Are We There Yet?

Last week, I participated in two meetings about diversity that could not have been more different from each other.

The first meeting was sombre.  It was at the BBC –and focused on regional diversity. 

Seven years ago the BBC rolled out its plans to increase regional diversity. By any objective measure these plans have delivered some great, successful results. The quality and quantity of the programmes that are now produced outside of London by the BBC are at their highest levels ever.  It has been great for my team and me as a member of the BBC’s senior management in Scotland. However, at the meeting it was clear that these results were not enough. Some of the targets the BBC has set itself are very difficult and do need constant vigilance to meet. Indeed, despite the absolute success of leaders and senior management in the regions and London, not a single back was being slapped during the meeting.  It was a serious, somewhat painful and practical meeting.
 

Perhaps thankfully, this was in sharp contrast to the second meeting I attended. The second meeting was a “diversity roundtable”, convened by the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport – Ed Vaizey.  It was the 4^th in a series that I’ve been invited to – in my role as the Chair of the Diversity Committee for the Royal Television Society.  And what struck me immediately as I grabbed a free coffee from the servers outside the very nice NFT viewing theatre where the roundtable was to be held – was that I could hear… laughter.  

Indeed, this plush setting and laughter were a surprise, based on past experience. The 1^st ever roundtable – back in 2013 had been convened in a rush, and attendees were cramped into a conference room in the House of Commons. There were high-level participants of course, but the meeting can only be described as fairly messy and inconclusive. The image of Pat Younge perched on a chair squeezed into the corner of the room has been burnt into my memory. 

This 4^th session was entirely different. The official DCMS press officer was taking pictures for their twitter feed, and each broadcaster – from Stuart Murphy from Sky, to Ralph Lee and Baroness Oona King for Channel 4, to Charlotte Moore for the BBC and ITV commissioner Asif Zubairy – confidently outlined all the initiatives and money they had recently rolled out to increase Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) diversity. John McVay – representing the Indies – set out similar initiatives and they all even discussed how many of the initiatives were pan-industry with them all working together. Mutual backslapping was the activity of the hour.  

But despite the jovial mood, my concern was, unlike the regional meeting earlier in the day,  nothing has yet been achieved by these initiatives. None of them have yet shattered the glass-ceilings, and there is no evidence yet that the number of BAME people employed behind the camera is not still woefully low.

My concern – and I believe others in the BAME industry hold this – is that the top management in broadcasters will feel “mission accomplished” when in reality we have only just started.

There’s currently a joke between black people working in the TV and film industry which goes like this:

“Have you seen ‘Selma’ yet?”

“No, what is it?”

“It’s a film about one black man taking on the entrenched racism of an entire system. Proving you can overcome prejudice and overwhelming odds.”

“Oh, you mean the story of David Oyelowo moving from the UK to the States?”.

It’s hardly the funniest joke in the world – and indeed Martin Luther King’s struggles and achievements are nothing to joke about… But the joke does to a good degree highlight the ongoing struggle for BAME people to get work both in front of and behind the camera in Britain. The initiatives are very welcome, but many non-white people still feel they are not getting the breaks they deserve.

That is why, in and amongst all the good cheer at the roundtable, there was one remark made by the BBC’s Charlotte Moore that struck me as critical. In responding to a question from the floor, Charlotte said it was highly likely that diversity will be “part of charter renewal”. It might have been an off-the-cuff remark, I’m not sure. But in actual fact, if BAME (and other) diversity is part of charter renewal it might well mean that the voluntary initiatives we are welcoming now might become ingrained, somewhat like the 7 year old BBC out of London targets currently are or the targets C4 regional targets set by Ofcom.

While that might mean less jovial meetings, it might also mean that sufficient time is being put aside to evaluate their success and ensure they deliver, and we can all focus seriously on making them do even more for deserving BAME people across the country.  Now that would be success to laugh about.
 

(This post was originally written for Broadcast Magazine. Since writing the original article Broadcast published a freedom of information request to the BBC revealing that resignations by BAME employees are at a five year high at the organisation. It might even be a ten year high or even an all time high, we don't know because the magazine only asked for figures for the last five years. So in answer to my question in the title of this piece; Are we there yet? Unfortunately the answer is still No)