diversity in media

ITV's pledge to transform inclusivity

In September, when dance troupe Diversity took to the stage for prime-time TV’s most controversial four minutes of 2020, one woman was watching especially intently – Ade Rawcliffe, ITV’s freshly promoted group director of diversity and inclusion.

“I was told they were going to do the dance. I thought it was incredibly moving, a wonderful creative expression,” she says of the group’s routine inspired by some of the year’s seminal events, not least the global Black Lives Matter protests.

Defining diversity: More than a numbers game

ITV press advert published on 19 September (Credit: ITV)

If you thought that defining diversity was easy, think again. As the chair of a stimulating and thought-provoking RTS event, Aaqil Ahmed, formerly the head of religion and ethics at the BBC, concluded: “Diversity in itself is diverse. For me, that understanding of it isn’t there for a lot of people.… It’s not a numbers game… diversity is very complicated.”

Throughout the “Defining diversity? That’s easy” session, attempts to provide a definition that all the panel could agree on proved elusive.

What more can the industry do to improve social mobility?

Lorraine Kelly (Credit: RTS/ Richard Kendal)

Veteran presenter ­Lorraine Kelly led a storming session on the challenge of social mobility in the TV industry, telling the Cambridge audience it was “a miracle I’m standing here talking to you”.

Thirty-five years after the Scottish presenter first appeared on our screens, she remembered: “My TV career was almost over before it began. Being working class when I started out meant a lot of doors in telly were firmly closed to me.”

Channel 5 to partner up with BAME owned production companies

Ben Frow (Credit: The TV Collective)

The new initiative is part of the commitment made by channel 5 to create mainstream programmes that accurately reflect contemporary Britain.

The TV Collective was founded ten years ago by Simone Pennant and promotes the commercial and creative value that having diversity can bring to British film and TV studios.

Channel 5 are looking for nine small or medium size BAME companies, primarily based in the regions, who are owned and managed by BAME talent.

BBC launches new diversity strategy

Targets of the campaign include increasing on screen representation of the LGBT community and reserving more internship placements for disabled people.

The aim is to set new standards for the television industry and better reflect the diversity represented in the general British public.

“The BBC has a breadth and scale that is unique in the UK’s media, and that means what we do has real impact," said Director-General, Tony Hall.