University News Last updated 27 March 2015
A joint Royal Television Society (RTS) and BBC session took place recently in London examining the economic arguments for diversity, as part of the BBC’s ‘Reflect and Represent week’.
Diane Kemp, Professor of Broadcast Journalism here at Birmingham City University, took part in the panel discussion along with Jane Millchip, Managing Director of Sky Vision, TV veteran Charlie Hanson, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live presenter Aasmah Mir and more.
The BBC, in particular, received criticism from panellists and audience members. “Sky, Channel 4, and ITV are moving in the right direction. The BBC is still introducing training and mentoring schemes that they did 30 years ago, and that still haven’t worked” added Charlie Hanson. Hanson, who now runs Tantrum Films, said he “owed his career to diversity”.
Diane Kemp added, “Without diversity, you’re going to lose stories; in terms of news, you’re going to lose experts and fresh angles on life; and particularly for public service broadcasting where you have a licence fee that everybody pays, you’re going to lose that legitimacy unless people can see themselves, their lives and their point of view reflected.”
The panel concluded that while broadcasters are making efforts to improve minority representations, much work still needs to be done.
“Making Diversity Pay” was a joint RTS/BBC event, held at New Broadcasting House in central London in March 2015.