★★★★★ 0/5

BBC pledges $180m to address diversity, inclusion.

BBC vows to throw open its doors to diverse storytellers and better represent its own audience.

2
Leave a comment

The BBC will spend £100m ($AU180m) over three years to address diversity and inclusion across its content, to better represent the public it serves.

The BBC’s Creative Diversity Commitment – the biggest financial investment to on-air inclusion in the industry will be supported by a new mandatory 20% diverse-talent target in all new network commissions from April 2021.

In a statement the broadcaster noted, “With this commitment, the BBC is throwing open its doors more widely than ever to diverse stories and diverse storytellers. The media industry is not changing fast enough. The BBC has been committed to creative diversity and inclusion for 100 years; but we now want to go further. The measures announced today are designed to accelerate the pace of change in increasing diversity and inclusion both on and off air. And to demonstrate change is being delivered, the BBC will report on progress in its Annual Report.

“These steps are all part of the ambitious journey we are on to transform the BBC inside and out and make a real difference to the industry and to society at a critical time. The £100m investment will support our commitment to diversity and inclusion in our TV output across all genres, including children’s, education and current affairs.”

Under the BBC’s Diversity Code of Practice, the broadcaster commits to create content with at least two of the following three priorities:

  • Diverse stories and portrayal on-screen
  • Diverse production teams and talent
  • Diverse-led production companies

Director-General, Tony Hall, says: “The senseless killing of George Floyd – and what it tells us about the stain of systemic racism – has had a profound impact on all of us. It’s made us question ourselves about what more we can do to help tackle racism – and drive inclusion within our organisation and in society as a whole.

“This is our response – it’s going to drive change in what we make and who makes it. It’s a big leap forward – and we’ll have more to announce in the coming weeks.”

June Sarpong, Director of Creative Diversity, says: “I came to the BBC as an outsider. Before joining I had an idea of this being an organisation that did not want to change. What I found was something different: an organisation that had ambitious goals for diversity and inclusion but didn’t know how to reach them. This commitment will help to drive real change that will be felt by all audiences. It will also create a strong framework to help diverse storytellers succeed at all levels of the industry.

“As Director of Creative Diversity, I’m pleased that we’re announcing this fund as the first of a series of bold steps that will help make the BBC an instrument of real change. As a black woman, I feel and share in the pain that so many are feeling worldwide. It makes it all the more important that we show up now not just with words but with meaningful action.”

Charlotte Moore, Director of Content, says: “When I met (director) Steve McQueen last year during the making of Small Axe, he challenged me and the BBC to set meaningful targets and take proper action. He was right. Today’s announcement represents a truly transformational commitment to both on and off screen representation. Concrete, tangible action is the only way we can bring about real sustainable change.”

2 Responses

  1. Shonda Rhimes has to be one of the best for diversity casting. Her idea to blind cast Grey’s Anatomy was genius.

    Maybe more shows can head down that path?

  2. There’s one issue that often arises when setting the ambitions for diversity, inclusion and equality, an issue that is also expressed from within minorities and underrepresented demography. It’s that people want to be respected on merit and not things like quotas and tokenism, which can be seen as disempowering underrepresented demography.

    We commonly hear from program castings when they’re asked about lack of diversity that diverse people aren’t applying and many other excuses. For the ambitions to achieve greater diversity, in television or anywhere, there should be creation of opportunities and marketing or promotion in the grass roots areas like talent search, acting academies, and academies related to behind the scenes positions to encourage diverse applicants.

Leave a Reply