Category: 大象传媒
Date: 15.12.2004
Printable version
At the Annual General Meeting
of the Cultural Diversity Network (CDN) the chief executives
of the UK's major broadcasters met for the first time to announce their
achievements for 2004 to improve diversity in British television.
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The 大象传媒, current chair of the CDN, also handed over its chairmanship
to ITV for two years from January 2005.
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Peter Salmon, outgoing chair of the CDN - and the 大象传媒's
Director of Sport and race champion - comments: "Since the CDN
began in 2000, it has driven dramatic changes in the broadcasting industry.
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"Most broadcasters now have targets for employment
of ethnically diverse staff, there are formal portrayal monitoring systems
in place, drama output has become increasingly diverse as has news presentation
and production."
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He adds: "The CDN is at a turning point in its
development. After five successful years, it will reassess its structure
and the new challenges ahead so that it can offer an even stronger commitment
to promoting cultural diversity within broadcasting."
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Simon Shaps, CEO of Granada and future chair of the
CDN for ITV plc, adds: "2005 will be the first time that the chair
of the CDN will run for two years instead of one.
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"I think this is an important change as it will
help to reinforce the momentum of future improvements.
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"I very much look forward to driving the joint
aims of the members and ensuring that the CDN as a body remains relevant
and effective at increasing the diversity of our industry."
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The diversity achievements of the CDN during 2004 include:
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大象传媒
22.5% of all applicants for employment were from minority ethnic groups
as were 13% of new recruits
大象传媒 set new targets for ethnic minority representation in staff 聳
12.5% of all staff and 7% of senior management to be achieved by the
end of 2007
Launch of review to examine the 大象传媒's approach to diversity from 2001
to 2004
Developed first regional branch of CDN in North West with plans for
CDN Midlands and CDN Scotland underway
大象传媒 Drama introduced 10% target for all ethnic minority characters across
drama
Launch of Silver Street, the 大象传媒 Asian Network's first soap opera
Asian Network introduced a Writer in Residence initiative to begin in
January 2005
Mainstreaming of MOBO Awards (Music Of Black Origin) which was aired
on 大象传媒 for the first time
ITV
Minority ethnic representation in staff is 7%
across ITV as a whole and 14% for ITV in London
Continued success of the ITV Yorkshire Foundation Placement Scheme.
The scheme introduces ethnic minorities to skills required for a career
in media at ITV Yorkshire.
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It is a joint venture between PATH, Screen Yorkshire
and the Fair Play Partnership and is funded by Yorkshire Forward. Twenty
trainees are recruited for one year.
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To date, the scheme has a 55% employment rate at ITV
Yorkshire and 60% in the industry as a whole
Coronation Street wedding of Sunita and Dev was the first Hindu wedding
to be featured in a UK drama
My Life As A Popat was the first children's programme with an Asian
main character
Channel 4
11.4% of all staff and 6% of senior staff are from minority ethnic backgrounds
聳 13% of all staff and 9% of senior management to be achieved by
the end of 2006
Each commissioning genre now has a Diversity Representative to promote
multicultural content and contributors in programmes
Held networking event with Asians in Media to introduce production talent
from ethnic minorities to Commissioning Editors
Held networking event with Aspire, a Black Media Professionals Group
Held a religion half-day event and invited faith-based groups to come
together to discuss the channel聮s religions output
Hosted a debate, Is Multiculturalism Over?, about cultural identity
chaired by David Aaronovitch from The Observer and featured panellists
including Trevor Philips, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality,
and writer and academic Ziauddin Sardar
Hosted a Briefing Day for Black and Asian owned production companies
in the UK. Commissions for companies owned by ethnic minorities had
increased by 86% on the previous year and Channel 4 had worked with
five new companies during the past year
Broadcast programmes with a multicultural focus such as The Great British
Invasion and Hamburg Cell
Broadcast multicultural series such as Bollywood Star; Forbidden Fruit;
God Is Black; Sharia TV
GMTV
10% of all staff are from minority ethnic groups
One in three production trainees are from minority ethnic groups
Launch of Race Nation in October to mark Black History Month, looking
at topics affecting Blacks and Asians
ITN
Two members of the Senior Management Team are from minority ethnic groups
Technical Trainees 聳 ran a summer placement scheme for four students
from Ravensbourne College, two of whom were from minority ethnic backgrounds
Editorial Trainees 聳 link with City University to offer a work
experience scheme for students on the postgraduate journalism course.
Nine students were recruited over the academic year, four of whom are
from minority ethnic backgrounds
Further Education 聳 link with B6, a sixth form college in Hackney,
to provide work experience for students on the media studies course
and a number of guest lectures by ITN staff
National Mentoring Consortium 聳 continue to provide mentors for
students from minority ethnic backgrounds
five
10% of staff on Five News are from minority ethnic backgrounds
Extended Broadcast Management Trainee Placement Scheme which offers
recruits the opportunity to gain an understanding of the industry
Centrepoint Runner Scheme 聳 twice a year, five's creative service
department recruits a new runner on a six month contract from candidates
put forward by Centrepoint, the youth homeless charity. A large proportion
of the young people helped by Centrepoint are from minority ethnic backgrounds
Sky
8.2% of Sky's workforce is from minority ethnic backgrounds
9% of Sky聮s management team is from minority ethnic backgrounds
13% of Sky's programming team is from minority ethnic backgrounds
45% Asian households in the UK have Sky digital
40% of people who participated in Reach For The Sky, which encourages
young people to consider a career in media, were from minority ethnic
backgrounds
Introduced new prayer facilities across Sky sites and included issues
around respect for prayer in its new induction process
In January, Sky opened a news bureau in New Delhi, India
In June, Sky sponsored the Asian Women of Achievement Awards
Launched Sky Talent to all employees to find new presenting talent 聳
one of the three winners is from a minority ethnic background
SMG Television (Grampian TV,
Scottish TV and SMG TV Network Productions)
Training made available to all staff regarding diversity in the workplace
and on screen
A diversity statement is incorporated into all new employees' welcome,
part of online induction
Preparation for rollout of new equal opportunities policy and training
in 2005
Established links between CDN website and SMG website regarding the
diversity of programming and mailbox for queries
Piloting Employee Volunteering scheme
CDN Portrayal Monitoring Event 聳 senior production staff from Scotland
attended. Sharing of information led to new procedures being evaluated
and these will be rolled out across the business
Pact
Pact producer members provided training placements to minority ethnic
trainees on schemes such as FT2 New Entrants Technicians Apprenticeship
Scheme and the Independent Companies Researcher Training Scheme
Pact is involved in activity through the London Forum and the T2 Widescreen
initiative to target production facilities, finance and distribution
members to raise awareness of ethnic minorities studying accountancy
and law, and encourage their recruitment to the industry
Reviewed Pact membership forms in order to incorporate questions regarding
cultural diversity and disability
Pact Council adopted a Diversity Mission Statement committing the association
to continue action to address issues around both cultural diversity
and disability
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ITV will begin its chairmanship of the CDN with an event
in February 2005 looking at minority ethnic portrayal in news.
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The Annual General Meeting of the Cultural Diversity
Network was held on 9 December.
Notes to Editors
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Copies of the Annual Report are available on request.
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The CDN's members are 大象传媒, Sky, Channel Four, five,
GMTV, ITN, ITV, PACT and SMG Television.
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CDN members support cross-industry initiatives and share
expertise, resources and models of good practice including:
Setting targets for minority ethnic employment, including senior executive
levels
Establishing an online database of ethnic minority talent
Modernising the casting and portrayal of ethnic minorities in mainstream
programming
Sharing non-commercially sensitive research on cultural diversity
Obtaining a comprehensive picture of minority ethnic employment in UK
broadcasting
Establishing industry standards for the collection of ethnic monitoring
data
Sensitising broadcasters to support greater diversity in content and
employment
Raising the profile of multicultural issues through major events and
workshops.
