachers. There are just six female chief executives of companies in the FTSE 100. When it comes to the country’s top judges, almost two-thirds – 65 per cent – went to private school, despite the fact that only 7 per cent of the population receive a private education.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We live in a society that excludes far too many people, from far too many walks of life. It is time we focus on just one aspect of Joaquin Phoenix’s speech when he said we must ‘dismantle’ the system, and ensure everyone can access all areas of power throughout society.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question is: how?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a question I have been trying to answer for the last seven years. I want to share some of that journey with you and some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. It might have all started with a terrible pun but this is no joking matter.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(For the record, there are some</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very good puns on the circuit. Masai Graham, a pun fu master, won the National Pun Championships with this: ‘I’m a 35-year-old mixed race guy from West Bromwich, so I’ve got a reputation to uphold. So it’s difficult for me to write jokes about flowers, without the stigma attached . . .’ Thank you, good night! Please tip your waitresses on your way out.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-56126020330593222702023-08-01T04:10:00.003-07:002023-08-01T04:10:52.795-07:00The Great Media Diversity Executive Exodus<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><img src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_HJxIuMA6SFx.cZRQrPC1A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/deadline.com/db7a71adc19f25108502dea9cbac9f9c" /><br /><br /><br />Earlier this month, it was revealed the BBC’s Head of Creative Diversity, Joanna Abeyie, was leaving the corporation, although for many people working in the area of media diversity her departure had been an open secret for a few weeks prior.<br /><br />The news followed the announcements just weeks earlier that four high level diversity and inclusion executives at major US media companies — Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — would be leaving their respective positions.<br /><br />I am reminded of Oscar Wilde’s famous words on parental loss: “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” It is a bold man who tries to improve on an Oscar Wilde quote but in this case I would add, “…to lose your aunts and uncles at the same time would suggest a murderer in the family.”<br /><br />So what is happening in the world of media diversity? Is it just an ‘unfortunate’ coincidence, have media companies been ‘careless’ in their approach to diversity and inclusion, or is there a ‘serial killer’ stalking these diversity executives?<br /><br />The headlines following the high profile departures in the US would suggest that many people are worried that it is the third option, with companies not only killing off these positions but reneging on diversity and anti-racism initiatives that were launched in the wake on the murder of George Floyd.<br /><br />The Financial Times led with ‘Exits of diversity executives shake faith in US companies’ commitments,’ while the LA Times went with the headline ‘High-profile exits spark fears that Hollywood diversity pledges are just ‘PR’.’<br /><br />However, when it comes to the UK, and the BBC in particular, I would suggest that there is a fourth option that is taking place, which requires us to look back further than just the past few weeks and even before the global Black Lives Matter protests.<br /><br />To extend the Oscar Wilde quote to possible breaking point, “Other families look more appealing.”<br /><br />Since 2019 the BBC has seen the departure of at least seven senior diversity and inclusion executives including; Tunde Ogungbesan (Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Succession), Anne Foster (Head of Workforce Diversity), Miranda Wayland (Deputy Head of Diversity), June Sarpong (Director of Creative Diversity), Jackie Christie (Race Lead on BBC Human Resources), Nina Goswami (Creative Diversity Lead) and, most recently, Abeyie. Interestingly, the vast majority of them have either left the large broadcasters or gone to work for non-media organisations ranging from Clifford Chance to Saudi Aramco.<br /><br />On top of that, the BBC’s diversity department has been restructured at least three times since 2016, with nearly all the current key positions being external appointments with little or no previous media experience.<br />“Less Than Amazing” Results<br /><br />Unsurprisingly with such a high staff turnover, constant restructuring, and a lack of industry knowledge and institutional memory, the results have been underwhelming.<br /><br />If one looks at the UK national census for England and Wales ethnic diversity in the general population from 2011-2021, it has increased 4.9% (from 14.1% to 19%). At the same time, the BBC has increased the ethnic diversity of its workforce by 4.1% percentage points (from 12.3% to 16.6%). Despite all the money that the BBC has put into various diversity initiatives and policies, its non-white workforce diversity has grown at a slower rate than the population as a whole.<br /><br />Or in other words: In relative terms, ethnic diversity at the BBC has gone backwards and, all things being equal, there is a strong argument that it would have been better not to have even had a diversity department. And while I have focused on the BBC — primarily because is is incredibly open about its data and job positions — anecdotally other UK broadcasters suffer from similarly high turnovers and “less than amazing” results.<br /><br />Now, I am not advocating that the BBC, or any other British broadcaster, should get rid of their diversity departments. What this points to is a failure in how UK media approaches diversity.<br /><br />The BBC, and other British broadcasters, must acknowledge that their approach to diversity is not working. The first step in achieving that is retaining the people who have first-hand experience of dealing with the problem. Joanna is simply the latest in a long line of diversity departures.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://deadline.com/2023/07/marcus-ryder-media-diversity-executive-exits-cannot-continue-column-1235446174/">The article originally appeared in Deadline on 28th July</a>. </i></span></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-90611456334875706852023-07-25T10:46:00.001-07:002023-07-25T10:49:23.592-07:00Generative AI Diversity Guidelines for Journalists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBCqYTT1KqVLHiGygzWQAZy_2YY6s-xgYFb3h381Fdw6o-mAW_5KLNoCloTNIVC8J_jITBC-NIGHK4iOjMHjRuybOhPrfANlVRGAvHyvXNWpEkD3JGPA9rk5BF0vVHsNqepQr81pkYMA5dPhhzO5LqHrAszGAIXwaRMB0o7hACUrVe0k6mezr4_dNpYVY/s2560/GenAI2-scaled.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="2560" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBCqYTT1KqVLHiGygzWQAZy_2YY6s-xgYFb3h381Fdw6o-mAW_5KLNoCloTNIVC8J_jITBC-NIGHK4iOjMHjRuybOhPrfANlVRGAvHyvXNWpEkD3JGPA9rk5BF0vVHsNqepQr81pkYMA5dPhhzO5LqHrAszGAIXwaRMB0o7hACUrVe0k6mezr4_dNpYVY/s320/GenAI2-scaled.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><u>Six Principles for Responsible Journalistic use of Generative AI and Diversity and Inclusion</u></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Generative AI (GAI) programs, such as ChatGPT and Bing, are increasingly entering UK newsrooms as a tool for British journalists. The use of AI in journalism raises specific challenges when it comes to the issue of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and there are still ongoing discussions whether Generative AI can be used ethically and effectively in newsrooms. These guidelines are not to endorse the use of Generative AI in newsrooms but are intended to raise issues that should be considered with specific reference to diversity and inclusion if it is used.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The algorithms of Generative AI tools rely on processing large quantities of existing source materials. It is commonly acknowledged that existing British journalism suffers from a diversity problem with an over-representation of white men. For example in 2020 <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/new-research-finds-dearth-of-women-and-bame-voices-on-front-pages-and-in-prime-time-news-coverage/">Women in Journalism</a> published research showing that in one week in July 2020 - at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests across the world - UK’s 11 biggest newspapers failed to feature a single byline by black journalist on their front pages. Taking non-white journalists as a whole, of the 174 bylines examined only four were credited to journalists of colour.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The same report also found that in the same week just one in four front-page bylines across the 11 papers went to women.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Importantly the week the study surveyed the biggest news stories were about Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, the replacement of the toppled statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and the appeal over the British citizenship of the Muslim mother, Shamima Begum.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This means that assuming the algorithms of Generative AI programs draw on the stories written by journalists in mainstream newspapers to generate its information, if a journalist were to ask it any questions about the issues in the news that week they will overwhelmingly be receiving information from a white male perspective.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The end result is that Generative AI programs, if used inappropriately, will only serve to reinforce and amplify the current and historical diversity imbalances in the journalism industry effectively building bias on top of bias.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lack of diversity and inclusion in the source material that Generative AI uses is of course not only limited to journalism but also applies to numerous other fields as well including the sciences and academia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While we urge all Generative AI programmers and software designers to address these concerns, as well as urge media organisations (and other sectors of society) to improve their diversity and inclusion in order to increase the diversity of the source material, there are steps that all journalists can undertake right now to work in a more ethical and responsible manner when it comes to diversity and journalism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have proposed six basic media diversity principles that all journalists and media organisations should abide by. As Generative AI changes, and its use in newsrooms adapts, these principles should also change and be dynamic over time. We also do not see these six principles as definitive. Instead we see this as an urgent intervention to address the current lack of public discourse around this critical issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We actively encourage these six principles to be interrogated by practitioners and academics and for them to be built upon.</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Six Basic Principles</span></u></b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">1. Be aware of built-in bias</span></b></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Journalists and media organisations need to recognise the potential for bias inherent in the use of current Generative AI models when it comes to diversity. To be explicitly aware of an issue is always a critical step in addressing a problem, just as we are expected to be aware of the bias inherent in all our sources, whether because of vested interests or the limitations of personal experience. Once we are aware of built-in bias we can build on the same strategies that we use with human sources, e.g. careful questioning, background research, second-sourcing etc.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">2. Be transparent where appropriate</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journalists and media organisations should be transparent in their use of Generative AI when, and where, it is appropriate. What level of use of Generative AI in the production of a piece is appropriate before declaring its use will depend on how it is used, change with time, and depend on the issues covered. This should be an ongoing discussion with the journalism industry, creating and promoting industry standards. At this point we would, at the very least, suggest that directly using text created by Generative AI should be clearly labeled. We would also encourage media organisations to publish their policies and guidelines around the use of Generative AI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">3. Build diversity into your prompts</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Ask for diverse experts and perspectives. Journalists should explicitly seek, through their prompts, for Generative AI to draw on source material written and/or owned by different demographics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Where this is not possible journalists should use prompts to obtain lists of experts and recognised commentators on specific issues from different backgrounds. Going to the original work of these experts and commentators directly can complement any material created by Generative AI and address possible biases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">4. Recognise the importance of source material and referencing</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Journalists should respect and acknowledge the work of the creators of content that Generative AI draws on to produce its results. Historically the lack of acknowledgement of original work has disproportionately fallen on people from under-represented and marginalized backgrounds. To achieve this, we would encourage journalists to use Generative AI programs that explicitly list the source material used in the creation of its text.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">5. Report mistakes and biases</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">All journalists have a responsibility to contribute to creating a better media sector and improve tools used by journalists. When biases are spotted and issues arise when using Generative AI programs journalists should report these to the programmer and software developers (this is often possible within the Generative AI tool through your own responses and/or the ‘thumbs up/down’ buttons). Similarly best practice should also be fed back in order for the programmers of Generative AI to build better models.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">6. GIA-generated text should be viewed with journalistic scepticism</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Do not rely on Generative AI created text as an authoritative source of information GAI is well known for ‘hallucinating’ facts and other information in its responses, creating fictional individuals and sources. No information provided by GAI should be treated as fact, but be viewed as “informed plausibilities” — it is best used to provide suggestions that are then followed up for further exploration. We would also encourage journalists to use Generative AI programs that explicitly list the source material used in the creation of its text.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><u>Conclusion</u></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We recognise that there is the potential for the use of Generative AI in journalism to increase exponentially over time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We believe that if news organisations and individual journalists use Generative AI they should view it as a tool rather than a replacement for journalists. We also believe that it is vital that if and when it is used it is used in a responsible way that can address related issues of media diversity or at the very least ameliorate some of the worst problems.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, we also recognise that many of these problems are created by a lack of diversity on the source material in the first place - due to the under-representation of certain demographics in various different sectors from academia to the media, as well as how AI programmers choose and weight the source material that Generative AI algorithms use. Therefore, while these are six principles of how individual journalists should use Generative AI it is still incumbent on wider society to increase the diversity of their respective sectors and for Generative AI programmers to examine how they can also address diversity issues.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to a survey by the <a href="https://wan-ifra.org/2023/05/new-genai-survey/">World Association</a> of News Publishers currently half of all newsrooms use Generative AI tools, yet only a fifth have guidelines in place, it is unclear if any of these guidelines explicitly address diversity and inclusion. This must be rectified as soon as possible.</div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u>Supplemental Note</u></b><br /><br /><b>Examples of Possible Generative AI bias</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">1. On the 10 June 2023 when prompted; “Who are the twenty most important actors of the 20th Century?”<br />ChatGPT did not name a single actor of colour<br /><br />2. On the 13 June 2023 when prompted: “What are the important events in the life of Winston Churchill?”<br />Bing failed to mention his controversial views on race, his controversial role in the Bengal famine, and his controversial views towards the Jews or Islam.<br /><br />3. On the 10 June 2023 when prompted: “What are important facts about the American founding fathers?”<br />Chat GPT failed to mention that any of them owned slaves.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />We are not dictating, or even suggesting, that journalists should include these facts when covering these three issues. However it seems to clearly point to a certain perspective that traditionally would be thought does not represent the concerns and priorities of disproportionately historically marginalised groups.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>(This guidelines were <a href="https://www.bcu.ac.uk/media/research/sir-lenny-henry-centre-for-media-diversity/blog/six-principles-for-responsible-journalistic-use-of-generative-ai-and-diversity-and-inclusion">first published in by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity</a> on 16th June 2023 and was written by Paul Bradshaw, Diane Kemp and Marcus Ryder) </b></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-25634892018914959002023-07-24T01:30:00.005-07:002023-07-24T03:27:27.393-07:00How the Windrush Generation Shaped Modern Britain<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NlIYc7A7vMxBlZmBqVV8EC53Y5IYZaPOUHONxuItXIvao83LTjgbfcThzv2al9QZ2ryyoETXPpOh84Ou7nDhDmflzr4vjQu6ufMBo7oTiIVxtdq7ctkPtlil6D162KvB05itSrMCxnKHJ2dKSazQRCAT1EGixWEhCLblUQYN3SJly6cBRyds03TsdVhU/s1011/1948-evening-standard-newspaper-front-page-empire-windrush-arrives-in-britain-copyright-john-frost-newspapers-alamy-images-750x1011.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NlIYc7A7vMxBlZmBqVV8EC53Y5IYZaPOUHONxuItXIvao83LTjgbfcThzv2al9QZ2ryyoETXPpOh84Ou7nDhDmflzr4vjQu6ufMBo7oTiIVxtdq7ctkPtlil6D162KvB05itSrMCxnKHJ2dKSazQRCAT1EGixWEhCLblUQYN3SJly6cBRyds03TsdVhU/s320/1948-evening-standard-newspaper-front-page-empire-windrush-arrives-in-britain-copyright-john-frost-newspapers-alamy-images-750x1011.jpeg" width="237" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Celebrating <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/windrush">Windrush</a> is my love letter to my fellow black people across the UK, but to my fellow black <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/londoners">Londoners</a> in particular. I was born and raised in London. In 2007 my career took me to Scotland, followed by China and then Malaysia, before I eventually returned to London in late 2021. In all my time away the thing I missed the most was my black British community. London is home to the majority of black people living in the UK — from Brixton to Peckham, and from Ian Wright to Malorie Blackman, I believe we are a large part of what makes this one of the greatest cities in the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today is the 75th anniversary of the day 1,027 passengers disembarked the HMT Empire Windrush at <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/tilbury-docks">Tilbury Docks</a>, over 500 of them from the <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/caribbean">Caribbean</a>, the majority being Jamaican.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The importance of the Windrush was recognised at the time with the event being captured on film and newspapers reporting on it. The Evening Standard even went as far as chartering a plane to photograph the ship as it approached Britain. The picture was on the front page the next day with the headline: “Welcome to Britain! Evening Standard plane greets 400 sons of Empire.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The anniversary and the name ‘Windrush’ hold a special place in the hearts and minds of black Britons and I am glad it is getting the recognition it deserves. Although there has been an African presence in Britain for more than 1,000 years the Windrush is seen as a turning point. It is viewed by many as the start of mass immigration from the then Empire, and the birth of modern British multiculturalism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For me, though, in many ways it is still hugely misunderstood and goes to the heart of how we think of our history. Because the Windrush does not just mark the black presence in the UK, it marks the start of modern Britain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is arguably as important as VE Day, the Act of Union between England and Scotland, the English Civil War, 1066 and the Roman presence in Britain. Modern Britain would simply not be possible without black people. There would be no NHS, as we know it, without black British people. There would be no modern British public transport system, as we know it, without black British people. For example it is estimated that <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.voice-online.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fwindrush-day%2F2023%2F06%2F22%2Fwe-laid-the-foundations-of-the-transport-system%2F&data=05%7C01%7CEmma.Firth%40standard.co.uk%7C68e5c0b84dac4912e6aa08db73103aa9%7C0f3a4c644dc54a768d4152d85ca158a5%7C0%7C0%7C638230285757274501%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Zgl7xI7sF%2FD5mAxi%2Bxw5aNA2DkXCMLV380OXHQ4Md20%3D&reserved=0">London Transport</a> directly recruited around 6,000 employees directly from Barbados alone between 1956 and 1970. In 1948, the <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopleshistorynhs.org%2Fthe-windrush-generation-and-the-nhs-by-the-numbers%2F&data=05%7C01%7CEmma.Firth%40standard.co.uk%7C68e5c0b84dac4912e6aa08db73103aa9%7C0f3a4c644dc54a768d4152d85ca158a5%7C0%7C0%7C638230285757274501%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BUacFJrxpIn4M%2Be8vImwQbp4kzEBAXdaxFoynz6Wfbs%3D&reserved=0">NHS was seen to be in crisis</a> with over 54,000 nursing vacancies, It was the Windrush generation that literally came to the rescue - by late 1965, there were 5,000 Jamaican women sworking in British hospitals, and by 1977, 12% of all student nurses and midwives were recruited overseas, with two thirds of those coming directly from the Caribbean.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The very <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/infrastructure">infrastructure</a> of post-war Britain was only made possible by mass immigration from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. And that mass immigration has in turn shaped modern British <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/culture">culture</a>. Patrick Vernon, the author of 100 Great Black Britons who has been campaigning for the importance of the Windrush to be recognised, wrote in 2018: “British society today would be unrecognisable without the contributions that immigration and integration have made: from the NHS to the monarchy, our language, literature, enterprise, public life, fashion, music, politics, science, culture, food and even humour.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Britain in general, and London in particular, is defined by its multiculturalism. From our best sports stars to our most famous actors, from renowned authors to noted scientists, black Britons are at the forefront of global Britain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A test is to Google “famous contemporary British [insert activity here]” and you will find at least one black British person in every search result, from Lewis Hamilton to Clive Myrie, and from Stormzy to Maggie Aderin-Pocock. When I co-edited the book Black British Lives Matter with the comedian and actor Lenny Henry one of our key aims was to explore the importance of black Britons’ contributions across different sectors of society. With contributions from the historian David Olusoga, politician Dawn Butler MP, author Kit de Waal, campaigner Doreen Lawrence and architect David Adjaye, among others, it was an opportunity for each person to explore their own black British experience and how we have enriched and changed every part of British life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By extension, we cannot treat the Windrush as if it is just an important “Black History” event. That is analogous to suggesting 1066 is just “French History”, or the Act of Union is a milestone only Scots need to think about.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Marking the arrival of Windrush not only gives us all an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the important contribution that black Britons have made to the UK, it also gives us a chance to think about the state of British society today, in all its multicultural splendour, building on the <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/who-are-windrush-generation-anniversary-immigration-history-a3869191.html">Windrush generation</a>. All of us who make up the black British community stand on the shoulders of giants. And those giants are the original pioneers who came here on the Windrush, and subsequent ships and planes, from the Caribbean — the “Windrush generation.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As we commemorate the 75th anniversary it is crucial to ask, what do we — as Brits — owe that generation who forged the way for us to be here? How do we respect their vision as they stepped off that ship, and saw the cameras flashing? How would, and in some cases do, they feel about where British society is today? It means at the very least fighting for them when issues such as the “Windrush scandal” emerge, where the Government wrongfully deported people from the Caribbean. Due to its policy in 2012 of creating a “hostile environment” for immigrants in which the NHS, landlords, banks, employers and many other bodies were compelled to inform on any “undocumented” migrants to the Home Office. With the consequence of immigrants from the Caribbean who came over legally but did not keep up with all of the bureaucratic and legal changes over the years being wrongfully deemed as “illegal immigrants”. While the government has now acknowledged its mistakes, the scandal is far from over with many victims still fighting for justice and compensation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 it is about ending the racism that so many black people still face today. But it goes deeper than this. It is about how the UK can build on the positive examples from its history of integrating migrants, and enabling them to give their very best to Britain today. It is about how the UK shapes the future of the NHS, or invests in a stronger public transport system and other infrastructure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Windrush is about how can we all build the type of society that our forefathers and foremothers came to this country to build, and expected to continue as their legacy. Windrush Day is undoubtedly a time of celebration, but if we are truly to honour those who came before us it </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />should also be a time for reflection and building.<br /><br /><br /><br /><i><b>(This essay was first published in <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/marcus-ryder-windrush-75-anniversary-britain-b1089482.html">Evening Standard on 22nd June 2023</a>) </b></i></span></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-53120171367756585242023-07-21T06:18:00.001-07:002023-07-21T06:18:20.513-07:00Not Holding Power to Account - The Consequence of the Lack of Media Diversity<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwglzRUSWaN4a0up491qLJDk_Dj2mjUMuxFth6tTHASvtmq7YKvzpyGw_KHaAmMEFas4WIAJ6Cn1GcFGpdobh-waRNGKhOQ5iUAH2oqqpVBz85CugoV6WfU2l29yDUMoEmRhMHMah_m176_jy6MycNyZfB1j3yafGZ0_j0ELbVu6tIhrHX7qBt2qu8y3L/s1200/2500.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1200" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwglzRUSWaN4a0up491qLJDk_Dj2mjUMuxFth6tTHASvtmq7YKvzpyGw_KHaAmMEFas4WIAJ6Cn1GcFGpdobh-waRNGKhOQ5iUAH2oqqpVBz85CugoV6WfU2l29yDUMoEmRhMHMah_m176_jy6MycNyZfB1j3yafGZ0_j0ELbVu6tIhrHX7qBt2qu8y3L/s320/2500.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Back in 2012 the then Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, better known as Prince Charles and Camilla, visited the BBC Scotland Studios in Glasgow to celebrate 60 years of BBC Scotland television. I was head of BBC Scotland Current Affairs programmes at the time and I was duly lined up with other executives in the newsroom to greet them and say a few words about the work we do. After they met staff in the newsroom they filmed a special edition of the weather report in which Charles and Camilla took turns in presenting the forecast.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What I remember most about the royal visit was not what happened on the day but what happened the day after.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The following day Scotland’s then First Minister, Alex Salmond, came to the Glasgow studios and was also given a brief tour. The difference between how the BBC news executives dressed and acted on the two days was marked. On the first day BBC executives greeted the non-elected king-in-waiting dressed in evening suits and ties for the men, and formal dresses for the women. On the second day the same BBC executives meeting the highest elected official in Scotland had reverted to jeans and trainers, and the few who were wearing suit jackets were definitely not wearing ties.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Royalty suits them?</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although my BBC colleagues were fastidious not to discuss their own personal politics at work (the idea of impartiality runs deep in BBC newsrooms) I personally knew that some of the BBC news executives were royalist and others were republicans. I also knew that there were SNP supporters among them as well as well as supporters of other political parties. But irrespective of people’s personal views the overriding culture on display was one in which you showed deference and respect to royalty and relative indifference to elected officials, however high their office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As one of the few Black people of West Indian heritage working at senior level at the BBC I was more than aware of the ongoing debate that was taking place in the Caribbean about the role of the monarchy. Kenya became a republic in 1964; being married to a Kenyan I understood that Black British people have a very different historical relationship with the royal family. While it’s easy to dismiss fashion choices, the different treatments troubled me, to say the least, as to what it said about the prevailing cross-political culture in the newsroom and who shaped it. For the record, for both visits I dressed in the same smart casual way I usually did every day in the office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was reminded of these different treatments recently when I found myself in a discussion with senior news executives from both newspapers and television on how different news outlets had covered the Queen’s funeral.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I said that I thought the domestic coverage in general, and the BBC’s in particular, had been unduly uncritical of the monarchy when one compared it to news coverage elsewhere in the world. The response I received from several executives in the (virtual) room was that the British broadcasters ‘couldn’t have reported on the Queen’s death in any other way’ without being disrespectful, and the period directly following the queen’s death ‘was not the time to be critical’.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Second time round more critical?</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is little doubt that news coverage of the role of the monarchy in Britain has been more critical and questioning in the run up to the Charles III’s coronation than during coverage of the Queen’s death. For example, three weeks before the coronation, BBC Panorama broadcast a programme titled ‘<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65326467">Will King Charles Change the Monarchy?</a>’ The programme shared poll findings that only a minority of people under the age of fifty positively preferred a monarchy to an elected head of state, yet overall 58 per cent of people preferred an unelected monarchy to an elected head of state. BBC Radio 4 also broadcast ‘<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l988">The Today Debate: Do We Need a Monarchy?</a>’ And other UK broadcasters have had similar programmes critically analysing the role of the monarchy as an institution in UK life and politics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, far from making up for a lack of critical coverage during the period of the Queen’s death, all this new coverage highlights a serious journalistic failing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To use a simple analogy; if the position of King was an elected one, the critical debate and polls around the monarchy now, at the time of the King’s Coronation, feels like having election coverage after all the votes have been cast, the winner has been announced and we’re just deciding where to hold the victory celebrations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why? That’s because the period covering the Queen’s death was also the same period as King Charles III’s proclamation and ascension to the throne.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is that time, not now, that was the critical time in which British journalists should have been asking the difficult questions about the monarchy and fulfilling one of the fundamental principles of journalism, ‘holding power to account’, however inconvenient or unpopular among certain sections of society that truth might have been. It was that time, that was the decision point for the public.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead, far too many news organisations and journalists seemed to be caught up in the narrative that we were a ‘nation in mourning’, and therefore actively discouraged coverage that was critical of the monarchy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Groupthink and lack of diversity in the gatekeepers</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe the reason this was able to happen was because the senior editors, those with decision-making power, are not diverse, and therefore subject to group-think, even if they are critical of the monarchy in theory in practice and culture they are extremely deferential (think of the way my BBC Scotland colleagues dressed for the royal visit).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fact is, as a person who analyses media diversity, I am always suspicious when the UK is ever portrayed as a nation with a single homogeneous position or view on anything.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UK is by definition a heterogeneous country (the clue is in the name United Kingdom) made up of four nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and has a multicultural population due to being a former empire. The four nations, those with heritage from the former colonies, and, interestingly, different age groups, have very different relationships with the monarchy. The poll commissioned by Panorama at the time of the coronation only reinforced what previous polls had previously indicated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What the people think?</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A May 2022 poll by the <a href="https://www.britishfuture.org/">British Future</a> think tank indicated that only 45 per cent of respondents in Scotland positively wanted to retain the monarchy, with 36 per cent saying they thought the end of the Queen’s reign should mark the end of the monarchy altogether.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The same British Future poll showed only 40 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds supported keeping the monarchy, and only 37 per cent of people from an ethnic minority did so. In 2021 a similar poll conducted by <a href="http://thetimes.co.uk/article/queen-should-stay-as-our-head-of-state-say-scots-wn7k333sj">Panelbase</a> found that 47 per cent of Scottish adults would vote to keep a royal head of state, compared with 35 per cent who were in favour of an elected head of state.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story becomes even more complex once age is combined with regionality. According to a <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/05/21/young-britons-are-turning-their-backs-monarchy">YouGov poll</a>, also conducted in May 2022, 80 per cent of 18-30 year olds in Wales want to abolish the monarchy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What these polls, taken well before the Queen’s death, before the King’s proclamation, and ahead of the King’s coronation, showed is that there is a sizable section of British society that do not want the monarchy to continue. The further you go from a White English, middle-aged bias, the larger this minority becomes and is even a majority in certain demographics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Et voila, not coincidentally, it is exactly the demographic that most supports the continuation of the monarchy who are disproportionately in positions of editorial responsibility in our newsrooms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Did the UK media reflect public opinion?</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Irrespective of how well the news media has now been able to cover these opinions at the time of the ceremonial coronation, the failure to cover them impartially at the critical time of the King’s proclamation (and the monarchy’s continuation) has two serious consequences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, it eroded the already limited trust certain demographics have in the mainstream media. At critical national moments it is vital that the whole country is represented in all its diversity. It is not good enough to say the media will only represent the whole country’s views when it is more ‘convenient’ or deferentially ‘appropriate’ to do so. That erosion in trust can push already marginalised groups, even if they are the majority, to less reputable news sources on social media that might be more prone to misinformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One only had to take a cursory look at #<a href="https://www.theringer.com/2022/9/9/23344231/black-twitter-and-the-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii">BlackTwitter</a> or #<a href="https://www.theroot.com/like-black-twitter-irish-twitter-has-a-lot-to-say-abou-1849517427">IrishTwitter</a> at the time of the King’s proclamation and ascension to see a range of British and non-British views on the Queen’s death that were not being reflected in mainstream UK news.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some UK newspapers and other media outlets did, at the time of the King’s proclamation, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/kehinde-andrews-monarchy-represented-racism-154656233.html">publish opinion</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/13/queen-reign-death-elizabeth-ii-uk-minorities-british-empire">pieces</a> by people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds that explained why they were not mourning the death of the Queen in the same way as other people in Britain. However, it is important to realise that this approach was in itself problematic, and further exacerbated the sense of ‘us and them’.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is because it juxtaposed the supposedly ‘correct’ editorial stance (i.e. that the whole nation was mourning) which had the full weight and authority of so-called ‘impartial’ journalism with another stance relegated to being just an ‘opinion’. Moreover, commissioning these as opinion pieces risked framing any dissent from the dominant editorial stance as a ‘problem of the ethnics’, i.e. a problem with multicultural Britain, which many parts of the population are proud of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What at first may seem like a welcome attempt to include more diversity, can instead at best lead directly to sloppy journalism and at worst exacerbate structural imbalances regarding whose opinions are heard and valued in the British national conversation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second consequence of the failure of impartially in reporting Charles becoming King was the creation of fundamental misunderstanding about British democracy and rights.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The best example of this was when four people were arrested in Scotland for protesting against the ascension and proclamation of King Charles III. At the time, many newspapers framed it as a ‘<a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/arrest-anti-monarchy-protester-edinburgh-london-westminster-free-speech-b1025135.html">freedom of speech</a>’ issue and about the ‘<a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/protest-anti-monarchy-republican-queen-king-arrest-public-order-act-1986-b1025301.html">right to protest</a>’. However, the journalism should have presented it as a representational issue. Why? Assuming the polls taken both before and after the Queen’s death were correct, these four protestors were representing the views of over a third of Scottish people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The four protestors chose precisely the right time to speak ‘truth to power’ and engage in the democratic process. The newspapers framing it as a ‘right to protest’ issue essentially disenfranchised large swathes of the population and stifled an important debate. The fact that news outlets are covering dissent regarding the continuation of the monarchy now is literally too little too late for that dissenting voice to have any impact.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Not monarchist, not republican, just impartial</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In these emotionally charged times I should emphasise that this is not about being a monarchist or a republican, and as an impartial journalist my own leaning has no consequence. Nor am I ignoring the fact that a large proportion of the British <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/queen-news-latest-lying-in-state-queues-funeral-king-charles-live-12692812">population were grieving</a> at the time of the Queen’s death and King’s proclamation and ascension. This is about professional and impartial journalism, reflecting an authentic picture of the views and opinions of the entire nation back to itself and fulfilling its critical role in the democratic process of holding power to account at the most important times.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The coverage of the King’s coronation cannot be viewed in isolation. Seen in the wider context of the Queen’s death, the King’s ascension, and coverage of the royal family generally, it offers important lessons as to why diversity and inclusive representation are essential to good journalism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thinking back to Prince Charles’ visit to Glasgow I hope we can create newsrooms which value our highest elected officials as much as our highest unelected ones. Or at least treat each as critically as each other. More diverse newsrooms would be an important step to achieving this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><b><i>(The essay was first published in "<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reporting-Royalty-Analysing-Media-Monarchy-ebook/dp/B0C6FHWLCT">Reporting Royalty: Analysing the Media and the Monarchy</a>" <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Edited by John Mair and Andrew Beck with Richard Lance Keeble</span>)</i></b>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-42878472001294150202023-05-30T07:11:00.001-07:002023-05-31T02:42:15.238-07:00Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Caribbean Slavery, and Telling the Truth to Children<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwOfy9ydddtPTrJ0YaDthemty14vyJ4_rpTzBCLAu0K0QqK3EHYUncI39D2smfJGB9bJ-feq283aYF9SmlB4pU2ywlbz0J4wJyJFYkZ_Pyg_IqEndYxvZ-Rs0uhKrnRjiYQCDcL3VAKxI0pMQXhjsN5by_coXeZW1fMklsVnMPWijyM-Ei4omOwub7A/s620/7903048.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="620" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwOfy9ydddtPTrJ0YaDthemty14vyJ4_rpTzBCLAu0K0QqK3EHYUncI39D2smfJGB9bJ-feq283aYF9SmlB4pU2ywlbz0J4wJyJFYkZ_Pyg_IqEndYxvZ-Rs0uhKrnRjiYQCDcL3VAKxI0pMQXhjsN5by_coXeZW1fMklsVnMPWijyM-Ei4omOwub7A/s320/7903048.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Children’s films should not ignore the more difficult parts of our history, just because adults feel uncomfortable addressing them.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9491299-7fff-2764-e18a-f794b106a66e"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question is: How do we make films for children of all races that acknowledge the horrors of historical events such as slavery, while making sure they are free to imagine a wonderful world unencumbered by racism and are not defined by it?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Sunday I watched the new live action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid with my six-year-old son.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The visual effects are stunning and the casting is brilliant. If you are not aware, and at this point you would literally have to be living under a rock in the middle of the ocean not to be aware, Halle Bailey plays the eponymous heroine in a celebration of normalising Black beauty standards for children.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For my young son to see the most beautiful character in a film as a Black woman (with non-straightened hair) is important to me as a parent and goes against literally centuries of White beauty standards and societal norms. It is anti-racism at work on a deep level.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the importance of casting the Little Mermaid as a Black woman has been commented on in numerous articles the casting of the other roles is also worth a mention. The casting is beautifully “colour blind” with the prince being White and his mother being Black (he is adopted). At the same time the Little Mermaid’s father is White while her Mermaid sisters are of various different races and ethnicities. Race as a social construct, as we know it, clearly does not exists underwater.</span></div><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">A world in which the very idea of race for the main characters seems to be subverted, consciously ignored, and at the same time Black beauty is celebrated, needs to be applauded.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However there is one jarring massive problem with the film and it is less about its treatment of contemporary racial issues and more about its treatment of historical transatlantic slavery.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The film is set in the Caribbean in the 18th century. It does not specify exactly when, but judging from the ships, clothes and other references it is during a time of African chattel slavery. And yet there is not a single direct reference to slavery and the islanders live in racial harmony. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this setting, I do not think we do our children any favours by pretending that slavery didn’t exist. For me Disney’s preference to try and wish the inconvenient truth away says more about the adult creatives than it does about children’s ability to work through it.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The enslavement of Africans in the Americas (across the southern states of the US, Caribbean and South America) in the 18th century was a brutal time and has been described by some historians and commentators as a “</span><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/dare-we-compare-american-slavery-to-the-holocaust" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">holocaust</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”, a crime against humanity that is so heinous that there are calls to this day for reparations to compensate the descendants of the victims.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Setting the fantastical story in this time and place is literally the equivalent of setting a love story between Jew and Gentile in 1940 Germany and ignoring the Jewish holocaust. Or possibly more accurately setting it in a slave plantation in America’s antebellum south and pretending the enslaved Africans were happy.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 18th century Caribbean is a problematic time to set any children’s story, but that should make it full of creative possibilities as opposed to encouraging historical amnesia.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, I do not need every story and movie that my 6-year-old consumes to be historically accurate. The appearance of steel pans in the film, </span><a href="https://www.un.org/ungifts/steel-pans#:~:text=Steel%20pans%20originated%20in%20Trinidad,%2C%20dustbins%2C%20and%20oil%20pans." style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an instrument invented in the late 1930s</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, raised a wry smile in the pedant in me, but I found it easy enough to overlook. But the total erasure and rewriting of one of the most painful and important parts of African diasporic history, is borderline dangerous, especially when it is consumed unquestioningly by children. I do not want my child to think that the Caribbean in the 18th century was a time of racial harmony, any more than I suspect a Jewish father wants his child to think 1940 Germany was a time of religious tolerance, however much we might both wish they were. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So does this mean Black children cannot have escapist fantasies of the past, or all our historical stories have to overtly address racism and slavery? </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Definitely not.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want my Black son to be as free, joyful and unencumbered by horrors of history just as much as any of his White and Asian friends at school, but I also do not want him, (or any children) to be given a false view of history on key issues - slavery being one of them.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are several ways in which Disney could have easily set The Little Mermaid story in the Caribbean in the 18th century and not whitewashed (excuse the pun) the importance of history.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example they could have set the story in Haiti post-1804. Haiti was the first Caribbean country to throw off the shackles of slavery and most importantly in its constitution of 1805 explicitly denounces the idea of different “races” proclaiming true equality. </span><a href="https://uniqueatpenn.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/race-and-the-haitian-constitution-of-1805/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Julia Gaffield</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a professor of history at Georgia State University, the constitution even “explicitly acknowledged that some ‘white women,’ Germans, and Poles had been naturalized as Haitian citizens highlighting the radical reconceptualization of race that underpinned Haiti’s entry on the world stage.”</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this scenario the Little Mermaid could have easily found her prince, while race and slavery could have been gently touched upon without being overbearing or having to show the horrors. A post revolutionary Haiti would have been the perfect setting for an island of racial harmony, and in doing so it would have gently educated children about an important period in world history.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we think creatively and know our Caribbean history there are numerous solutions to setting the story in the Caribbean during the time of slavery while neither wanting to erase our history or expose children to the full horrors of chattel slavery. As someone of Jamaican heritage I would have loved the Little Mermaid to fall in love with a Maroon (a runaway slave), although that would have required her to swim a little upstream towards the island's interior. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We owe it to our children to give them the most amazing fantastical stories possible to help their imaginations grow. We do not do this by “whitewashing” out the difficult parts of our history. We do it by embracing our rich history and empowering them with the truth.
Next time I hope Disney can be as adventurous with its story telling as it was with its casting. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com119tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-60266921328183646312023-05-23T08:36:00.000-07:002023-05-23T08:36:11.253-07:00ChatGPT is an existential threat to media diversity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXkXQDF8rJ9BB6Z7b6x5MLr3EP9RvdQ7rCLKiy_DQNJqJD5Bl7XREGqf1nCksZxO21LGpnJUT2Q7agkaIeRfeQwFMoBWrRFkDLSuVXT_mSXHLRiNapoGl8f0bCAufuIXa7c-vD_kPRrT2b6htPBLs-8ySdMDVX1eD169gcZLT5x_iclo5DB5Yl-pKtA/s2289/2dabdc5f-0926-420d-b0b0-096db9319a6b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="2289" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXkXQDF8rJ9BB6Z7b6x5MLr3EP9RvdQ7rCLKiy_DQNJqJD5Bl7XREGqf1nCksZxO21LGpnJUT2Q7agkaIeRfeQwFMoBWrRFkDLSuVXT_mSXHLRiNapoGl8f0bCAufuIXa7c-vD_kPRrT2b6htPBLs-8ySdMDVX1eD169gcZLT5x_iclo5DB5Yl-pKtA/s320/2dabdc5f-0926-420d-b0b0-096db9319a6b.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">ChatGPT is an existential threat to media diversity.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To understand why it is important to understand why is diversity in the media and creative industry so important. And who better to ask than Chat GPT itself: </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question to ChatGPT's Open AI - <span style="color: #343541; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why is media diversity important?</span></b></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: var(--tw-prose-body); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: var(--tw-prose-body); font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Answer by ChatGPT's Open AI - Media diversity is important for several reasons:</span></b> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Representation: Media diversity ensures that different voices, perspectives, and experiences are represented. It allows for a more accurate reflection of the diverse societies in which we live. When media outlets showcase a range of races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and abilities, it helps combat stereotypes, promotes inclusivity, and empowers marginalized communities.</span></b> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">2. Pluralism: Media diversity fosters a pluralistic society by exposing individuals to a wide range of ideas, opinions, and viewpoints. It encourages critical thinking, open dialogue, and the exploration of different perspectives. A diverse media landscape helps to prevent the dominance of a single narrative or ideology, allowing for a more informed and balanced public discourse.</span></b> </div></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">3. Democracy and civic participation: A diverse media ecosystem is crucial for a healthy democracy. It ensures that citizens have access to a variety of information sources, enabling them to make informed decisions and participate meaningfully in civic life. When media outlets represent a broad range of interests, they can hold governments, institutions, and powerful individuals accountable, fostering transparency and good governance.</span></b> </div></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">4. Social cohesion: Media diversity contributes to social cohesion by promoting understanding, empathy, and unity among diverse groups. By portraying a range of experiences and identities, the media can bridge divides and create a sense of shared humanity. It helps challenge prejudices, reduce discrimination, and build a more inclusive society where everyone feels valued and respected.</span></b> </div></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">5. Economic and cultural benefits: A diverse media industry can have economic and cultural benefits. It creates opportunities for diverse content creators, journalists, and artists, allowing them to share their talents and stories with a broader audience. This, in turn, promotes innovation, creativity, and cultural exchange, enriching society as a whole.</span></b> </div></b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>In summary, media diversity is essential for representation, pluralism, democracy, social cohesion, and economic/cultural benefits. It ensures that the media landscape reflects the realities of diverse societies, amplifies different voices and perspectives, and facilitates a more inclusive and informed public discourse. </b></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><p class="p1" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-optical-sizing: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: arial;">Far too often the debate around media diversity is framed in terms of point five, the need to employ more Black and Asian people in the industry at different levels, or employing more women, disabled people, LGBTQ+ (insert the protected characteristic / underrepresented d</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">emographic here).<br /><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-optical-sizing: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While increasing the employment prospects and career progression of all these different groups is important it fundamentally misses the other four points and puts media diversity on par with increasing diversity in any other industry or sector; from double glazing to medicinal chemist (just for the record some of my best friends work in double glazing and I once dated a medicinal chemist).<br /><br />What ChatGPT so beautifully explains is the idea that media diversity is about so much more than employing a few more Black and Asian people in the media industry at different levels, or employing more women, disabled people, LGBTQ+ (insert the protected characteristic / underrepresented demographic here).<br /><br />While increasing the employment prospects and career progression of all these different groups is important it fundamentally misses the point and puts media diversity on par with increasing diversity in any other industry or sector; from double glazing to marine biologists.<br /><br />The importance of media diversity is unique and it goes to the very heart of how we function as a society.<br /><br />And this is precisely why ChatGPT is an existential threat to media diversity.<br /><br />If we believe media diversity is about freedom of speech, democratic discourse, and who is empowered to contribute to the narrative that society tells about itself and the rest of the world.<br /><br />Fundamentally if we believe in representational democracy, we must fight for representational story telling. Because it is the stories we tell, both fiction and non-fiction, that shapes our understanding of the world, our values, our beliefs, and how our democracy works.<br /><br />ChatGPT and other forms of AI are an existential threat to that.<br /><br />ChatGPT creates text and stories (fiction and non-fiction) which are then used by students, authors, scriptwriters and journalists as a first draft which they can edit, or to supplement their own existing work. (In the future it may not even support the work of creatives but replace them)<br /><br />The problem is ChatGPT is “White, non-disabled, heterosexual and male”. In that the source text that ChatGPT’s algorithms draw on are disproportionately written by white, non-disabled, heterosexual men.<br /><br />This should hardly be surprising for anyone who works in the field of media diversity. It is already known that white, non-disabled, heterosexual men are disproportionately over-represented in areas such as journalism, literature, film and theatre. <br /><br />By drawing on the current source materials ChatGPT will by definition amplify the already existing inequalities of the narratives, values and views of white, non-disabled, heterosexual men being over-represented.<br /><br />Let me illustrate this with one simple example:<br /><br />In 2020 the<a href="https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/new-research-finds-dearth-of-women-and-bame-voices-on-front-pages-and-in-prime-time-news-coverage/"> Press Gazette</a> published research by Women in Journalism, showing that in one week in July 2020 - at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests across the world - UK’s 11 biggest newspapers failed to feature a single byline by black journalist on their front pages. Taking non-white journalists as whole of the 174 bylines examined only 4 were credited to journalists of colour.<br /><br />The same report also found that in the same week just one in four front-page bylines across the 11 papers went to women.<br /><br />Importantly the week the study surveyed the biggest news stories were about Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, the replacement of the toppled statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and the appeal over the British citizenship of the Muslim mother, Shamima Begum.<br /><br />Assuming ChatGPT's algorithm draws on the stories written by journalists in mainstream newspapers to generate its text, if you ask it any questions about the news that week you will literally be hearing from the voices of White men; White men writing about issues that disproportionately impact people of colour.<br /><br />If you do not see this as a problem then I strongly suspect you are reading the wrong blog.<br /><br />The question, for those of us interested in media diversity, is what do we do now?<br /><br />I do not believe the answer is to simply disengage from ChatGPT and hope it goes away. Instead we have to find ways to engage constructively and find ways for journalists, and other creatives, to use ChatGPT in ways which do not effectively silence, or further marginalises, already under-represented groups.<br /><br />This is incredibly new territory and I don't think anyone has all the answers of how to do this, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.</span></p><p class="p1" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-optical-sizing: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-optical-sizing: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am calling on journalists and creatives to join me in creating a manifesto, a simple set of guidelines, of how we should work with ChatGPT constructively and what we should be demanding of the tech companies who create these programmes.<br /><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-optical-sizing: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This issue is too important to leave it up to or other people to work out the solu</span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">tions.
(My DM's are open @marcusryder)</span></p></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-4726399112158942052023-05-03T09:41:00.001-07:002023-05-03T09:47:40.412-07:00World Press Freedom Day is Meaningless Without Media Diversity<p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz52bxbq9FKRu2gvXQ36EvXtMfQofEIKZX1AqAcZfHURkKHrvOOrHRk1oYLCPxUJIhiREFygNxX_pCeCBzMIIP84N4wDHoNzBA6ZQscgkbkcNWCUhKSxEyZv1UICsYeSh5G3s7nJbEV4PT3IoDU37sLavvruRIUYWxXhyEMkOXBrHe5w5o39RDEPdydQ/s1200/world-press-freedom-day-2023-date-history-significance-theme-and-other-details.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz52bxbq9FKRu2gvXQ36EvXtMfQofEIKZX1AqAcZfHURkKHrvOOrHRk1oYLCPxUJIhiREFygNxX_pCeCBzMIIP84N4wDHoNzBA6ZQscgkbkcNWCUhKSxEyZv1UICsYeSh5G3s7nJbEV4PT3IoDU37sLavvruRIUYWxXhyEMkOXBrHe5w5o39RDEPdydQ/s320/world-press-freedom-day-2023-date-history-significance-theme-and-other-details.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today, Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 is World Press Freedom Day. The purpose of the day, (now in its 30th year) is to raise awareness about the value of press freedom, the necessity of defending journalists' rights, and the need to support independent, free media.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The most recent report on press freedoms by the <a href="https://rsf.org/en/index">World Press Freedom Index</a> revealed a shocking decline in press freedoms across the world, with a record 31 countries being in a “very serious situation”, the lowest rank in the report, up from 21 just two years ago. The list, released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), also saw the UK fall from 24th in the global rankings last year to 26th this year.</span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-675ebca0-7fff-614c-1b3d-e67a4f55f7df"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My concern, as a Black British journalist, is that the UK’s position might be even worse for people of colour working (or more specifically failing to work) in the industry.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freedom of the press means nothing if large sections of the population are denied access to it.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the </span><a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/research/files/Journalists%2520in%2520the%2520UK.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reuters Institute</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, only about </span><a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/research/files/Journalists%2520in%2520the%2520UK.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0.2% of British journalists are Black</span></a></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2020 the</span><a href="https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/new-research-finds-dearth-of-women-and-bame-voices-on-front-pages-and-in-prime-time-news-coverage/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Press Gazette</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> published research by Women in Journalism, showing that in one week in July 2020 - at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests across the world - UK’s 11 biggest newspapers failed to feature a single byline by a black journalist on their front pages. And of the 174 front page bylines examined in that period only 4 were credited to journalists of colour.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The same report also found that in the same week just one in four front-page bylines across the 11 papers went to women.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It should be noted that the week the study surveyed featured front page stories about Black Lives Matter, the replacement of the toppled statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and the appeal over the British citizenship of the Muslim mother, Shamima Begum.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Front page stories frame how the public view an issue with many never getting past the headline. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A </span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/black-journalists-racist-report-rowntree-b2308806.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">recent report</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the Ethical Journalism Network also found that anti-black racism in UK newsrooms is “commonplace”. </span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And finally there is not one single major television news bulletin from the BBC’s Breakfast News, One O’clock, Six O’clock or Ten O’clock to Channel 4’s Seven O’Clock to any of ITV’s major bulletins or Channel 5s which is headed by a person of colour or a visibly disabled person.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For clarity I am not talking about the people in front of the camera – I am talking about the executives and editors behind the camera, the people with real power who decide which stories are covered and how. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, in newsrooms across Britain – whether print, online or on TV - it is primarily white, non-disabled, heterosexual men, in London who are deciding what issues news organisations should cover and how they should be covered.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a damning indictment of the very principle of Press Freedom, if Black people are not able to tell their stories or are relegated to minor coverage - even about stories that directly affect us such as the #BLM protests - we do not have a free press.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a freedom that is being curtailed by “evil” governments targeting the press, which is how many of the stories about World Press Freedom Day are framed. This is a press freedom that is being curtailed by the inner workings of the newsrooms themselves.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we write and discuss World Press Freedom Day we must recognise that diversity and inclusion are not viewed as a side issue, but are essential to the very press freedoms all journalists should hold dear..</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is important that we should all fight for press freedoms across the world, but in doing so we must not forget those closest to home who are also seeing their freedoms curtailed.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-42451799464789893402023-04-23T10:33:00.012-07:002023-04-27T07:54:53.364-07:00Diane Abbott, antisemitism and an important lesson for journalists<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7kO3UK30JYzLYSlXW8raBCC2ppx9LY1MJOm7OjfF6piES8_pPEcf_YIgJSnNZ_-uwEx1sRhriuOoxwRtR6yTKKAfPXePhZFvUGFPNElvlc4NcSa-NZIR4MdYdsjB7TCwEVkvBkiG7B6cpRnsW7jX_BUBxyY0-eVGCH-gW4gYkDfMJ9bpkFPQRiSu1Q/s615/0_Diane-Abbott.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="615" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7kO3UK30JYzLYSlXW8raBCC2ppx9LY1MJOm7OjfF6piES8_pPEcf_YIgJSnNZ_-uwEx1sRhriuOoxwRtR6yTKKAfPXePhZFvUGFPNElvlc4NcSa-NZIR4MdYdsjB7TCwEVkvBkiG7B6cpRnsW7jX_BUBxyY0-eVGCH-gW4gYkDfMJ9bpkFPQRiSu1Q/s320/0_Diane-Abbott.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/diane-abbott-accused-of-hateful-antisemitism-after-suggesting-jews-do-not-face-racism-12864141">current furore around Diane Abbott MP</a> and accusations of antisemitism, in which she <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2023/apr/23/success-for-women-not-same-as-for-men-letters">equated the prejudice Jewish people face with the prejudice faced by redheads</a>, hold important lessons for journalists covering the issues of diversity, inclusion, equality, racism and (of course) antisemitism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To explain, let me start with a story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few years ago I was talking to a young black girl about the prejudice women face. She earnestly turned to me and said “I understand it, it’s like racism against women”. I fought back a laugh and replied, “yes, it’s called 'sexism'.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The beauty of the English language is that it is incredibly rich with the largest vocabulary of any language.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have a specific term for the prejudice and bigotry that women face; “sexism”, and that in turn is different from “misogyny”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We do Jewish people a disservice if we simply refer to the prejudice and bigotry they face as “racism”. It is “antisemitism”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Race as we understand it is a social construct which was effectively <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/historical-foundations-race">“invented” during colonialism and transatlantic slavery</a>. It was invented long after the long history of the prejudice, persecution and bigotry Jewish people face began, which <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/education-outreach/Brief-History-on-Anti-Semitism-A.pdf">dates back millennia</a>. Therefore, logically the term “racism” is historically incorrect and doesn’t fully capture what Jewish people experience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It should be noted at this point that “race” is different from “ethnicity”, that is the beauty of English, it is able to capture these nuances.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Antisemitism” is different from “Islamophobia”, and both are different from “sectarianism”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We do the different and difficult issues that different people face a disservice if we describe it all as “racism”. We also do a disservice to the great English language.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Diane Abbott was completely wrong to describe the prejudice that Travellers and Jewish people face as equivalent to the prejudice and bigotry redheaded people face, it was crass, offensive, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/diane-abbott-apologises-for-saying-jewish-people-do-not-experience-racism_uk_6444feabe4b03c1b88c793dd">and it was right for her to apologise</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I read her <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2023/apr/23/success-for-women-not-same-as-for-men-letters">original letter</a> to the Observer, what I understood her underlying message to be; that the “racism” black people face and “antisemitism” are not the same, it is a message I have sympathy with, or at the very least one which I believe should be discussed openly and calmly. Saying one is more or less important than the other is not one I have any sympathy with.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And herein lies an important lesson for journalists. We need to be precise in our language. We should not create false equivalence or hierarchies of victimhood, or we end up offending everyone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When a journalist asks the seemingly simple question; "Are Jewish people white?" it is giving far too much credit, (and logic) to a system to classify people which was born out of prejudice and illogicality. For me the 'racial' status of Jewish people beautifully expose the lie that race actually makes any sense at all. As one Jewish friend once said to me, when I naively asked the same question; "Jewish people are the Schrödinger's cat of racism, we are both white and not white at the same time".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Antisemitism is terrible and needs to be addressed. Islamophobia is terrible and needs to be addressed. Racism is terrible and needs to be addressed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But we cannot properly fight them if we think they are all one and the same thing. Or as my young friend, at the beginning of this piece did, using the same lens and framing to understand different forms of prejudice.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The English language gives us the tools to properly describe, understand and analyse the world around us in all its beauty and ugliness.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">And that is why, as both a journalist and some one who strives to increase media diversity, I love English. </div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-7388840443430658122023-03-27T03:25:00.000-07:002023-03-27T03:25:11.938-07:00DIVERSITY FAILINGS AT THE HEART OF BBC’S IMPARTIALITY WOES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIc53wMABntm0kVcBseVg2efEC00KT_p13yJEntcqzOtSqx7cZKqz-lPhDpnQXDvY_jCZURw5GqByKFSjNNCWuRx-gbfViCLwwBSiqtivHxUAvoTEZBw2c81y9hlUSebzhX5QOY6uzU48WIksbnjOzC7ukEowrPG-67dXi4LcwVBU04aB3eIahNWzkw/s3500/3USHLPA7RVLKFLW7LQQMG5Y254.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2500" data-original-width="3500" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIc53wMABntm0kVcBseVg2efEC00KT_p13yJEntcqzOtSqx7cZKqz-lPhDpnQXDvY_jCZURw5GqByKFSjNNCWuRx-gbfViCLwwBSiqtivHxUAvoTEZBw2c81y9hlUSebzhX5QOY6uzU48WIksbnjOzC7ukEowrPG-67dXi4LcwVBU04aB3eIahNWzkw/s320/3USHLPA7RVLKFLW7LQQMG5Y254.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Diversity needs to be at the centre of any review into BBC’s impartiality and guidelines on the use of social media.<br /><br />On Monday 11th March the BBC’s Director General, Tim Davie, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64940114">announced that an independent review</a> will be carried out on examining the corporation's social media guidelines.<br /><br />On Sunday 26th March the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/mar/26/labour-vows-to-secure-bbcs-independence-after-lineker-row">Labour Party announced its own BBC review panel</a>. The brief of Labour’s panel covers several areas ahead of the BBC’s next charter renewal in 2027, but again one of the key issues is impartiality. <br /><br />Even before they start it is easy to pick holes and be cynical about both proposed reviews: <br /><br />How independent can a review into the BBC really be when the BBC itself sets up the terms of reference and will decide who sits on it?</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Can a Labour review with three of the announced four members heavily associated with the Party (<a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/1455/career">James Purnell</a>, <a href="https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2108601-mystery-of-former-time-computers">Lou Cordwell</a> and <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/11/three-ex-prime-ministers-and-a-loose-women-panellist-front-push-to-stay-in-eu_n_8274994.html">June Sarpong</a>) really be expected to be free of bias when reviewing issues such as impartiality and political interference? <br /><br />The announcement of both reviews come in the wake of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64940114">Gary Linekar Twitter controversy</a>, where the BBC initially suspended him for Tweeting about the government’s rhetoric around immigration only to reinstate him less than a week later. Irrespective of any criticisms of how either review has been set up or will operate, what they clearly point to is the growing need for a review into the BBC’s editorial guidelines, with specific reference to how it interprets and implements the principle of “due impartiality”.<br /><br />However, what most people seem to be missing in all the discussions around BBC impartiality is the centrality of diversity.<br /><br />Over the last three and a half years the BBC has made four major public editorial U-turns around the issue of impartiality. All four of them have been about diversity and/or minoritised groups:<br /><br />In October 2019 the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/1/bbc-reverses-ruling-over-naga-munchettys-remarks-on-trump">BBC reversed its ruling</a> that Breakfast News presenter, Naga Munchetty, had broken editorial guidelines when discussing whether one of President Trump’s Tweets was racist.<br /><br />In August 2020 the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53715814">BBC finally apologised</a> for one of its news reporters using the N-word after initially defending the decision.<br /><br />In October 2020, in what the BBC described as a “clarification” as opposed to a “U-turn”, the corporation said that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/oct/30/bbc-boss-clarifies-rules-for-staff-attending-pride-marches">staff would be allowed to attend Pride marches</a> and this would not compromise their impartiality after initially saying they would not. <br /><br />And finally in March 2023, the BBC made - <a href="https://www.football.london/premier-league/breaking-bbc-lineker-match-day-26457114">what was seen by most</a> - as a U-turn when it initially suspended Gary Linekar over his Tweets about the government’s rhetoric around immigration, only to reinstate him less than a week later. (The BBC was at <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64940114">pains to describe this not as a “climb-down” but “proportionate action</a>). <br /><br />All four editorial issues have the issue of diversity and inclusion at their core. The first two being obviously racial issues, the third being about LGBTQ+ rights and the fourth, <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1639197545120374784?s=20">immigration, being a heavily racialised subject</a>. <br /><br />The biggest problem that the BBC has, when it comes to its editorial guidelines in general, and “due impartiality” in particular, is diversity.<br /><br />It is the editorial issue literally hiding in plain sight.<br /><br />This is about how a centralised organisation, which is meant to represent the whole of the UK, fairly represents the concerns and interests of, and about, minority groups while maintaining due impartiality. I saw this problem close up with regards to regional diversity when I was head of BBC Scotland Current Affairs in 2014 covering the Scottish Independence referendum. <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/18244630.trust-still-issue-scotland-mackinnon-quits-top-bbc-job/">The fall out of which the BBC is still suffering from</a>.<br /><br />We do need to set up an independent review into BBC’s editorial guidelines and impartiality, but unless diversity is at the very centre of the review it will fail irrespective of who sits on it.</span><br /></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-87927943541899938592023-03-02T05:00:00.005-08:002023-03-02T05:14:03.088-08:00Award ceremonies reveal the uncomfortable truth of British journalism<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSdPiDhpXBjN0Gog23NG3fEqOUMwqzlgrmz0yOYIfKHzpOlKf_m0Dh28143KClbz9EL0S82slT34OVi13dS8TDbZmOl_eXp4NhnDKxAdfrEnCfzwmUFx4hSEt2mE-K81SIOIagcIe2OslyrrmtYh0fe3rHwVkUKR04sKqpm46DrnRgO8wfjOO4ZyNvw/s900/youtube_thumbnail_0_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="900" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSdPiDhpXBjN0Gog23NG3fEqOUMwqzlgrmz0yOYIfKHzpOlKf_m0Dh28143KClbz9EL0S82slT34OVi13dS8TDbZmOl_eXp4NhnDKxAdfrEnCfzwmUFx4hSEt2mE-K81SIOIagcIe2OslyrrmtYh0fe3rHwVkUKR04sKqpm46DrnRgO8wfjOO4ZyNvw/s320/youtube_thumbnail_0_1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-55d99089-7fff-ff9a-9724-7c6a4325620e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last night I attended the Royal Television Society (RTS) Television Journalism Awards. Having sat on one of the judging panels, I was keen not only to find out about the results of our lengthy deliberations (the final votes are by secret ballot) but having been unable to attend the prestigious ceremony for several years due to COVID-19 I was also interested to see “IRL” how the industry I have spent almost thirty years in is faring, especially in terms of reflecting diversity.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those of you who know me will know that I believe diversity is essential to strong journalism – and has been especially essential this past year with British coverage of key events under significant domestic and global scrutiny – from the Ukraine war to the death of Queen Elizabeth. Indeed, over the last year we have seen examples of UK and international journalism making <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/marcus-ryder-russia-ukraine-racism-reporting/">serious mistakes</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, precisely because of a lack of diversity.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spoiler alert: I can’t say that I came away from the RTS ceremony last night feeling better about the current state of the industry.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In many ways, I should have known. There are vastly different perceptions of progress on diversity in the industry, and those who are in the public eye seem to be focused on creating a narrative of progress.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few hours before the award ceremony I had been in a briefing call with another television and news veteran. They will be hosting an event I have agreed to participate in, focused on diversity in broadcast journalism. During the briefing, the host asked me to focus on the “positives” that we should be talking about as “we don’t want to be too critical”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the RTS ceremony itself, I was honoured to be sat on the same table as one the most powerful people in British television. The senior executive was eager to convey how well their particular organisation is doing when it came to racial and gender diversity, both in the level of their employees overall, and at senior management. The executive did admit with some regret that levels of disability are very low, but this was caveated with the idea that the actual level might be higher and there is a problem of “people not wanting to declare that they are disabled”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recognised this narrative. In 2012, I convened my first RTS Diversity Committee meeting, and was assuaged by an executive about their particular broadcaster: “You know, if you look at our staff diversity numbers, they are really rather good, but our disability numbers are not good.” Sadly, this was not true, and over time it was revealed that the organisation was simply using metrics that gave them the results they wanted to believe to be true.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wondered if the ceremony, then, would reveal the change since 2012.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are some pieces which suggest a potential shift. The BBC recently promoted Ravin Sampat to the position of executive news editor with a brief to oversee UK story teams, and Lebanese-born Lilian Landor was appointed Director of the</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BBC World Service</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2021. While at ITN, there have been similar key appointments at ITV News, and the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, (who I work for) were heavily involved in working with Channel 4 on its “Black to Front” project which not only highlighted the non-White talent at Channel 4 News but also helped progress certain careers afterwards</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, in the infamous words of Lenny Henry commenting on the Bafta Television awards in 2013, it soon became apparent that the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2023 would be; “all White on the night”.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of the awards, such as Network Daily News Programme of the Year, went to entire production teams, meaning there were often several people on stage at a time. A lot the teams had a smattering of people of colour. And of course, it is impossible to always know someone’s race and ethnicity just by looking at them, and so sitting in the audience one cannot say for certain what the race and ethnicity of all the winners was.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But with the notable exception of Clive Myrie, who won Network Presenter of the Year, almost every person who accepted an award and gave the acceptance speech – even on behalf of the teams – appeared to be White. There was just one person who had a visible disability, Jeremy Paxman, winner of Lifetime Outstanding Contribution Award, who needed to be assisted onto the stage.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three quarters of the way through the ceremony another person sitting on my table, a former senior television executive, leaned over and whispered in my ear; “Marcus, they are ALL White”. Later, a respected media commentator who had been present messaged me: “Good to see you tonight. I was utterly shocked how White that event was. Quite incredible”.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clive Myrie’s win was notable and it is important to recognise his contribution to television journalism in the last year. He has been a mainstay on British and international screens with the reporting of the Ukraine war. However, he comes in a long line of single news presenters of colour being the exception in an otherwise predominately White industry. The likes of Trevor McDonald, Rageh Omaar and Krishnan Guru-Murthy - all great journalists, reporters and presenters who rightly deserve the numerous awards they have received over the years - are Myrie’s predecessors in more than one way. This means that while Myrie’s achievements should be seen as impressive on an individual basis, they cannot be seen as an indication of progress in terms of increasing racial diversity in newsrooms.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the RTS television journalism award ceremony seemed to reveal, in fact, is one overarching, and slightly uncomfortable, truth.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That while there has been some progress in terms of newsroom diversity, the journalism that is most respected and valued by the industry; the journalists that cover the biggest news stories; the journalism that commands the largest budgets; and the journalism that shapes national British debates and frames the way Brits view the world remains overwhelmingly the preserve of White people. In this respect, there has been almost no progress in over twenty years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But here is what really kept me from sleeping as I returned to my warm bed last night.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Awards ceremonies always have winners and losers. Emotions are always high, even when it comes to journalism awards, despite our well-known stoicism. But it was the huge gap between the desire to be optimistic and self-congratulatory of many when it comes to diversity, versus the private realism and shock of others in the room – whether White, Black, disabled or able-bodied – that was incredibly stark.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps most remarkably, it was the fact that those who have the opportunity and potential to change this, far too many of them appear to be in denial, truthfully or otherwise, of how poor the industry’s diversity problem is, and how little substantive progress has been made in the last few decades.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ultimate question has to be, “Can there ever be real change?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The answer to that has to be a resounding “Yes”, but only if we acknowledge the position we are in right now, and that continuing the policies that have failed to bring about real progress will not do it. To quote Albert Einstein "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." </span></div></span></span></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-42460950889258278302023-02-24T01:50:00.002-08:002023-02-24T01:55:59.295-08:00Roald Dahl Is Not The Problem - The Lack of Black And Asian Authors Is<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwf9_XjbDBW_mh0YOocwUSNu-F0tuhX7clupM1kzF-psmPzW334WMpf6Vynv9YDQUY5d1eG62wWXnSpZ7her980s8ffdZ1_9XgBFSh45ihoYqZvW_rVrBsYFBrw_-XcPKPV6ZmQXabTgaOx_zzYBbav8foMmXYxPpGCiwNbx7f97MVxLzX6SiyzEURzA/s900/roald-dahl-alongside-his-books.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="900" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwf9_XjbDBW_mh0YOocwUSNu-F0tuhX7clupM1kzF-psmPzW334WMpf6Vynv9YDQUY5d1eG62wWXnSpZ7her980s8ffdZ1_9XgBFSh45ihoYqZvW_rVrBsYFBrw_-XcPKPV6ZmQXabTgaOx_zzYBbav8foMmXYxPpGCiwNbx7f97MVxLzX6SiyzEURzA/s320/roald-dahl-alongside-his-books.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />The late <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64715287">Roald Dahl is in the new</a>s after the publisher of some of his most famous works, Puffin, decided to edit some of his children’s books, rewriting and removing language they consider could be offensive to a modern audience.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-edits-books-censored-witches-b2288252.html">According to the Independent</a> Puffin said the rewriting has been done to ensure that the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”.<br /><br />Cue the usual claims of “cancel culture” and “wokeness” gone mad. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has criticised the move by the publishers as “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-edits-books-censored-witches-b2288252.html">airbrushing</a>” the past, author Salmon Rushdie has called it ‘absurd censorship’, and supposedly, even the Queen, Camilla has weighed in with a veiled reference telling authors to ‘remain true to calling’. <br /><br />The fact is British children’s literature has a serious problem and it is not Roald Dahl. It is the lack of British Black and Asian creatives writing children’s literature being published.<br /><br />In November 2 important statistics came out within just days of each other: <br /><br />The first is that according to the latest census figures people of colour now make up over 18 percent of the population of England and Wales, the percentage is even larger for younger people..<br /><br />The second was a statistic published by the <a href="https://cdn.booktrust.org.uk/globalassets/resources/booktrust-represents/2022/research-reports/booktrust-represents-representation-of-people-of-colour-among-childrens-book-creators-in-the-uk.pdf?_gl=1*18yktkw*_ga*NjA2ODE5NzExLjE2NDAwNzkxNDM.*_ga_42ZTZWFX8W*MTY2OTczOTczMS4yNDIuMS4xNjY5NzQwMzUwLjAuMC4w">Book Trust</a> that British authors of colour make up just 3.6 percent of published children’s authors. The even more depressing news is that this is considered progress, in 2017 they made up just 1.7 percent.<br /><br />According to the same report British writers of colour are also disproportionately self-published compared to their white counterparts. <br /><br />In another report published in 2018 only seven percent of <a href="https://www.earlyyearseducator.co.uk/features/a-whole-world-of-books">children’s books</a> published that year featured black, Asian or minority ethnic characters.<br /><br />The aim of children’s literature should be to inspire young minds, broaden their worlds and instill in them a love of reading, which hopefully they will be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives. <br /><br />The aim of children’s literature should not be as non-offensive as possible in order to sell as many copies as possible - although I understand that might be the aim of most publishers.<br /><br />While the debate rages around whether Roald Dahl is being ‘censored’ and the latest victim of the “woke culture war”, the real victims are being ignored. <br /><br />How do we improve a love of reading in young Black and Asian children?<br /><br />How do we create a world where children of all races are learning about, and identifying with, Black and Asian protagonists?<br /><br />If children think that only boys go on adventures and slay dragons something is wrong.<br /><br />If young formative minds think only white children can go on magic adventures and travel in giant peaches then something is wrong.<br /><br />Let the politicians and pundits win their silly culture war arguments, over what is really an attempt by a publisher to future proof future sales, making edits that most parents and children probably won't even notice.<br /><br />But as a parent I want to focus on what is really important – how to instill a love of reading for my black boy and part of that is having authors and characters of colour.<br /><br />One group that is trying to address the systemic racial disparities in children’s literature is the <a href="https://www.theblackwritersguild.com/">Black Writers Guild</a>. Formed in 2020, in the wake of the death of George Floyd the organisation has over 200 members including award winning authors such as Bernadine Everisto, Diana Evans and Kit de Waal. <br /><br />They lobby publishers to increase not only the number of Black writers, but also the terms and conditions of their contracts.<br /><br />If we really care about children’s literature - let’s worry a little less about Roald Dahl and support the Guild a little more.</span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-19235169255356997222022-06-14T05:35:00.001-07:002022-06-14T05:37:16.285-07:00We are the 97% (Keynote Speech - Prospect Union National Conference)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2085ac2e-7fff-b6e7-e4f7-d4d48c391e6a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD57aRQQD8KIobu2mCaQJead_YLE7LrSfBUVZW6KjZN69ZB26eCd502gl_tH14OUJ2TGfIoD7ZcB827t2iHLgG-qRQZBzHeOm5GeWSfyD7LhrCGjTV-cDqxPElJL1va2mg_JuPlzpaJsqvCQLFE8yde3SVrx5iHdDkuC6wMhryqFlpwvGql5PeI_SVUg/s1524/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-06-14%20at%201.27.04%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1524" data-original-width="1033" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD57aRQQD8KIobu2mCaQJead_YLE7LrSfBUVZW6KjZN69ZB26eCd502gl_tH14OUJ2TGfIoD7ZcB827t2iHLgG-qRQZBzHeOm5GeWSfyD7LhrCGjTV-cDqxPElJL1va2mg_JuPlzpaJsqvCQLFE8yde3SVrx5iHdDkuC6wMhryqFlpwvGql5PeI_SVUg/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-06-14%20at%201.27.04%20PM.jpeg" width="217" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>(Keynote speech delivered to the Prospect Union National Conference 13th June 2022)</b></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Good morning friends, comrades, brothers and sisters.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I choose my words carefully and my greetings today because I’d like to think we are all one family. And it is a tremendous honour to be given the opportunity to address the family.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For members of the family that do not know me - my name is Marcus Ryder.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been campaigning with Lenny Henry and others to increase better media diversity and representation in our family - in television, film and the creative sector - for over ten years. Writing speeches to deliver in Parliament, devising policies, talking softly when necessary and banging tables when needed.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I fundamentally believe that diversity, inclusion and better representation in the media and every part of British society is one of the most important issues facing Britain today.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And I come with good news - we are the majority.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And history shows that eventually the majority will always win.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Too often when we think about diversity, we invariably think about minority, marginalized, disadvantaged groups. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Black people, ethnic minorities, disabled people, women, LGBTQ - the oppressed and disposed - and if we are lucky the powers that be let us have a seat at </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THEIR</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> table.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, last year, I co-authored a book with Lenny Henry called Access All Areas - and one of the key reasons we did it was because we wanted to reframe how diversity is thought about.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To show diversity is not a minority issue but a majority issue.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So let’s do some simple maths.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If you combine the percentage of the population who are women and then combine that with the percentage of the population which is disabled, then add that with the percentage of the population which are people of color, then finally top it all off by adding the percentage of the population that says they are LGBTQ+...</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You get the grand number of 70.5% per cent. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The people so many of us generally think of as the majority and never use the word “minority” to describe – white, heterosexual, non-disabled men – make up less than a third of the UK population. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The rest of us - the vast majority of the population - come under the umbrella- term of ‘diversity’. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yet, we are too often dismissed as a minority - in need of special treatment.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If we had a level playing field, for every white, non-disabled heterosexual man you see on TV, in Parliament or in any position of power, we should see a woman or Black person or Asian person or disabled person or gay person. Not just once, but more than twice.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is true for every board room you walk into, every judge’s chambers, every management office you walk into.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Every walk of life you can think of.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">From courts to prisons</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">From schools to hospitals.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, for me things become even more interesting once you factor in regional diversity and the over-representation of London and the South East of England. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I spent eight years as a senior executive for the BBC based in Scotland and yesterday I travelled down from Scotland - so regionality and the concentration of power in London is something that is close to my heart.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So let’s do the sums again and calculate the percentage of the population that are NOT white, NOT heterosexual, NOT non-disabled, NOT men, AND are NOT from the South East of England. Because these are the people who are seriously under-represented in far too many walks of life. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The number is 96.9% per cent!</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That means the people we invariably think of as the majority - the people who overwhelmingly run the country make up only 3.1% percent of the population.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The numbers are almost too staggering to comprehend.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For every three White, non-disabled, heterosexual men with a London accent you see on TV, or in a company board meeting, or sitting as a judge, you should see 97 people with a Birmingham accent or a woman or gay person or Asian person or disabled person, or a lesbian, or some combination of these characteristics. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Three vs. Ninety-seven is the reality of Britain today.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And yet we still talk about diversity in terms of a minority issue. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gender pay gaps, ethnicity pay gaps and disability pay gaps are not a minority issue, they are a majority issue.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And almost every labour issue you can think of disproportionately hits people who are often seen as quote unquote diverse. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now my area of expertise is the media industry, so I am going to talk about television for a bit -and talk about it on two levels – the individual first, and then the society level. They are linked and each gives us a window into the other. Both also imply certain potential solutions that trade unions can take forward, and I will leave you with one in particular today that I hope you will all support wholeheartedly as a first step to addressing the majority issue, but before that let me clarify the implications of the majority issue when it comes to the lives of journalists workers and their outputs.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I listen to the news or watch current affairs programmes, or watch children’s programmes with my son, or even good old drama programmes like bridgerton, or even trash reality TV like love island </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(hey – don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!), </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one of the questions I always ask is – whose perspective do they reflect? Whose interests do they serve?</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 3% or the 97%?</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now so far I have been using polite words and phrases such as “diversity” and “better representation” and “inclusion”.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Too often we use these words not to offend the 3%</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But when we use these words it is the equivalent of thinking about the lack of Black news editors, or women film directors, or disabled script writers as just a fact of life. Almost an act of god - like bad weather. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But there are other words I could use to describe what is going on - possibly more honest words:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Words like “racism” and “sexism” and “homophobia” and “ableism”</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While this permeates at the society level, and I will come to this, the fact is that even at an individual level we will never be able to achieve better diversity and representation until we acknowledge and address the root causes that are responsible for the lack of representation and the lack of diversity.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This will not surprise you, and of course this is relevant to other industries, but the need to address racism in the media industry is pressing and urgent. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is significant evidence that not only is there widespread underreporting of racism throughout the television industry, but that when racism is reported it is either not dealt with effectively through informal measures. And when formal mechanisms are used they can often lead to the complainant suffering reputational damage labelling them as a “trouble maker” which can hinder their career in the future. This happens here in the UK, it happens elsewhere too – there is a current case with the Washington Post which exhibits exactly these trends right now.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, for many the formal processes of trying to address racism in the industry are also often viewed as too difficult and costly - both financially and psychologically - so many victims of racism simply do not raise a complaint.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On top of that, much of the industry defines racism as simple one on one interactions and effectively frames it as a subset of their bullying HR procedure. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This fails to capture the complexity of racism beyond obvious name calling or direct interpersonal interactions. These definitions fail to capture systemic racist practices which can include, but are not limited to; over-scrutiny of non-White employees’ work in comparison to their white counterparts, over-disciplining of non-White people’s mistakes in comparison to their white counterparts and unequal terms of trade experienced by independent productions led by people of colour compared to their white counterparts.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even when individuals do complain, complaints are often not systematically collected by the organisations involved, anonymous complaints are often not recorded at all, and there is no industry-wide mechanism or process to collect reports of racism to obtain an understanding of the problem let alone come up with industry-wide policies and suggestions of how to address the issue of racism.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a failure on an industrial scale and we wonder why representation is so bad. - or maybe we don’t wonder at all.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And yet the truth is racism is an issue that is hardly talked about as we opt for words like “diversity” instead.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The lack of talk about racism however does not mean the problem has been solved.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The racism in the industry hinders people of colour being hired, being treated fairly, being denied promotions and ultimately leaving the industry all together.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But this racism – and the outcomes it promotes in terms of lack of representation – is not only a problem for the victims – it is a real and present danger for our entire democracy – and this is where I really hope you will all sit up and listen.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Better representation in the media is fundamentally about democracy and whether we can all live in peace with one another.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News is where this issue is most crucial. You cannot have freedom of speech if large parts of society are not given equal access to the media.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What we see on the news determines what politicians talk about and actually do anything about. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, due to all of the “isms” I’ve talked about, there is not one single major television news bulletin from the BBC’s Breakfast News, One O’clock, Six O’clock or Ten O’clock to Channel 4’s Seven O’Clock to any of ITV’s major bulletins or Channel 5s which is headed by a person of colour or a visibly disabled person. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is not one major television political current affairs programme - which sets the political weather, including Panorama, Newsnight or Dispatches which is headed by a person of colour or a visibly disabled person. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is not just a problem for today - this is true for the entire history of British television. Our news is determined by the 3%, not the 97%.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And it has consequences. The lack of diversity in news affects which stories the 3% decide to pick and how the 3% cover them.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It will peak the interests of, as well as favour the interests of the 3% - and not the 97%.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today, in newsrooms across Britain – whether print, online or on TV - it is primarily the 3% who are deciding whether news organisations cover industrial action – whether such stories are prominent or not, and how journalists frame any news stories around industrial action. It is the 3% that are determining whether the unemployment figures are more important to feature than stock market figures. The 3% are determining whether white refugees' lives matter more than black and brown refugees.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I could go on. But you understand my point. We have to recognise that racism, sexism means our news, our current affairs is skewed. And this skew can shape our society, shape our democratic outcomes. It shapes the “overton window” that unions operate in. It shapes what we think is possible in British society and what is not possible.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Right now the industry I love and I suspect many of you love as well is failing us.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It should be everyone – the 100% who are determining what “we” see and know and assess about our society, and help create the circumstances for change to the lives of the 100%. It shouldn’t be just the 3% who do so. Hence, I want the 97% to have a fighting chance in our industry!</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And in all industries across the UK. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That is why following the murder of George Floyd and the global Black Lives Matter protests I joined with BECTU and Prospect to call for the establishment of an independent racism reporting body for the media industry. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We - myself, Bectu and Prospect believe that this is one key step to start fighting this problem of over-representation of the 3%.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">An industry wide body which can both gather reports of racism from all the major industry industry bodies as well as be a body that people in the industry can go to, to report incidents of racism including anonymous reporting.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A body that can initiate investigations into issues of systemic racism that would be unlikely to be raised by individual complainants.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A body that can offer advice and assistance to people who believe they are the victims of racism, and/or feel they have experienced unequal treatment due to their race, on how to process a complaint and the resources available to them to pursue a complaint - including the services of the appropriate trade union.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, the body should publish an annual report on the state of racism in the industry, to measure progress, build on best progress and learn from mistakes. The report should be complete with policy suggestions for industry stakeholders on how to tackle racism.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, the current focus of the proposed body is on racism but that is not to say the independent body could not be expanded to address other forms of prejudice and bigotry. Or other focused bodies could not also be established.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And working with BECTU the current focus is on the media industry but talking to Prospect that does not mean it could not be expanded to other sectors. It is much needed throughout Britain. My recent book, Black British Lives Matter, also edited with Lenny Henry, illustrates exactly this point - ending racism in the media sector, the police sector, the social sectors, architecture, sports - will enrich British society.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Brothers and sisters - friends and family.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We have an important opportunity to fundamentally improve a basic foundation of our democracy - freedom of speech and who has access to it.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And it starts with fighting the racism that plagues the media industry.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We must set up an independent racism reporting body now.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our democracy is too important not to do it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thank you.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></div><br /><p> </p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-56765499069651093142022-05-23T06:41:00.001-07:002022-05-23T06:41:30.539-07:00Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity - Second Anniversary Gala Speech <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81qHEcTll7c62awl4eSlYYCAZieGQzGdxkwUeDwC7ukUIjhShSCV1KvsXqRGXE9cxLfJNfNDwvt44Evolmbxq-T3kcArXouOEQROsFmgctuzxB7WfeNiEC-TW-GegvvT92V0YI9096mBHULwrVVvORh3xHC5IhidPBkiIdRDSDxmYCVhTuhmC24hOTQ/s1722/FTW2t1JWUAAkXgj.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1722" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81qHEcTll7c62awl4eSlYYCAZieGQzGdxkwUeDwC7ukUIjhShSCV1KvsXqRGXE9cxLfJNfNDwvt44Evolmbxq-T3kcArXouOEQROsFmgctuzxB7WfeNiEC-TW-GegvvT92V0YI9096mBHULwrVVvORh3xHC5IhidPBkiIdRDSDxmYCVhTuhmC24hOTQ/s320/FTW2t1JWUAAkXgj.jpeg" width="186" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c59d4de4-7fff-54ee-2547-b996ff71133c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>(Speech by Sir Lenny Henry delivered at the second anniversary of the Centre for Media Diversity on 20th May 2022) </b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello my people. Don’t you all look fantastic! Everyone having a good time?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big up the Midlands massive! Anybody here from the black country? Can I have a lift home?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am so thrilled to be celebrating two years of the Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity. Can I get a hell yeah?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is literally a dream come true.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a dream to set up a Centre dedicated to increasing diversity in the media industry. And here we are two years in and going from strength to strength, thanks to all the hard work and support we’ve received from so many of you in this room.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now I’ve been speaking about racism and the lack of diversity in the media since… well, biblical times. Jesus had twelve disciples, the brother can’t have one black friend?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I started my career in the 1970’s there were hardly any Black people on our screens or behind the camera. When I first went to work at the BBC it was me, Floella Benjamin and Moira Stewart - all picking cotton in the Blue Peter garden.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was the only Black person on the Black and White Minstrel Show – which, for the younger people in the room, was a racist TV programme where white people sang and danced in black face. I still struggle with that, but it illustrates the lack of options available to young black people in those days.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fun fact - the UK kept their version of the Black and White Minstrel show - long after the US had dropped its. Americans were like “if we’re gonna get a white guy to wear too much makeup and say racist stuff on TV, let’s at least make him President”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have heard racial slurs.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been the only black person on a film set.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been stereotyped.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But this isn’t a sob story - I’m simply illustrating how far we’ve come and reminding us progress can, must and will happen.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And what I have learnt is that we must turn protest in progress. We need to transform our complaints about the lack of diversity into real tangible results. And that is what the Centre is all about.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me tell you something about the key ethos of the Centre. Like I said I’ve been talking to people about diversity and racism for years, and no one paid too much attention. Occasionally it would make the news, but it’s actually not that helpful when ITV runs the headline “Ainsley Harriot calls for more diversity”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But in 2014 something changed. In addition to talking about diversity, I also began to address the structure of the film and television industry.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I still talked about a lack of Black and Asian people, but now I also addressed how much power we have – or, crucially, don’t have.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As well as talking about the number of disabled people on our screens or the lack of women behind the camera, I focused on how many of those people were in the positions that control the money.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because money is power, commissions are power. I learnt that first hand when I started appearing on TV. After growing up poor, suddenly I had money.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I bought my mum a new telly, new carpet and eventually a house. In Caribbean families, having money brings huge respect and when I bought her the house, she moved Dad from the head of the table and put me there instead. And then she gave me the biggest cut of meat.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That must have been tough for my dad. All day long he had to listen to bigots at work complaining about black people coming over here and taking food out their mouths – then he came home to find one of them was his son!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was when I started thinking about diversity as a structural problem that everything changed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that for me is what this Centre is all about.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not about hunting out the unconscious bias or playing eye spy the racist - it’s something beginning with Boris Johnson by the way - the centre is about how we change the way the industry is run so we can make it more inclusive for everyone.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The genesis of this can be traced back to an open letter in 2014 where I teamed up with the likes of Doreen Lawrence Amma Assante Kwame Kwei Armah and Idris Elba to ask broadcasters for ring-fenced money for programmes directed by black people. We also asked them to put more money into programmes directed by women.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From that moment on I have always recognised the importance of financing in trying to achieve real diversity and inclusion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That letter also taught me another important lesson. The power of allies.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We felt that if it was just non white people who signed, we could be dismissed as a bunch of angry black actors with an open letter in their hands.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a simpler time - these days if an angry black actor is holding something in their hand, it’s usually Chris Rock’s face.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we added Richard Curtis CBE, Russell T Davies OBE, Harry Hill, Sir Richard Eyre CBE, Lord Alan Sugar, Matt Lucas, Emma Thompson and a raft of other people to the letter. It was magic</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So having the support of allies is key in giving you strength - and even cover from possible push back from the powers that be.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me illustrate with a section from the book Access All Areas, which I wrote with Marcus Ryder.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If we want to create a culture where people are not scared to speak their truth, we need to create a culture of allies. If you are a Black man, you need to support your female co-workers when she is calling out sexism.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are a White woman, support your Black co-worker when they are advocating policies to combat ethnicity pay gaps.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And White men? Well, you guys just have to support everyone!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After we sent that open letter in 2018 I took things up a level - and with Marcus Ryder again, as well as some of the other people on the letter, we campaigned for diversity tax breaks for films and certain TV programmes, that meet key diversity criteria.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We went to Downing Street, the Mayor’s office, we met with Nicola Sturgeon and even went to the treasury. Luckily this was before the only way to get a tax break from them was to be married to Rishi Sunak.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this is when we hit a big hurdle – while politicians paid lip service to supporting the idea, we were told by the Treasury that we didn’t have the evidence that diversity tax breaks worked. We hadn’t modelled it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that my friends, is why we are all here today – because in 2020 we set up the Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University – so we would always have the academic work to support all of our diversity policies.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two years in and this centre is doing great work, including consultancy for the Financial Times, Channel 4 and the BBC.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I’m very proud to announce this evening that the Centre is now in the process of doing the hard academic work of modelling those tax breaks. We will get there.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Centre has proved that change will happen – people are taking notice, broadcasters, newspapers and trade unions are all using our work to improve their policies and increase diversity.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m so proud of the achievements this centre has made, but more importantly I am so excited about the road that lies ahead.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can’t wait to see where that road takes us and I’m delighted to have each and every one of you on the journey.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for listening.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800027272727273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>(Printed with kind permission by Sir Lenny Henry)</b></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-70651843220285594642022-05-16T07:38:00.005-07:002022-05-16T10:41:20.941-07:00Beyond the Tick Box - A New Way To Collect Diversity Data<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYKtn1Bzf_PnWhLqTnjGZSa8e2_DeTpVsKK05ePVMTsHcDf0Yqwq-uyag1JFY2-zDVRP1XtLoE0XCk7N2Mdo2EKxMFGi1uyfM363FOeLMsA970nH8EHs-zJuHlOwTHO9ujsH02kF4ZMylCljd_zMAjfm67gFAZQ_EZlbTg_V_4uBMgv2acX8Iy8oM-g/s1109/ELS-Editorial-Illustration_I_and_D_roots.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="1109" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYKtn1Bzf_PnWhLqTnjGZSa8e2_DeTpVsKK05ePVMTsHcDf0Yqwq-uyag1JFY2-zDVRP1XtLoE0XCk7N2Mdo2EKxMFGi1uyfM363FOeLMsA970nH8EHs-zJuHlOwTHO9ujsH02kF4ZMylCljd_zMAjfm67gFAZQ_EZlbTg_V_4uBMgv2acX8Iy8oM-g/s320/ELS-Editorial-Illustration_I_and_D_roots.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diversity data is fundamentally flawed because it is based on an old idea of identity that people are increasingly turning away from - and seems almost completely broken when it comes to Generation Z.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f3f69e12-7fff-3438-b829-d74cb18af074"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other day I was at a conference and during a coffee break got into a conversation with a group of young students about identity. One of the students talked about their sexual identity and told me how they do not see themselves as “heterosexual” but at the same time does not think of themselves as part of the “LGBTQ+” community.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After gently interrogating this apparent contradiction, it didn’t seem like someone who was “in denial” which is how older generations might have labeled the situation. Instead it seemed as if the student basically viewed identity in two ways: Their “personal identity” and their “group identity”</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their “personal identity” was “not heterosexual” (although I can see a problem of defining yourself in the negative I will leave that for another blog post).</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However they viewed their “group identity” as “heterosexual”. They said that for all intents and purposes they presented as heterosexual, for the most part lived a “heterosexual lifestyle”, and benefited from “heterosexual privilege”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The conversation reminded me of a recent episode of the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/725592481787414/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red Table Talk</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in which the singer Janelle Monáe opened up about their identity, saying they are “so much bigger” than the binary. Interestingly she went on to say; “I’m non-binary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely... But I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am. Beyond the binary.”</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the context of my conversation with the student about her sexuality I interpreted the singer’s statement to mean their “personal identity” is “non-binary”, while their “group identity” is “Black women”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem with most discussions and forms that ask you about your identity is that there is no distinction between “personal identity” and “group identity”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The forms ask how you “personally” identify and then assume that is also the same as your “group” identity. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The irony is in trying to address issues around the lack of diversity and representation organisations are normally trying to address perceived “group identity” </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “personal identity”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The vast majority of the diversity collection forms make little distinction between “personal” and “group” identities assuming they are one and the same. There is however one important exception - the </span><a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/census-results/at-a-glance/national-identity/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scottish National Census when it asks about National identity</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One question on the Scottish census is around whether you feel “Scottish”, “British”, both, or another nationality altogether. Importantly your national identity has nothing to do with your nationality, passport or where you were born, the official information states; “National identity is not tied to ethnicity or country of birth. A foreign citizen living in Scotland is free to choose 'Scottish' as their national identity.” </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me this is an attempt to separate “personal identity” (the fact you might have been born in Pakistan) and your “group identity” (the fact you associate with the label of being Scottish). Interestingly in this example over 50% of people of Pakistani origin identified themselves as “Scottish”, while only 21.2% of people with African heritage identified as Scottish. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question on the Scottish census recognises that where you were born and your passport might not be the same as your group identity. Your personal identity might be Pakistani, but your group identity is Scottish.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We see examples of how the group identity and personal identity often break down.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other day I was talking to a senior BBC executive who I have known for over twenty years. When I first met them they identified as “working class” but in our most recent conversation they confessed to me that they now felt like "a bit of a fraud” calling themselves “working class” as their lifestyle and their community now are not working class. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a diversity form they would still be seen as working class due to their schooling, and parental occupations, but they did not feel that this represented their present “group identity”. Just like 50% of Pakistanis in Scotland who identify as Scottish as opposed to Pakistani - the senior exec might have been born working class but they see themselves as middle class.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can even see examples of this when it comes to race and ethnicity with people feeling they should tick the “mixed” category but may see themselves as part of a different “group identity”. Whether a person of mixed heritage (for example Black and White) sees themselves as Black, White, Black and White, or mixed (the group identity they feel best describes them) is just as important as their "personal identity" - especially when thinking about issue of culture.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe this one question on the Scottish census on identity might lead the way in how we should collect diversity data. It is still important to measure your personal identity; how many people from Pakistan (and other nationalities) live in Scotland, but we should also find a way to capture group identity (which group they identify with). </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Scotland has got right is thinking that simply by adding up everyone’s “personal identities” you can measure the “group identity”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Understanding the difference between “individual identity” and “group identity” is also critical when it comes to thinking about “inclusion” - the culture of an organisation - and not just diversity - the simple headcount of people who have ticked a certain diversity box.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a world of increasing identity complexity it is important that we measure both.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How we view identity is changing - how we record it and measure it needs to change too.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-16651680089109025342022-05-12T15:07:00.005-07:002022-05-17T02:10:49.555-07:00Twitter, diversity and the existential threat to democracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2W10d2T_p9SEZOA3-iKA8vbdLnDcylqp9HEVsuGP-yaku4GJZIt1cBeLyU4APzQ8wn8Jvt17Ofr8z0FjDitYizk_K-a5d0fK6o-Z7a344NJVkb98zKzoZeESPGD_aBd8YnzU_9NuUigJ9YTRSmL2MikZbnBdw4BInDJRYWmKv8VjOi0KX1LQ_LW6x6w/s2500/220405-ROB-Elon-Musk-Twitter-jg-af752e.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2500" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2W10d2T_p9SEZOA3-iKA8vbdLnDcylqp9HEVsuGP-yaku4GJZIt1cBeLyU4APzQ8wn8Jvt17Ofr8z0FjDitYizk_K-a5d0fK6o-Z7a344NJVkb98zKzoZeESPGD_aBd8YnzU_9NuUigJ9YTRSmL2MikZbnBdw4BInDJRYWmKv8VjOi0KX1LQ_LW6x6w/s320/220405-ROB-Elon-Musk-Twitter-jg-af752e.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><i><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>(Speech for the Digital Czech Republic 2022 Conference - delivered by Marcus Ryder on 13 May 2022)</b></i></div></i><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear friends and fellow Europeans,</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-33c4f564-7fff-e78a-1366-f31ccaa5a7d9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you very much for inviting me to speak today. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been scheduled in today’s programme to talk about media diversity and digital democracy.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I fully recognise that for many people on mainland Europe that diversity, and the political rhetoric that surrounds it, is often seen as an Anglophone import from the US and the UK and not relevant to the political realities and culture of the rest of Europe.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diversity can be seen as a politically correct agenda only relevant in societies obsessed with so-called “identity politics”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore I do not want to use the word diversity today and instead I will be using another term today instead - “democracy”.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s start with a simple thought experiment.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A lot of people are concerned about the prospect of a single person controlling Twitter - one of the most important mediums of communication on the planet - influencing elections and political discourse. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now what would we think of it being a single billionaire would it be OK if it was two people?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What about 100 people?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What about 1,000?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now imagine it was a million… but they were all white men in Europe. Or - given the current war in Ukraine - maybe all white men in Russia.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How would we feel about that?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of a sudden it becomes less about quantity and more about quality. While the number of people controlling Twitter is still important - the idea of that degree of concentration of power and control into a single person is alarming - the problem is not solved simply by increasing the number of people. It is also about the qualities of those people. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the current Ukraine crisis the problems are obvious if it was controlled by a million Russians. But let’s take another example; how would you feel if you were a Black person and you knew Twitter was disproportionately controlled by White people - White people in the US who overwhelmingly voted for a presidential candidate who made comments supporting white supremacist groups. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a hypothetical of course.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the reality - in the 2020 US presidential elections almost 60% of White people voted for Donald Trump.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We see variations of this reality being played out all the time with one powerful group in charge of social media platforms making decisions that affect another group. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year Facebook, who owns Instagram, apologised after </span><a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/instagram-facebook-censored-al-aqsa-mosque" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it was revealed</span></a><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it had been blocking Instagram posts which contained the hashtag #AlAqsa or its Arabic counterparts #الاقصى, or hiding them from search results. According to Facebook the mistake occurred due to the Al-Aqsa name, a famous mosque, being associated with terrorist organizations.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few days earlier Twitter </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/11/instagram-twitter-blame-glitch-for-deleted-sheikh-jarrah-posts" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #993300; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blamed technical errors</span></a><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for deleting posts and suspending accounts mentioning the possible eviction of Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question that Facebook or Twitter did not answer was, what was the demographic of the people making these decisions on which hashtags to promote or block?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The suspicion of course is that the people making - what are effectively editorial decisions - are disproportionately based in the US, white and male - although the people implementing the decisions might be based in Kenya or anywhere else in the world. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Social media and other digital platforms are increasingly deciding the flow of information and what makes up our political discourse. The problem is the people deciding which conversations and which issues to prioritize are from a small global minority. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the core principles of a representative democracy is equal representation. Unless we have equal representation of who decides what we should be talking about we do not have democracy. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lack of equal and fair representation in the editorial decision making on the social media platforms is an existential threat to our democracies in the same way as if they were controlled by a single billionaire. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-83066984461504861142022-02-27T11:55:00.006-08:002022-02-28T01:07:21.584-08:00An open letter on the reporting of Ukraine: Do not let diversity be a casualty of war.<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUGq3BOf2f8WBIPdcHAOtrwy9fdtY6OPzuyfWwZojRyGSq7hQnVPu1eRS8xjH92BkUpm2WQ0LGT8MnBPhS2WfEQfxM-skTcGRQMfuuvK2ylPb8NKaMKdqna55e70D8Bs31qsKM70v0WAURKmxTyn7CoU_wYIKEFbAWvq4d-LWILd4wC1mFQWuDe6PS2g=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUGq3BOf2f8WBIPdcHAOtrwy9fdtY6OPzuyfWwZojRyGSq7hQnVPu1eRS8xjH92BkUpm2WQ0LGT8MnBPhS2WfEQfxM-skTcGRQMfuuvK2ylPb8NKaMKdqna55e70D8Bs31qsKM70v0WAURKmxTyn7CoU_wYIKEFbAWvq4d-LWILd4wC1mFQWuDe6PS2g=s320" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Dear newsroom editors and journalists reporting on the current war in Ukraine,<br /><br />First may I thank you all for doing an incredibly important job under incredibly difficult conditions.</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-487e0803-7fff-50ec-e54d-37453531c0ce"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am sure you are all aware of the old adage; “The first casualty of war is truth”, first attributed to US Senator Hiram Warren Johnson in 1918. In 2022 it is important that diversity, and our principles of anti-racism, aren’t the second casualty.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We must separate the relative importance and global strategic significance of a war in Europe, compared to other conflicts, from the relative importance of the victims of different conflicts around the world.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I fully understand why a war involving a Superpower (Russia) on European soil may be deemed (rightly or wrongly) as more significant than other conflicts. Evaluating the importance of different wars and conflicts are by definition the difficult editorial decisions editors and journalists need to make almost every day.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However a conflict’s relative global importance must not be confused with the relative importance of the victims of these conflicts.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All human life should be viewed as equally important. European lives should not be viewed as having more value than African, Asian, or any other lives around the world.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Deaths in times of war are tragic wherever they occur and we must avoid linking their importance, or how much sympathy we have for them, to their ethnicity or where they are based in the world.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While the direct reporting of valuing European lives as being more important may be relatively easy to avoid, journalists must also guard against doing it indirectly.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Reports that try to increase an audience’s emotional connection to European victims by drawing comparisons to how the victims are just like people “like us” , when this type of comparison hasn’t been used when reporting other conflicts, sends out the signal that we should value them more because they are European. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also reporting that draws comparisons to the civilian Ukranian victims to how similar they are to British victims of WWII (during the blitz) when similar comparisons have not been made to civilian victims of bombings in other parts of the world sends out a similar message.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not clearly, and explicitly, explaining your news values and why you believe this conflict is strategically and politically important because of its geography and the parties involved, as opposed to the people involved also sends out a potentially dangerous message. Simply saying it is important “because it is in Europe” can easily be misinterpreted that it is because the people involved are European. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We must also be careful of the experts and pundits that we put on our broadcasts when reporting on the news. I fully appreciate that some pundits may have different values when it comes to diversity and anti-racism, but they may be an expert in the field and necessary to interview. However when an interviewee stresses the importance of the civilian victims by drawing attention to their race the presenter can just gently remind them that “obviously their lives have value irrespective of what they look like” and move on in a non-confrontational manner.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The current war in Ukraine could be a seminal moment in how newsrooms respect diversity and incorporate anti-racism into their work.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I implore all journalists to continue your excellent work while remembering our core values. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Please stay safe.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yours faithfully,</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Marcus Ryder. </span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-11079155660668185762022-01-19T07:51:00.002-08:002022-01-19T07:51:12.181-08:00All Work and Little Pay - The truth about working in TV<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY27FHjzhz01VUIeCLLBoaXpR1Rv3jaFrDxsPAapo5NWH29db5N8Zh0SxirwFsunEkD2j8RYLXjDhVMWB1-xh67Sy1oCs4keCDKCRoJkSIMUlhWP1OlArj1W6MUvjdDCslK-jk1mJPJxAIC_8qovAi3zZliPfX_7Qu8rhoiZhWXGMYteilKPY6-skklA=s2560" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY27FHjzhz01VUIeCLLBoaXpR1Rv3jaFrDxsPAapo5NWH29db5N8Zh0SxirwFsunEkD2j8RYLXjDhVMWB1-xh67Sy1oCs4keCDKCRoJkSIMUlhWP1OlArj1W6MUvjdDCslK-jk1mJPJxAIC_8qovAi3zZliPfX_7Qu8rhoiZhWXGMYteilKPY6-skklA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">On Wednesday 19th January 2022 the <a href="https://screen-network.org.uk/our-work/publications/">Screen Industries Growth Network</a> published a groundbreaking report "<a href="https://screen-network.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/The-Time-Project-Report_fullv2.pdf">The Time Project - Understanding working time in the UK television industry</a>" a report exploring the hours worked by media professionals.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial;">Working practices, and the work environment, directly impact on issues of diversity, inclusion and inclusion in the industry.</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I was asked to write a forward for the report which I republish below:</b></div></b><br /> <br /><br />INTRODUCTION - TIME PROJECT<br /><br />There are some memories that never leave you.<br /><br />I first met my wife-to-be in 2002. A few months after we started dating we went on a romantic weekend to Rome. As I sat across from her at a beautiful small romantic restaurant my phone rang - it was work. I took the phone call and started discussing the latest edit of a programme I was overseeing. <br /><br />My wife-to-be burst into tears.<br /><br />At the time I was a young series producer, eager to progress my career, and throughout the short holiday I had been taking calls and emails from producers, researchers and my executive producer.<br /><br />As someone who did not work in television my future wife was frustrated and could not understand how I could be working throughout this supposedly romantic break.<br /><br />As someone who had only ever worked in television I was unable to understand how I couldn't work throughout this “romantic” break.<br /><br />Having a career in television can be brilliant, but all too often it carries a cost that we should not have to bear.<br /><br />I have missed funerals, significant birthdays and key family events.<br /><br />There have been times when I have gone into the office with a toothbrush and a spare set of underwear, in the knowledge that I might be “pulling an all nighter”. And worse yet I have sometimes told people these things not as a sign of a bad work environment but as a badge of honour.<br /><br />The truth is these types of working practices have adversely affected my close relationships and affected my mental health. And while I am proud to say that I have won several awards for the programmes and films I have been responsible for, the vast majority of the long hours I have worked have been to produce programmes that were literally forgotten the next day (or following month - if I am being kind). <br /><br />The Time Project Report confirms what many of us already knew instinctively, that stories like mine and working these types of hours are not isolated cases, and far too many of us have difficulty separating home life and work life.<br /><br />The report is full of shocking, although sadly not surprising, facts and figures from the number of hours people work on average - 10 hours per day - to the lack of breaks people are able to take - often ranging from just 30 minutes per day to none!<br /><br />And while these statistics cover the industry as a whole we should not fool ourselves that we are “all in this together”. These working practices impact different people in different ways. They disproportionately impact people with caring responsibilities, pay gaps show that we are not all paid the same for the long hours we work, and people who live outside of London have a harder struggle finding their next job as they literally do not have the time to attend interviews.<br /><br />This affects career progression and the diversity of who can work in the industry. <br /><br />We cannot continue to work in this way. And most importantly we do not need to.<br /><br />These working practices are the result of conscious choices made by people around budgets, delivery deadlines and management culture. <br /><br />And while I can recount the long hours and bad working practices I have worked under, I have also been lucky enough to work on productions that did not cause me to work these types of hours, to give me decent breaks, and still produce award winning television shows.<br /><br />As an industry we must do better. The bottom line is while we might use terms such as “long working hours” what much of this report is actually detailing is exploitation. And exploitation must never be normalised.<br /><br />With the new information that this report has brought to light and the raft of constructive ways to tackle these problems I look forward to an industry that is world beating not just in the product it produces but how it treats everyone who works in it. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div><br /></div></div><br /><p></p></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-63154219736297763962021-11-12T04:22:00.004-08:002022-01-11T01:39:38.807-08:00Fear, Diversity and Journalistic Impartiality<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rPmCOHzG8x5S-9CHRIGGKTXFwnIX7jenW3dfBugvhV1Yiw0xK8yk4Y_cRf2wAC-hl-Mb_pJOFic-IflY13dT1CN9zfV0glIZsft2sF906UZO_vPSl6tpxrECIJNMhL9YuRJVbawG4RIw/s2048/WhatsApp+Image+2021-11-12+at+12.03.39.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rPmCOHzG8x5S-9CHRIGGKTXFwnIX7jenW3dfBugvhV1Yiw0xK8yk4Y_cRf2wAC-hl-Mb_pJOFic-IflY13dT1CN9zfV0glIZsft2sF906UZO_vPSl6tpxrECIJNMhL9YuRJVbawG4RIw/w240-h293/WhatsApp+Image+2021-11-12+at+12.03.39.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />On the morning of the 9th November 2021 I received an MBE for Service for Media Diversity. In the afternoon of the same day I met the BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, who alleged blocked me from a senior journalistic appointment due to my work on media diversity. </b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>In the evening of the same day I then delivered a speech addressing concerns and misunderstandings around journalistic impartiality and championing the ideals of diversity.</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>News organisations who do not champion media diversity, and make diversity and inclusion part of their core "news values", are not only poorer for it but are hurting ll journalists from underrepresented groups.</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>Read my speech in full here... </b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Good evening, friends and fellow journalists, media practitioners and academics</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Before I start I want to start by thanking Simon Albury and the Campaign for Media Diversity for organising tonight’s event, Manori Ravindran the international editor of Variety for taking part and of course the Right Honourable Matt Hancock for hosting this event - which was originally meant to take place in Portcullis House in Parliament before an outbreak of Covid struck.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But most of all I would like to thank all the people who have shown me so much support over the years, and especially in the last few weeks, as I have became a centre of a small but significant media storm – I especially want to thank the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity for all their support.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today I want to briefly talk about the issue of media diversity and journalistic impartiality.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Firstly, as imperfect and problematic as the concept of journalistic impartiality is - it is something I deeply believe in. Like many principles in life it is more of a journey – something we strive for – rather than an absolute destination. But I believe it is something worth striving for and an ideal worth fighting for.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Without it we cannot trust our news and the information about the world. As a society we become more fractured and divided as competing groups just believe in their own partial facts.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And just like justice, not only does our journalism need to be impartial, the people delivering it need to be seen to be impartial.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That does not mean there isn’t a place for comment and opinion, but for reporting of facts we need impartial journalists who are seen to be impartial – especially when it comes to our national broadcaster like the BBC - or anywhere there is only a few news providers that people rely on to get their facts – and in the UK that means broadcast news in general.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Evidence of how dearly I hold this idea to my heart - in 2014 I oversaw the BBC Scotland’s current affairs programmes covering the Scottish independence referendum. I voted in that referendum because I believe in the democratic process - but with the exception of my wife - I have never revealed to anyone how I voted in that referendum – to this day.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Similarly, even though I had left the UK and was no longer working at the BBC by the time the Brexit referendum took place I have never tweeted or publicly said whether I am a 'Brexiteer' or 'Remainer' because I have always thought one day I may return to political journalism in the UK.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am an avid user of social media but you would struggle to find anything overtly party political in any of my tweets.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And yet despite this, despite the fact I have never been a member of a political party, despite the fact that I can count Conservatives, SNP, Liberal Democrats and Labour members among my friendship circle.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The news broke that my impartiality was being questioned and whether I could be a senior journalist at the BBC.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now I am not going to go into my particular case because the BBC has publicly denied that I was ever blocked. But what I do know to be the case is hundreds of journalists of colour fear their careers being blocked, being disciplined by their employer, or even fired for breaching impartiality guidelines, for doing exactly what I have done.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And what have I done?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have spoken out and championed the need for greater diversity, inclusion and equity in the UK media industry. I have spoken out for the need for more women in positions of power as according to Directors UK only 25% of TV programmes are directed by women. I have given evidence to the House of Lords for more programmes to be made out of London, I have published academic studies looking at how to increase the number of disabled people in our industry which for the uk film industry currently stands at less than 5% according the BFI. And I have advised the BBC, Channel 4, and the Guardian on how to increase ethnic and racial diversity in their organisations - and without breaking any confidence if you were around London Bridge three weeks ago you might have seen me walking into the News UK offices.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today I even received my MBE for services to media diversity. The work I have done and the values I have championed are being recognised in the highest places of the state.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And so why are journalists – and specially journalists of colour frightened to speak out about the need for greater media diversity?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is because there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding by many people about what impartiality really is.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The truth is news organisations are not trying to achieve impartiality but they are – correctly – trying to achieve “due impartiality”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me read to you what the BBC’s own editorial guidelines say about “due impartiality”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Quote “Due impartiality… does not require absolute neutrality on every issue or detachment from fundamental democratic principles, such as the right to vote, freedom of expression and the rule of law.” End quote - That is from BBC Editorial Guidelines: Section 4 Impartiality - Introduction</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Take climate change. This week we are in the middle of Cop26 - due impartiality means we report on climate change as an accepted scientific fact. Our journalism and reporting on climate change is better because we do not look for “absolute neutrality” on the issue - balancing climate change fact with climate change deniers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For me, and millions of people in the UK the principle of being anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-disablist also does not require; quote unquote “absolute neutrality” .</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Championing the need for a more representative, diverse and equitable media is not an impartiality issue – it is why Ofcom - the media regulator who passes judgment on matters of broadcasters’ impartiality - also champions these ideals. It is why the BBC and ITN can state them as core values without compromising their ability to deliver impartial objective news.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is what we teach journalism students are “news values” and without news values any media organisation is morally bankrupt.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So let me tell you - journalists of colour are scared – I have spoken to journalists who literally - and I am using the word literally correctly here – literally look over their shoulder when they talk about diversity - on Zoom at home because they are so scared. They are scared of losing their jobs. They are scared of being backlisted as a trouble maker.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And what are some of the activities they are scared of being exposed about.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They are scared of being exposed as one of the millions of people who went on a Black Lives Matter protest in the summer of 2020. They are scared that they liked a picture of an England footballer taking the knee during the Euros. They are scared that they did not delete their black square in memory of George Floyd on Instagram quickly enough. These are all real and specific examples.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They are worried they liked a blog post by me analysing the BBC’s or Ofcom’s publicly available data highlighting the industries failings when it comes to diversity</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They are worried that doing any of these things will bring their impartiality into question and by extension be used against them when they go for promotion or worse be used as ammunition against them in a disciplinary hearing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">These fears are real.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is why irrespective of the facts around my particular case my story struck a chord with so many because it played right into these fears. And these fears cannot be dismissed by simply saying – the Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Times, and the Independent all got it wrong. And the rumours around Marcus Ryder aren’t true.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They can only be dismissed when broadcasters send out a very clear message that they believe in media diversity - and do not believe individuals championing media diversity impacts on a journalist’s ability to be impartial any more than championing the right to vote or any of our basic human rights.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Broadcasters can do this by saying – yes journalists can cheer the England football team taking the knee.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Broadcasters - like the BBC can achieve this by publishing the diversity figures for their Editorial policy teams and Editorial complaints units who decide on these matters and most importantly their seniority by salary.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And lastly broadcasters can do this by appointing people who have publicly championed the values I have publicly championed, people who look like me, to senior editorial roles in news.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Actions speak louder than denials.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Journalists of colour need to hear and see their employers champion diversity not just in their public statements but in the way their journalism covers stories and the appointments made in their newsrooms.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because fundamentally more diverse and inclusive newsrooms will deliver better news for everyone.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thank you to all the journalists of colour who work tirelessly to produce amazing journalism despite the challenges they face.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thank you to all the journalists from under-represented groups who live the values of inclusion and diversity.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And thank you to all journalists - irrespective of their backgrounds - who recognise that diversity is not additional to their journalistic objectivity but key to them achieving the goal of due impartiality.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-41242284598421794682021-09-09T01:55:00.002-07:002021-09-09T09:52:41.616-07:00Why We Must Go Beyond Anti-Racism and Aim for Empowerment<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFt-6Z7l8z6hzrtRa6pPsSsMPXMTsxQZrkDSvbp8BVuM7N1nOiKKW89nl8ZSTtLxPymnvbMG93E38kbpcs4OG9HeBFJke6awwPnKYWifDygPXhjQJDBp7PFP1LEgg0mPMswQ7_aWleuce/s600/depositphotos_117568372-stock-photo-multiethnic-people-holding-hands.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="600" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFt-6Z7l8z6hzrtRa6pPsSsMPXMTsxQZrkDSvbp8BVuM7N1nOiKKW89nl8ZSTtLxPymnvbMG93E38kbpcs4OG9HeBFJke6awwPnKYWifDygPXhjQJDBp7PFP1LEgg0mPMswQ7_aWleuce/s320/depositphotos_117568372-stock-photo-multiethnic-people-holding-hands.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>(From an original speech delivered on 8th September to 'Inc Arts' and 'What Next')</i></b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good afternoon everyone,</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f866aee7-7fff-ffd8-592f-3637d7b18eba"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am the Head of External Consultancies at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and the Chair of RADA.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all I would just like to thank Amanda Parker, Inc Arts and What Next for inviting me, and giving me the opportunity to speak today. What Inc Arts is doing is incredibly important and much needed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am however going to be just a little bit controversial today, and I hope people will listen with an open mind, especially considering the fact I am speaking at an event titled “Arts Against Racism”.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here goes...</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After 25 years working in the media industry I am not sure I am “anti-racist”, or at least I am not anti-racist in the way it is usually discussed, and how policies are usually shaped in order to address it. And a lot of my approach to the issue is shaped by my experience of eight years as a senior BBC executive based in Scotland and attempts to address poor representation in regional and out of London productions. And my experience of hitting a glass ceiling and leaving the UK and living in Asia for over five years.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So let’s talk about racism.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A simple definition of racism is prejudice plus power.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my experience far too many policies have focused on the first bit of the equation “prejudice” and not enough has been focused on the second part, the question of “power”.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have unconscious bias training.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have active bystander training.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Companies commit to implementing the Rooney rule of having one ethnic minority shortlisted on interview panels. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Companies commit to employing more widely to identify and attract talent from a broader range of backgrounds.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Organisations set employment targets for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff throughout their organisations, and at senior levels.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We see all this and yet we have seen very little progress.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most importantly we have seen even less progress in terms of who is commissioning our arts, and who ultimately wields power.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And until we change who wields power. The fate of ethnic minorities are at the whims and vagaries of White people’s values, prejudices and beliefs - good and bad. So even if we make progress today, it is rarely sustainable in the long run.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have seen this repeated time and time again.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which is why we must ultimately change the power part of the equation when it comes to addressing racism.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this is where my Scotland experience is invaluable.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While not equating any animosity between the Scots and English as being the same as historical slavery and racism, what we can learn from my experience of working for BBC Scotland is how do you address under-representation and differences in power differentials.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The answer for the BBC when it came to addressing underrepresentation outside of London was not to try and convince English commissioners to be nicer to Scots, or the Welsh or Northerners. Or even for bases in London to employ more Scottish or Welsh commissioners - in their London offices.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The answer was to tackle structural issues that lead to power differentials.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My discussions with my BBC Scottish colleagues were rarely predicated on whether English people in general, and Londoners in particular, didn’t like them.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there were a lot of discussions on who controls the finances, who has editorial control, and how do we restructure organisations to make them more equitable.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This involved metrics that went far and beyond simple headcounts.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was looking at programme hours, programme spend, percentage share of salaries spent in each region. There was even physical infrastructure spend and working with local governments to build new bridges (over the river Clyde) and extend tram lines (in Salford).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is why in working with the Lenny Henry Centre and before, I have always tried to address structural issues and how the television industry is set up.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have looked at ring-fenced money, as this was the primary mover for increasing regional diversity.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have looked at contestable funds as this has been used to address the market failure in television when it comes to children’s programmes.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I have advocated for diversity tax breaks, as tax breaks have been instrumental in stimulating the film and high end TV industry in the UK in general.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have seen intiative after initiative fail to change our industry over the last thirty years despite the lack of good will and the best intentions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we are to achieve a better more equitable media and arts industry we must recognise that diversity is not the same as anti-racism, and anti-racism is not the same as empowerment. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need all three if we are going to make real progress.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe we are currently in a unique time and we are all hungry for change now.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now is the time to think structurally.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now is the time to push through real change.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now is the time to bring about real equality and fairer representation throughout media and arts.</span></p><br /><br /></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-29214694330660009302021-08-08T23:06:00.000-07:002021-08-08T23:06:05.220-07:00Children's TV needs to see diversity through children's eyes - not adult standards.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wNOtHfh4YSvi9St5NM7wzgMomPnN8mKmT577n46GqDFRjiI5jtF3aQkrci5_jknHqP_0LggJZrZS6f5xk2CHfbMDsrKl0MRxIvcKaeG-iCw63wbgfobDjzTuz8dORrHQ43z_NLBSyvV8/s1280/maxresdefault.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wNOtHfh4YSvi9St5NM7wzgMomPnN8mKmT577n46GqDFRjiI5jtF3aQkrci5_jknHqP_0LggJZrZS6f5xk2CHfbMDsrKl0MRxIvcKaeG-iCw63wbgfobDjzTuz8dORrHQ43z_NLBSyvV8/s320/maxresdefault.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />A few years ago the hashtag #<a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/thanks-to-netflix-people-are-talking-about-the-first-time-they-saw-themselves-on-television/">FirstTimeISawMe</a> started trending on social media. <br /><br />The hashtag was part of an awareness campaign by Netflix focusing on diversity and inclusion, and highlighted seminal TV moments and characters of when people from under-represented groups first felt their own reality and personality was accurately portrayed on screen enabling them to feel included and seen. <br /><br />The hashtag primarily focused on ethnicity but soon grew into a wider discussion on issues around gender, sexuality and disability. The social media conversations vividly illustrated what it meant to people to feel represented for the first time. Tweets, Facebook updates and Instagram pictures all built up to give deeply personal accounts proving how important onscreen diversity is for people.<br /><br />However, while much of the debate centred on the “ISeeMe” part of the hashtag, which is all about diversity and representation, there was little debate about the first part of the hashtag; “FirstTime”.<br /><br />Considering we all watched television as children this was implicitly a debate about representation (or lack thereof) in children’s programming whether people realised it or not. If the first time people “saw themselves” was in adult programming this implicitly meant they did not see themselves represented throughout their childhood. Conversely, if they cited examples from children’s programmes or family programmes this was a powerful endorsement of representation in programmes aimed at children.<br /><br />Interestingly the examples that people gave of the #<a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/thanks-to-netflix-people-are-talking-about-the-first-time-they-saw-themselves-on-television/">FirstTimeISawMe</a> were rarely about their race, gender, disability or sexuality alone. It was always a lot more complex and nuanced. If one looks at ethnicity for example, while black people usually gave an example of a black character for the first time they saw themselves, it was rarely the actual first time they had seen a black character on TV. Ethnicity alone did not guarantee that people felt “seen” or saw themselves in the character. <br /><br />People’s race plays an important part of them seeing themselves reflected on-screen but it is just one part of a far larger whole. This complexity is almost taken for granted in representation of white characters for a white audience… no one expects a white child to identify with every white character they see on screen. Obviously a raft of other factors come into play such as gender, class, regionality and more. However, when I speak to people about on-screen black representation with senior television executives this complexity is often overlooked. <br /><br />Yet it is crucial. <br /><br />I remember the first time I “saw myself” on television.<br /><br />John John was a small black boy with an afro counting to twenty with Herry Monster on Sesame Street. For a small black boy living in a predominately white London suburb, I had found my place in the world. It also didn’t hurt that my full name is actually Jon-Marcus and my family often called me “Jon Bon”, it was close enough to “John John”.<br /><br />There were other black children on Sesame Street but only John John was me. His afro, his age, his name, and the fact he loved counting all added up to enable me to see myself. <br /><br />I saw my own 5-year-old son go through the same experience a few months ago. <br /><br />He is an avid watcher of the CBeebies series Go Jetters, a cartoon of four intrepid adventurers guided by a disco loving unicorn who rescue global treasures from being destroyed by the evil Grandmaster Glitch. The four adventurers are of different races, three of the four are boys and the one is a girl.<br /><br />One of the characters, Lars, is black. But for the whole first series my son, who is also black, did not seem to notice him any more than any of the other characters. If anything, he seemed to identify most with the unicorn.<br /><br />Then, in series two something interesting happened. <br /><br />Throughout the first series the four adventurers wear one-piece uniforms with hoods covering their hair. I have never produced animation but I assume it is a lot cheaper to have characters that don’t have hair. But with a successful first series the creators started to do a few scenes with the adventurers’ hair exposed. <br /><br />All of a sudden, my son saw Lar’s curly hair and that moment of recognition was almost electric.<br /><br />At five-years-old my son does not have a strong understanding of race, quite understandably and possibly thankfully. But currently he seems to mediate his own race, and any racial differences and similarities he has with friends, through his hair texture.<br /><br />The second he saw Lar’s hair he identified with the black character. He did not identify through the different skin tones of the different characters. His perception of self and (I suspect) race is seen through the prism of hair not melanin.<br /><br />Representation matters and my son saw himself.<br /><br />Why do I bring this up?<br /><br />It is because when we discuss diversity and race we often see it through categories recognised through our adult perspective. If we were to objectively assess the on-screen diversity of Go Jetters series one vs series two nothing had changed: Four different characters, one of them is black.<br /><br />But for my son, and perhaps for countless other children it went from four characters of different hues to suddenly seeing themselves.<br /><br />This also illustrates a point I’ve made before that too often diversity is seen as an end in itself - however diversity is just a means to an end.<br /><br />If diversity was the end goal Go Jetters accomplished its mission in series one, when in reality it only hit the mark (as far as my son is concerned) in series two.<br /><br />If our goal is to ensure that children can personally connect to the characters in the story and feel positive about themselves, we need to ensure that we explore how children racially identify themselves, not how we (as adults) identify them. There is literally no point in getting the brown paint boxes out if skin colour is not how they identify themselves. Put another way, we can’t just stop at the brown paint box.<br /><br />The same goes for any number of identifiers, from accents to family structures, and from disabilities to genders. <br /><br />Identity is multi-layered.<br /><br />Which brings me to my main point. If we are to achieve effective on-screen diversity that connects with our children then better representation behind the camera is essential. <br /><br />Having grown up as a black child and now raising a black boy gives me a completely different perspective of what “genuine representation” looks like and what small points need to be brought out.<br /><br />For example, before my son became an avid Go Jetters fan he loved Bing (an animated bunny who lives in a neighbourhood with other anthropomorphic friends and their carers). Again, there is little doubt that the creators of Bing are sensitive to issues of diversity with many of the characters seeming to have different accents. But in all the episodes I have watched (there are a lot and so I will not pretend to have watched them all) not once did I see Bing, or any of his friends, have “non-Western” food. Food is often a central theme in children’s stories and in a wider context food is often one of the easiest ways to convey different cultures. And yet representations of food frequently become exclusionary for children of different ethnicities and cultures. Samosas, jollof rice, and jerk chicken are relegated to non-experiences or are exoticised in “special” episodes which primarily focus on ethnicity. <br /><br />Irrespective of how many black or brown characters directors and storytellers create if children view their identity through food the nominal racial diversity will do little in helping children connect with these characters and “see themselves”. <br /><br />Similarly knives, forks and spoons in children’s cartoons seem to be a given. I have never seen a parent serving food with chopsticks or children characters using them despite the fact that by some estimates a <a href="https://pagodaprojects.com/using-chopsticks-why-im-a-convert/#:~:text=An%20estimated%2033%25%20of%20the,can%20be%20a%20real%20challenge.">third of the world</a> uses chopsticks on a daily basis. From Ethiopia to Indonesia, millions of people mark family time or special occasions with shared food, in many cases eaten with hands.<br /><br />If we want children to recognise themselves we need to constantly strive to normalise different cultural experiences and recognise that ethnicity goes way beyond simple signifiers of skin colour. <br /><br />Another example are shoes. I have lived in Asia for just over five years, first in China, briefly in Thailand, and currently in Malaysia. In all those years I have never seen anybody wear shoes in their house. When I visit another home, I am expected to take off my shoes before entering and may be offered slippers to use inside. And yet, like the example of chopsticks, I cannot recall ever seeing a child take their shoes off in children’s cartoons when they go into someone’s house.<br /><br />In the simple act of keeping their shoes on a character goes from being an Asian character that Asian children may be able to relate to, to yet another character who simply has different skin colour. This is of course despite the best of intentions the director behind the camera might have had to represent a multicultural audience.<br /><br />The examples of how we can undermine our best intentions are too numerous to cite and almost impossible for someone who is not immersed in that culture to recognise. Which is why diversity behind the camera – and specifically in editorial positions - is so important. It is the small nuances that can make all the difference. What kind of food would the character eat? Why is their hair important? What do they do when they enter a house? How should they address their parents? Would their grandparents live in the house or nearby? Do they eat with their hands or chopsticks or knives and forks?<br /><br />It is literally too exhausting if we have to think through every one of these questions consciously, and elongate the list too. Which is why ultimately you need content creators from a range of backgrounds who do not have to think about these issues consciously but are just second nature if they are trying to represent their own culture and drawing on their own childhood for reference.<br /><br />If I have not yet been able to convince you of the importance of diversity behind the camera when it comes to kids shows I have one last point: <br /><br />One is not enough.<br /><br />If we accept that our identities are multi-layered with things such as race or gender only playing a part then the idea that a single black character or female character will be able to capture all the representational needs of children of that gender or ethnicity runs contrary to common sense. And yet all too often we still see the single black or single female character in a larger group majority white or male group.<br /><br />Returning to my experience of “seeing myself” for the first time in John John in Sesame Street it is important to remember that Sesame Street had a range of different black characters. I didn’t “see myself” in Sally (another black child in Sesame Street) for example. <br /><br />We must break free of the idea that diversity and representation can be achieved through a single character in a story any more than we think every white child can identify with every white character.<br /><br /> Diversity is not the same as representation and is only part of a far larger whole.<br /><br />To achieve true representation in front of the camera which children can relate to we need true diversity and representation behind the camera.<br /><br />If the hashtag #<a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/thanks-to-netflix-people-are-talking-about-the-first-time-they-saw-themselves-on-television/">FirstTimeISawMe</a> was able to open up a whole discussion about on-screen diversity, maybe those of us working in the media industry need to start a new hashtag #FirstTimeISawMeWorking. Now that would be real progress!<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">This article was first printed in The Children's Media Yearbook published by the Children's Media Foundation https://www.thechildrensmediafoundation.org/the-childrens-media-yearbook-2020</span></b></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-34680070250665484992021-07-30T06:24:00.010-07:002021-07-31T04:49:19.057-07:00Why I’m No Longer Talking to Media Execs About Privatisation of Channel 4 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaXyrpGJfPyoumzU4Sg9JAmTFXWyc03tZ3Lfz_hBGRZHXtIMAewfdRz0KN3OsOhCdwxDSDQfKrUj4plnCck4Zl-4aD3y8MfkBKvWGdNXseOVJ3XLtgPAaYZh_bsgB-BUD6FTmtc9jappV/s275/images2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaXyrpGJfPyoumzU4Sg9JAmTFXWyc03tZ3Lfz_hBGRZHXtIMAewfdRz0KN3OsOhCdwxDSDQfKrUj4plnCck4Zl-4aD3y8MfkBKvWGdNXseOVJ3XLtgPAaYZh_bsgB-BUD6FTmtc9jappV/s0/images2.jpeg" width="275" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Lack of diversity in the television industry is due to market failures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is not due to a lack of good intentions or the actions of individual racists and bigots.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Which is why so many people love Channel 4 and why we are fighting for it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Channel 4 was set up to directly <a href="https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/who-we-are/why-we-exist#:~:text=Channel%204%20was%20set%20up,diversity%20and%20to%20stimulate%20debate.">address market failures</a> in terms of diversity of programming, diversity of talent, and diversity of suppliers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When it launched in 1982, Channel 4 operated under a remit that demanded that it serves the "tastes and interests not generally catered for" by other UK broadcasters and had a professed "<a href="https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/4/article/325">commitment to diversity</a>".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More importantly it recognised that diversity without inclusion was meaningless. Which is why it realised it was not just about increasing the level of melanin when it came to ethnic diversity, but increasing the different voices from Black Asian and minority ethnic communities. It is why in the 1980s it directly funded the Black film collective <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/569785/index.html">Ceddo</a> founded by the late <a href="https://blackonwhitetv.blogspot.com/2021/06/menelik-shabazz-true-pioneer-in-black.html">Menelik Shabazz</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is why from 1985 to 1991 it broadcast the current affairs series <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1303360/">The Bandung File</a>, and employed <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/small-axe-true-story-darcus-224709671.html">Darcus Howe</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariq_Ali">Tariq Ali</a>, both controversial figures. The former a prominent Black rights activist seen at one point as public enemy number one, and the latter an overtly political figure who campaigned against both US imperialism and Israeli imperialism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The question is would Channel 4 fund the equivalent of Ceddo now, and would it employ the equivalent of Darcus Howe and Tariq Ali now?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I will leave that for others to answer, but here are some potential indications of what that answer might be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The truth is for the last 15 to 20 years with some important notable exceptions, such as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/05/majority-of-channel-4-paralympics-presenters-will-be-disabled-people">Paralympics</a> and the championing of under-represented talent like <a href="https://fortune.com/40-under-40/2020/michaela-coel/">Michaela Coel</a>, Channel 4 has unfortunately been addressing the market failures it was set up to address less and less, and has not – at least not recently – led the charge in increasing diversity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of the old triumvirate of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/june-sarpong">BBC</a>, <a href="https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-appoints-ade-rawcliffe-group-director-diversity-and-inclusion">ITV</a> and Channel 4. Channel 4 is now the only broadcaster not to have a separate head of diversity on its executive committee - although it should be noted Channel 4's Chief Marketing Officer is <i>also</i> its Director of Inclusion and Diversity, and does sit on the executive committee.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has arguably been the BBC, not Channel 4, who has been at the forefront of increasing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56433109">regional diversity</a> and growing the regional indie sector.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And, <a href="https://www.televisual.com/news/channel-4-makes-red-s-caroline-hollick-head-of-drama_nid-7367/">Caroline Hollick</a> is the sole black representation on Channel 4’s <a href="https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-reconfigures-exec-responsibilities-deliver-new-future4-strategy">CEO Committee, Executive Management Board and the different genre commissioning heads</a> combined – (although happy to be corrected on that).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what happened over these 15 to 20 years - between Channel 4’s inception of being seen and being expected to be a radical catalyst for change to now, with this highly mixed and diluted record?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The answer is simple; the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents">2003 Communications Act</a> happened.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, before I continue, let me pause because I know I am here to discuss privatisation. And I genuinely want to discuss it. But here is the issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fighting Channel 4’s privatisation may actually be the wrong battle. The call for Channel 4’s privatisation is a response to a symptom of a problem, and not the cause of the problem.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let me explain, and why I’ve mentioned the 2003 Communications Act.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the period from 1982 to 2003, Channel 4 was highly regulated, or at least monitored and managed. The list of license requirements kept on growing in what is commonly referred to as Channel 4’s “remit”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By 2001, Channel 4 was <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/channel-4-national-treasure/">required to broadcast</a> every week 4 hours of peak-time news, 4 hours of current affairs, 7 hours of formal education, 3 hours of multi-cultural content and 1 hour of religion. Most of these quotas were comfortably exceeded (education by 5 hours a week): the obligation to supply 330 hours of schools programmes a year was over-subscribed by 235 hours.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But then came the Communications Act, which brought in the creation of a new regulator - Ofcom - and with that began a period of a completely different regulatory environment for Channel 4 and all the other broadcasters. And let me be more specific, it was not just different. What I mean was – the environment became a more relaxed environment. Over the ensuing period, we saw the gradual reduction in license requirements.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And by 2016, Channel 4 had a very different version of “the remit”. <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/channel-4-national-treasure/">Nearly all of the fixed quotas had disappeared</a>: education, multicultural, religion and training just vanished.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And where the quotas remained they were either enforced more loosely, for example the case of News and Current Affairs, or were massively reduced - as was the case for Schools programming.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This gradual shift in relaxation, led Farrukh Dhondy to write, and I <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/channel-4-national-treasure/">quote</a>; “a few weeks watching Channel 4 in 2016 leads inexorably to the conclusion that the ‘remit’ does not exist”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So why do I bring this up? And what does this have to do with privatisation?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, I would argue that it is not Channel 4 that was special but the regulatory environment that it operated in that was special and Channel 4’s place in it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fact is, the idea of privatising Channel 4 is not new – there were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36763252">headlines</a> about doing so back to 2016. Why? Well, I would suggest that privatisation is in fact just the natural progression of the more relaxed regulatory environment it has been operating in since 2003.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And so you might ask; “why am I fighting against Channel 4 being privatised?”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the answer is quite simple.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Publicly owned bodies are far easier to regulate and are far more accountable to the public.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fact is I want Channel 4 to return to its “remit” – its roots of addressing the industry market failure that is diversity and inclusion - in all its forms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And I believe the best way to do that is through better regulation, public ownership and accountability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But to discuss Channel 4’s privatisation without addressing the regulatory failure over the last twenty years is doing a disservice to all the people whose interests the previous regulation sought to protect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I want a public Channel 4 and a new regulatory environment to formally introduce ring-fenced funds for diverse-led productions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I want Channel 4 to restructure its commissioning structure so that ethnic diversity is on par with regional diversity – the <a href="https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/broadcasting-news/2019/06/ofcom-publishes-new-guidance-out-london-productions">“Out of London” quota</a> is one of the few areas where Ofcom has actually increased the channel’s license requirements over the last 20 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am definitely behind the fight for Channel 4 not to be privatised - but not on any terms. We cannot maintain the status quo of the last 15 - 20 years. Yes, I expect privatisation could lead to even worse outcomes. But the bottom line is if the debate begins and ends with whether Channel 4 should be privatised it is a serious missed opportunity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Together we need to avoid privatisation – but we also need to keep our eye on the real prize – which is to restore Channel 4 to the broadcaster with a “remit” that we all know and love.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Correction 31/07/2021: In an earlier version it was not acknowledged that Channel 4's Chief Marketing Officer is also Director of Inclusion and Diversity and does sit on the executive committee</b></div></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-e1fb86c3-7fff-2377-0570-992d495ca690"><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-45329348277138820642021-07-20T19:01:00.001-07:002021-07-20T22:08:18.811-07:00Until the BBC respects the UK's diverse communities, it will never be able to represent the country's diversity <span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0NfWCxzn1xCb1OUTd88gFfTkVyYkGbYeoYyRuH3r9hFf6NG-2nYAgdhJ4E2kAqixPWB45iU6e5ODG4f5LLm0EwxgDqdjskg9VV64z-qd4J9I1tz3F9L1H3MdxUG1XBo18P8KzG1dETjA/s500/41shi5wJN6S.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0NfWCxzn1xCb1OUTd88gFfTkVyYkGbYeoYyRuH3r9hFf6NG-2nYAgdhJ4E2kAqixPWB45iU6e5ODG4f5LLm0EwxgDqdjskg9VV64z-qd4J9I1tz3F9L1H3MdxUG1XBo18P8KzG1dETjA/s320/41shi5wJN6S.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Essay from anthology: "<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">The BBC at 100: Will It Survive?</a>" edited by John Mair.</i><br /><br /><br />“I want to be Head of BBC Diversity”<br /><br />I was talking informally to a very senior executive of the corporation over a coffee in a restaurant just off Carnaby Street in London a few years ago. <br /><br />The executive’s response was direct and to the point.<br /><br />“Why on earth do you want to do that Marcus?”. The exec took a sip of their drink and explained their thinking by way of a compliment, “I see you as having a really bright future at the Beeb. You are one of the few Black people with news and current affairs experience at an executive producer level, you’ve overseen some really complicated investigations, and you’ve had to make some really tough Political calls in Scotland.”<br /><br />Then came the killer punch.<br /><br />“Head of Diversity will take you away from all of that - it will lead your career up a blind alley. It’s not where you want to be, if you want real power.”<br /><br />I have no delusions of grandeur regarding my career in British broadcasting in general, and the BBC in particular, but I had heard his argument before and given it some thought.<br /><br />I responded with what I felt at the time was a power move:<br /><br />“I guess you and I see diversity slightly differently,” I replied. “Think of it this way; Kenny (I was referring to Ken MacQuarrie) is a major player on the BBC’s executive board as Director of BBC Scotland. He is effectively in charge of one of the most important parts of the BBC - and overseeing over a thousand members of staff and millions of pounds worth of programming budget.<br /><br />“I don’t want to be Head of Diversity if it’s just as an extension of Human Resources, or Head of Diversity simply advising on how to get a few more Black people or women on screen, or even behind it. I want to be Head of Diversity at the BBC in the same way Kenny is head of Scotland - with real power. <br /><br />“The BBC needs to restructure - it is not only vital for media diversity, it is essential for the corporation’s survival”. <br /><br />My power move that day was unnecessary.<br /><br /><br /><b>Restructuring the job…Widening the core.</b><br /><br /><br />Needless to say, I did not become Head of Diversity, and although the BBC did go on to raise both the profile and position of the Head of Diversity role it did not restructure in the way I believed was so vital.<br /><br />That said, I still believe that restructuring is necessary. To understand why, we first have to understand the BBC’s current structure and charter.<br /><br />The BBC’s Charter in 2007 states that one of the core purposes of the corporation is to represent “<a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/agreement.pdf">the UK, its nations, regions and communities</a>”. <br /><br />But this is not new. The BBC has always recognised the importance of representing the UK’s different Nations and the Regions. The 1952 Charter formalised the idea of National Broadcasting Councils and Regional Advisory Councils. These represented the interests and culture of Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and different geographic regions both in terms of output and in the running of the corporation.<br /><br />The importance of the Nations and Regions is seen as so intrinsic to the structure of the BBC that Ken MacQuarrie (then Head of BBC Scotland who I spoke about earlier) who was later promoted to Head of Nations and Regions, described the role he left in 2020 as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-54000734">“one of the BBC's largest and most high profile divisions”</a>. <br /><br />Then, when Rhodri Talfan Davies took over from MacQuarrie in December 2020, the BBC Director General said Davies “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-55151543">brings considerable <i><b>editorial</b></i> and strategic experience</a> [to the role]” (my italics). Note the word “editorial”. <br /><br />This was precisely the quality that the senior BBC executive in the restaurant told me the BBC Head of Diversity lacked, and why they saw it as a “dead-end” for my career. <br /><br /><br /><b>What’s missing from the job description?</b><br /><br /><br />Now if you hadn’t noticed it already, let me point out the glaring omission from Ken MacQuarrie and Rhodri Talfan Davies’ job titles. Despite the BBC Charter explicitly highlighting the importance of the UK’s “nations, regions and <i><b>communities</b></i>”, the job which is meant to be specifically in charge of ensuring this, only includes two out of these three areas: the nations and regions. <br /><br />Despite it being written into the charter since 1952 there is (still) no one explicitly responsible in the BBC for the UK’s <b><i>communities</i></b>. <br /><br />Many people working in the field of diversity and inclusion have previously seen reference to “communities” in the charter to implicitly refer to diversity. <br /><br />In 2017, after campaigning and lobbying by Sir Lenny Henry, myself and others this implicit understanding was made explicit when the Charter was updated to include the principle of “<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577829/57964_CM_9365_Charter_Accessible.pdf">diversity</a>”, stating one of the corporation’s core public purposes is, “<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577829/57964_CM_9365_Charter_Accessible.pdf">to reflect, represent and serve the <b><i>diverse</i></b> communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions</a>” (my italics).<br /><br />While the BBC Charter correctly identifies diverse communities on par with the nations and regions, the corporation seems to have consistently overlooked them. Diversity at the BBC is fundamentally framed as either an HR problem, or one of influencing the creativity of the corporation. People working in diversity have little or no editorial power, and importantly there is no diversity role on the BBC’s News board. Yet, no one would ever suggest taking this approach to how the BBC oversees the nations and regions.<br /><br />This is a mistake. <br /><br /><br /><b>Accept the reality of Britain in 2021.</b><br /><br /><br />The reality is that in 2021 the UK’s diverse communities are increasingly and possibly as important to British people’s identities than their nationality (English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish) or IN which geographical region they live.<br /><br />While the BBC’s structure embedding the importance of the nations and regions, while overlooking communities, might have made sense 50 or even over 15 years ago, it looks increasingly arcane and out of touch with the needs of a modern public service broadcaster in the UK.<br /><br />The fact is, Britain is a fundamentally different society to the one it was when the BBC was born, in a multitude of ways. <br /><br />Let’s look at this chronologically. <br /><br />In 1971 the UK census recorded ethnicity for the first time. That year, the White population made up roughly 97.7 percent of the population. According to the 2011 census the non-White population in the UK is 13 per cent, and the 2021 census is expected to show that it has grown even larger.<br /><br />In 1980, homosexual acts in private between two men in private were finally de-criminalised in Scotland, despite the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Offences_Act_1967">Sexual Offences Bill 1967</a> de-criminalising homosexual acts between two men in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England">England</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales">Wales</a>.<br /><br />It took until 1995 for the many of the rights we now take for granted of disabled people to be recognised in the UK under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_Discrimination_Act_1995">Disability Discrimination Act</a>. <br /><br />Put simply, how Britain now formally recognises these different communities both in terms of law, and in general public discourse has undergone a rapid transformation over the last fifty years.<br /><br />Yet, the BBC structures still places communities as an afterthought at best, and completely ignores them at worst. <br /><br />The BBC has survived, and even thrived, over the last 100 years because it has recognised the importance of reflecting how society and its audience view themselves. Without an organisational structure that prioritises the UK’s diverse communities it is failing to do this. <br /><br />This is not just my assertion. An Ofcom <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/124252/kantar-bbc-qualitative-research.pdf">report</a> in 2018 suggested that many communities in the UK are increasingly dissatisfied with the broadcaster and simply switching off. While another report, <a href="https://www.digital-i.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Mind-The-Viewing-Gap-Compressed.pdf">Mind the Viewing Gap</a>, in 2015 by digital.i showed that non-White people made up only 6% of PSB viewing despite making up 14% of the population. <br /><br />Reflecting on my conversation that day in the restaurant with the senior BBC executive I think I made just one mistake. I do not want to be head of BBC Diversity. <br /><br />I want to be head of BBC Diverse Communities. And when the BBC creates the position - which I believe it will have to one day in order to survive - I hope I will be just about young enough to send in my CV.<br /><br /><br /><i>This essay originally appears in the </i></span><i style="font-family: arial;">anthology: "<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">The BBC at 100: Will It Survive?</a>" edited by John Mair, and is available to order now.</i><br style="font-family: arial;" /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span> <br /></div>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-26602633731825227202021-07-07T01:43:00.007-07:002021-07-07T06:08:09.085-07:00IS THE BBC'S NEW DIVERSITY STRUCTURE WORKING? - Part 1 ethnic diversity<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCu-BdBUrDgPysDFLLAzs5d5l0BE4A_NCCUjCKNpnNj84-AnLhDO1mYQ-6R9V2ew16dShvOtY7-I2LpZXr5SqUEGgyMqp5CINyVTLHfDy4HNnpKyZDsrZf9Ikx2TCJzy_UO_BhiqhjMFBf/s1500/shutterstock_1399885205-1500x1000.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCu-BdBUrDgPysDFLLAzs5d5l0BE4A_NCCUjCKNpnNj84-AnLhDO1mYQ-6R9V2ew16dShvOtY7-I2LpZXr5SqUEGgyMqp5CINyVTLHfDy4HNnpKyZDsrZf9Ikx2TCJzy_UO_BhiqhjMFBf/s320/shutterstock_1399885205-1500x1000.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just under two years ago the BBC radically restructured not only its diversity departments but how diversity reported into the overall structure of the organisation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The corporation appointed </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49935853" style="text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June Sarpong</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the newly created post of Director of Creative Diversity on a part time basis, </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/workforce-diversity" style="text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anne Foster </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was appointed Head of Workforce Diversity, and four months after these appointments </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/miranda-wayland-head-of-creative-diversity" style="text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miranda Wayland</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was made Head of Creative Diversity, reporting directly to Sarpong.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-75234b3a-7fff-7707-a574-e750a011cbfd"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possibly, most importantly, despite the Director of Creative Diversity being a part time role, within the management structure the position sat on the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is the highest management board at the BBC, and it was the first time that diversity had a seat at the top table.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday the BBC published its <a href="https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/annualreport/2020-21.pdf">annual report</a>, with details on its diversity behind the camera and onscreen. And so the question has to be: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is the new structure working?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First a disclaimer - so far I have only gone through the corporation’s ethnicity figures, and so this blog post will just examine progress (or lack thereof) in this area, I will do separate posts specifically looking at disability, socio-economic diversity, gender, and other forms of diversity in the next few days. Also I have primarily focused on "BAME", "Asian", and "Black" diversity as, for the most part, the figures for other types of ethnicities are not desegregated. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C’EST LA MÊME CHOSE</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First the big headline: Despite the major restructure there has effectively been no major changes - positive or negative. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Between 2019/20 and 2020/21 the total number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people working at the BBC increased from 15.7% to 15.9%. If you drill down into those overall numbers the proportion of the Asian workforce has stayed the same at 6.7% across both years and Black representation has marginally decreased from 3.5% to 3.4%. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All the possible increases and decreases are within the margin of error, meaning that there has effectively been no change.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN DEPARTMENT MAKING PROGRAMMES GOES DOWN</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is of course important to remember that the reason why BBC’s diversity is combed over by so many (including politicians) is because it is a media organisation, and so while the overall number is important the figures that are most important are the diversity numbers of the people actually making the content and with editorial power.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here, there are some worrying signs.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The department that makes the TV and radio programmes is a sub-division of BBC Studios. This sub-division saw Black Asian and minority ethnic representation fall from 11.1% in 2019/20 to 10% in 2020/21. The percentage of Black staff also fell by almost a fifth from 2.4% to 2.0%, and the proportion of Asian staff also fell by almost a fifth from 3.4% to 2.8%.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Numbers going down is never a good sign, but in many ways it is the numbers from the Nations and Regions which might be even more worrying for the corporation.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These numbers have stayed relatively flat year-on-year: 5.9% for Black, Asian and ethnic minority representation in both years. And a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points for both Asian representation (2.7% fell to 2.6%) and Black representation (1.2% to 1.1%).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reason why these numbers are concerning is the fact that as the BBC continues to push more productions outside of London it is now very clear that the ethnicity numbers in no way reflect the parts of the country they are moving to. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The BBC has shifted productions to Manchester with a non-White population of 33%, Cardiff has a non-White population of 15%, Glasgow has a non-White population of 11%, Bristol has a non-White population of 16% and Birmingham with a non-White population of 42%. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unless the corporation can find a way to turn around its out of London diversity figures there is an obvious fear that any increased regional push will see a decrease in ethnic diversity.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS REPRESENTATION STAYS STATIC</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News and current affairs deserves a special mention in any analysis in the BBC’s diversity figures, and especially when trying to judge the effectiveness of the BBC’s new structure.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BBC news has come under considerable criticism over the last two years for both its employment practices and its editorial decisions. Just before the new diversity structure was announced the BBC made a very public U-turn over its decision that Naga Munchetty had broken its impartiality rules when discussing her experience of racism in regards to a tweet by President Trump. In 2020 the BBC then made another U-turn after defending a reporter's use of the N-word being aired at breakfast time. It still stands by its decision to ban its journalists from attending Black Lives Matter protests or showing any public signs of support for #BLM (even as the England football team continues to take the knee on the pitch). And in a management restructure it effectively demoted its highest Black member of staff (Kamal Ahmed) who then left the corporation a few months later.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The staff ethnic diversity numbers in news and current affairs have remained relatively static. They went up 0.2 percentage points overall from 15.7% to 15.9%, and they slightly decreased in the Black category by 0.1 percentage points from 3.5% to 3.4%, (Asian representation remained unchanged). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reason why news is important when trying to judge the new diversity structure is June Sarpong has made it very clear on several occasions that News and Current affairs does not come under her remit as the Director of Creative Diversity. And so for people working outside of the BBC there has always been the question as to whether BBC news purely sees diversity as an HR workforce issue under Anne Foster, and if so why does the corporation view news differently from the rest of its output?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>PROGRESS IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS GOES UP AND DOWN</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Representation in senior leadership positions is a relatively mixed bag. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Outside of London it went down by over 25%, while in News and Current affairs there were marginal gains - despite the high profile departure of Kamal Ahmed. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The biggest success story however was in the subdivision of BBC Studios which makes TV and Radio programmes. Ethnic diversity representation in senior leadership rocketed from 7.0% to 10.2%. This is an important and substantial change. The one curious detail about this is the progress was made almost exclusively in the “mixed” category, with asterisks in both the Asian and Black columns as the numbers are too low to report. This means the important progress in this area may do little to dispel the news reports in 2020 of </span><a href="https://www.easterneye.biz/bbc-head-must-answer-toxic-racism-claims/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anti-Asian racism at the BBC reported in Eastern Eye</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bbc-institutionally-racist_uk_5f3f9c78c5b697824f977779" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anti-Black racism</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the BBC reported in the HuffPost.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>SILVERLININGS </b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me the biggest positive from the report is for the first time, for as long as I can remember, the overall retention rate for Black, Asian and minority ethnic people has improved. Non-White workers are no longer disproportionately leaving the corporation compared to their White counterparts.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a massive turn around. It has been an open secret for a long time that until the BBC could get a grip on retention issues then other policies to increase ethnic diversity would be the equivalent of pouring more water into a bucket with a hole in it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However the BBC is not quite out of the woods yet when it comes to addressing its retention issues as Black staff are still more likely to leave than their other colleagues, and workers of colour in general are less likely to receive a redundancy package when they do leave.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>NEVER MIND BEHIND THE CAMERA - WHAT ABOUT THE PROGRAMMES?</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is no doubt that there have been some high profile commissions by the BBC in recent months when it comes to ethnic diversity, including the Small Axe series of dramas and I May Destroy You.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, it would appear that Black Asian and minority ethnic audiences are getting less value for their license fee than their white counterparts. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A considerably smaller percentage of Black, Asian and minority ethnic households consume BBC TV and Radio each week than White households, 61% versus 78% when it comes to TV viewing, and the numbers for ethnic minority radio listenership are so small that they do not even register. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is even more worrying is the non-White households that do watch BBC TV each week watch roughly half the amount as their white counterparts (3hours 57mins a week vs. 8hours 46minutes a week).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The one glimmer of hope is the percentage of Black Asian and minority ethnic households that consume BBC Online is roughly at the same level as white households, 62% and 63% respectively.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CONCLUSION - IS THE NEW DIVERSITY STRUCTURE WORKING?</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under normal circumstances I think one would expect better results after such a radical restructure, accompanied with the high profile public commitments to diversity coming from both the outgoing and incoming Director Generals.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2020 however was far from normal.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Covid-19 has meant that organisations across the world have had to rethink their corporate strategies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the plus side many will view simply standing still during these difficult times as progress.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the negative side some of positive signs, such as higher retention rates and increased online viewing may also just be a blip due to Covid-19, as people were more concerned about job security. Also the other big news story of 2020 - Black Lives Matter - might have meant a higher consumption of online content for ethnic minorities.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore I think it is still too early to say the new restructure has failed, but I do think the annual report should lead to some serious questions, because in the following year standing still will not be an option. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7304250563921131973.post-90069214062332623532021-07-05T05:48:00.000-07:002021-07-05T05:48:04.079-07:00Channel 4's Paralympics: On Screen Disability is Great - But Let's Not Forget Disability Behind the Camera <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-VYLgFtdsfkl6Upmtv-SkeuCJA5nmlq6Qj3bvt2ZyIZochMitvWHW-sU8SHERJ9HBNZHamaN6rokBQfYtXvSw309dCTs0cjduhbouLxibHorrvcWT-lZnmtufADN4liP0DlO9rV2VQaR/s1024/Dwoskin-at-work-1024x630.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-VYLgFtdsfkl6Upmtv-SkeuCJA5nmlq6Qj3bvt2ZyIZochMitvWHW-sU8SHERJ9HBNZHamaN6rokBQfYtXvSw309dCTs0cjduhbouLxibHorrvcWT-lZnmtufADN4liP0DlO9rV2VQaR/s320/Dwoskin-at-work-1024x630.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Channel 4 has just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/05/majority-of-channel-4-paralympics-presenters-will-be-disabled-people?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">announced</a> massive strides in on-screen disability representation in its coverage of the Paralympics. Now it’s time to see similar ambitions for representation behind the camera.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the 15th of June the Sir Lenny Henry Centre <a href="https://bcuassets.blob.core.windows.net/docs/new-black-to-front-reporta-w16june21-132682993561921443.pdf">published</a> its recommendations for Channel 4’s Black to Front Day - a day highlighting Black talent both in front of the camera and behind it with the ambition of having long term effects long after the day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Centre worked closely with Channel 4 and it was an incredibly constructive and positive experience, with the broadcaster taking on board all of our key recommendations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Key to our proposals was the idea that representation <b><i>behind the camera</i></b> was just as important as representation <b><i>in front</i></b> of it. Which is why we said “<b><i>All new commissions for the day should aim for 100% Black representation behind the camera</i></b>”. We recognised that this is an aspirational goal, but an important principle, that demonstrates that both sides of the camera matter when it comes to diversity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You could call this the “<b>Olusoga Principle</b>” and the report directly referenced David Olusoga, writing:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"><b>‘It is widely acknowledged that there is enough Black talent to achieve 100% representation in front of the camera. The question is what is the rationale for not aspiring to achieve the same level of representation behind the camera. Indeed, we believe trying to formulate an argument as to why the goals would be different runs the very risk of falling into the issue identified by Dr David Olusoga in his MacTaggart lecture when he said:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“There is willingness to accept Black people as performers, in front of the camera, but unwillingness on the part of the industry to make space for them behind the scenes, in the rooms where the decisions are made and the real creativity happens.”’</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was therefore with both excitement and trepidation that I read the latest news that “More than 70% of the Channel 4 presenting team for the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/paralympics">Paralympics</a> will be disabled.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The obvious concern is when it comes to disability Channel 4 is falling on the wrong side of the ‘<b>Olusoga Principle’</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First of all this is an amazing achievement and should be acknowledged as such. According to the latest UK broadcasters’ backed reporting figures disabled people account for only 8.2% of on screen roles, and so a 70% marks major progress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However I am concerned that I have not seen any figures published yet relating to representation of disabled staff behind the camera.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Channel 4 obviously recognise the importance of representation behind the camera. In 2020 when the channel <a href="https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-sets-out-engage-enable-disability-strategy">published its commitment </a>to disability representation it published targets for both on-screen and behind the camera: 12% for workforce representation by 2023, and 9% for on-screen representation by the same year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Running through the Centre’s report for the Black to Front Day was the idea that this should be bigger than just one day, and that lessons learnt from the Black to Front Day to increase Black representation should be used, where appropriate, to increase all types of other representation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Channel 4 achieving more than 70% on-screen representation should be applauded, I just hope that the channel rereads our report and sees transferable lessons, and publishes equally ambitious behind the camera targets.</div><p></p>BlackOnWhiteTVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01729579206654971066noreply@blogger.com0