My Career Is More Important Than An Imaginary Baby

As an executive producer at the BBC I can tell you from experience that viewers’ correspondence work. The right email to the right person or a sizable amount of emails can change programmes or even policy, at the very least it makes broadcasters have to account for their actions. Viewers’ emails can shape the public discussion surrounding a programme and whether a programme is viewed as a success or a failure.

At the beginning of 2011 two stories took place. The first was the cot death of a baby (imaginary) being swapped for another baby (imaginary) on Albert Square (again an imaginary place). The second story was Mark Thompson (a real person) taking the chair of the Cultural Diversity Network (a real event) that will influence how diversity is portrayed both behind and in front of the camera (real consequences).

The first event prompted the BBC to be flooded with thousands of complaints, the BBC having to explain its actions to a wider public and for programmes to be changed. I would be surprised if the second event even prompted more than a dozen emails to the BBC. It wasn’t reported in the Media Guardian, while Stage and Broadcast did little more than rehash the BBC press release.

First of all I must state I think it is brilliant that Mark Thompson has taken over the chair of the Cultural Diversity Network. To have someone as senior as Mark Thompson at the helm shows how seriously the BBC is taking the issue of diversity. My issue is not with Mark Thompson but with all of us from “diverse backgrounds” working in TV.

While the viewers of EastEnders let the BBC know what they thought of the cot death story line how many of us have let Mark Thompson know what we think of the CDN? In a perfect world what would we want one of the most powerful people in television in the world to do about diversity? We could always sit, wait and watch actions take place that will influence our careers and not even try and influence them or we could actually try and take some control over our lives. So instead of just hoping and praying that Mark, and my other colleagues at the BBC, do the right thing I will be trying to tell them what I think the “right thing is”.

I have no doubt that my real career is more important than an imaginary baby. So if tens of thousands of people can be moved to write to the producers of EastEnders to change their storylines why can’t we be moved to try and tell the people that matter what we want in the media industry when it comes to diversity?

The BBC has started 2011 in style with Mark Thompson chairing the Cultural Diversity Network. Now it’s our turn to make sure that we all get the most out of this great opportunity.

(First published on TheTVCollective.org on 10/01/2011)