The former broadcaster and head of the Commission for Racial Equality - Trevor Phillips - unveiled a new report last week titled ‘Superdiversity: TV’s Newest Reality’, which aimed to push diversity in broadcasting further up the agenda.

In the report he made a series of proposals that he hoped the industry would pursue to improve their records.

His chief recommendations were:

- That all major media players, including the top 20 independent production companies, should agree to a voluntary code of monitoring the diversity of senior decision-makers in the industry – with results to be published annually.

- Principal broadcasters should work with BARB to develop a system that more closely monitors the viewing habits of ethnic and religious communities, and to consider whether effective ways might be found to monitor output periodically for both quantity and “quality”.

- Broadcasters and producers should aim, by the start of 2010, to introduce a levy of all sizeable productions to establish a Diversity Fund, with the money used either to fund activities that encourage diversity in the industry or that can be reclaimed by companies that prove their own internal activities do so.

Trevor Phillips, said: “In more than a quarter of a century as a TV producer I have never seen the industry more ready and willing to change and to embrace diversity, not least because everyone knows that if we don’t we are headed for oblivion.”

“Our problem is that as an industry we have no idea what to do about it. We have too little knowledge, too little diversity amongst our decision-makers, and above all too little incentive to act decisively. This report sets out some ideas to introduce a step-change in our thinking, and more importantly the way the industry behaves.”

Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 has a strong record of promoting diversity both on and off-screen, and we commissioned this report to reinforce our understanding of modern multicultural Britain.”

He added: “As outlined in Next on 4, we have an ongoing commitment to reflecting social diversity and Trevor has produced an interesting and provocative range of ideas. Now is the moment for joint action across our industry to bring positive changes for both the broadcasting sector and audiences.”

Whether the broadcasters and media industry in general take the recommendations into account remains to be seen.

Channel 4 recently announced a series of initiatives around tackling diversity and appointed Aaqil Ahmed to head its new multicultural programming division.

The broadcaster is still looking to appoint someone for managing diversity within the organisation.

Read the reports
Race, Representation & The Media, Channel 4 report (Microsoft Word, 340kb file)
Superdiversity, Television’s Newest Reality, by Trevor Philips (Microsoft Word, 3mb file)