Tag: diversity in broadcast

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Creative Diversity Network Fourth Cut Diamond Report

The Creative Diversity Network (CDN) published their Fourth Cut report earlier this year. Whilst this blog sets out to give a quick snapshot of the report, I would encourage you to set aside an hour (with a cuppa) to fully invest your attention in reading this report from start to finish, and truly take in these sobering stats.

Diamond is a tool not a solution

Creative Diversity Network, 2021

If you’re an influencer or key decision maker in the industry – particularly at an indie – you can use this report to help inform your recruitment strategy and set achievable targets – not just to meet a ‘quota’ but to really consider the likelihood of green-lit commissions going ahead, where you will advertise your roles for each commission and how diverse the talent pool will be in each of the places you publicise a role. You can find support from the bigger broadcasters to help you crew up a production – Channel 4 are going to great lengths to help with the creation of their regional hubs in Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow and ITV’s Creative Diversity Partner has spoken at a recent ScreenSkills event (which I will blog about separately) to openly offer support – even if you’re not working on an ITV production. Bristol based, Gritty Talent are working towards launching an app this Spring where you can search for diverse talent in one place. Find out more here.

Report Headlines

This is the fourth year of data collection from 36,000 diversity forms completed from 74,000 TV productions. The data spans the period from 1st August 2019 to 31st July 2020. This is the largest annual sample to date.

Contributions made by disabled people and those over 50 on and off screen

CDN stated last year that these two groups were ones that needed attention, in terms of increasing their representation in the industry.

Whilst there have been encouraging increases in the contributions made by disabled people, this group is still under represented with only 5.8% working off screen, which is well below the national workforce estimate of 17%. Disabled people made only 8.2% of on-screen contributions, despite comprising of 18% of the population.

For the over 50’s, off screen contributions were at 21.5%, where the national workforce estimate is 31% and 25.5% on screen against 36% of the UK population.

Contributions made by ethnically diverse people on and off screen

It is disappointing to see that off screen stats have fallen from 12.3% last year (2018-2019) to 11.8%, which is below the national workforce estimate of 13%. This reflects the findings of the Race and Ethnic Diversity Deep Dive Diamond report (published by the CDN last October. I wrote about this report in a previous blog post) where they stated that South Asian representation continues to be low, with on-screen contributions having declined every year for the last four years. This prompted me to consider what the representation numbers are for East Asians and as I continued to read the report, CDN had of course outlined the stats for this group too which is comparably lower to any other ethnic group:

It’s not clear how much Covid has had a negative impact on these stats. There was a rise of unemployed freelancers when productions were cancelled back in April 2020. It is likely that Covid played a part in the decrease of the number of diverse freelancers working on productions once they resumed. I am aware that some freelancers had taken up PAYE work in other sectors to maintain an income.

Drama

Drama saw the fewest off screen contributions made by disabled and ethnically diverse people. Contributions were at just 2.7% from disabled people – down from 4.7% last year. And 5.9% from ethnically diverse people, compared to 8.6% in the previous year.

Senior Roles

Women, transgender, ethnically diverse and disabled people continue to be less well represented in senior roles.

The number of women working in senior roles fell from 50.4% last year to 47.1% this year. Women are particularly poorly represented in the role of Directors at 29% and as Writers where there was a fall from 38.1% last year to 33.4% this year.

When it came to ethnically diverse and disabled people, their contributions were as follows:

  • Disabled Writer contributions at 3.5%
  • Disabled Director contributions at 4.9%
  • Ethnically Diverse Writer contributions at 6.5%
  • Ethnically Diverse Director contributions at 8.4%

This table outlined where each senior role reflects the UK workforce and the level of action required to increase representation:

Craft and Tech Roles

Unsurprisingly, these roles are highly gendered with more women working in Hair and Make Up and more men working in Lighting, Camera and Sound:

What next?

Doubling Disability

CDN are taking a collaborative approach to improve the representation of disabled people by partnering with Diamond Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Channel 5/Viacom CBS and now UKTV) and other CDN members. The aim of the Doubling Disability project is to double the percentage of disabled people working off screen to 9%. The project will be extended to the end of 2021 given the impacts of the global pandemic. Despite the extension, CDN has stated that additional efforts will be required to meet this target. An interim report outlining progress will be published later this Spring.

Everyday Diversity Project

This is led by the University of Glasgow and in partnerships with CDN and the British Film Institute. It is based on extensive academic research, which is being used to inform the creation of practical tools for the screen industries.

More focused reporting

Following the positive response to CDN’s ‘deep-dive’ report into racial and ethnic diversity last October, there is a demand for more detailed reporting. CDN will look to publish a further subject-focused report in 2021. I imagine this will be around October time again.

My summary

I think the work CDN do is incredibly invaluable. I’m looking forward to reading more reports from them because I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to stats and figures 🤓 😅 and more importantly, the work they’re doing to provide such useful reporting can help to build lasting tangible change 🙌🏼💪🏼👍🏼

To read The Fourth Cut report in full click here.

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TV Roles: Diversity in the Detail? From BBC Digital Cities

This week, the BBC hosted another Digital Cities event that included a series of masterclasses, workshops and panel sessions. Previous events are available for free on demand here. I’d encourage you to check out the virtual events they have held over the last year via the link above – they’ve done a lot of very interesting and engaging stuff!

On Wednesday 27th January they held a fascinating event entitled TV Roles: Diversity in the Detail? Hosted by TV Journalist Babita Sharma with Deborah Williams, Executive Director at Creative Diversity Network (CDN) as her guest. It was an open and honest discussion around their lived experiences of working in the broadcast industry as ethnically diverse people. Their conversation was structured around the CDN’s latest deep dive report (published in October 2020) around the race and ethnic diversity data outlined in the CDN’s Third Cut Report which was published in Spring of 2020. The Third Cut report represents data from more than 600,000 contributions by individuals working on and off-screen on qualifying television content produced for the five main Diamond broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, ITV, C5/ViacomCBS and Sky) and broadcast between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019. I should explain that the CDN exists to enable the UK Broadcasting industry to increase diversity and inspire inclusion both on and off screen. They work with their members towards a broadcasting industry with equality at its core. They also manage Diamond, the world’s first and original online diversity data collection system, for the UK television and broadcasting industry.

The deep dive report on Race and Ethnic Diversity is segmented into four parts:

  1. On-screen vs off-screen
  2. Genre
  3. Senior roles
  4. Craft and technical roles

What struck me was when Deborah shared one particular slide (see below) and her words were: “It’s sad.” Babita concurred and said, “that’s the word that leaps out to me – it’s an experience that I totally understand. I’ve been in the media for almost 20 years now. I have seen that I am one of very very few…what saddens me is there hasn’t been a massive amount of change when you’re looking at this data. Are they reflective of how far we’ve come?” Deborah’s response: “Yes unfortunately it is.” – i.e., we haven’t really come that far when it comes to increasing diversity in senior roles.

If you’ve read my #BAMEOver article, you’ll know I have decided not to use this acronym in my vocabulary any longer… for now, I’ll gloss over the fact that it has been used in this report.

There were many discussion points throughout the hour so I’m going to share in an ‘easy to digest’ manner.

How can we build structural change?

Deborah talked about the number of training courses and masterclasses that have taken place over the last year. One masterclass she had attended showed the root of the problem. It was about directing popular drama/ continuing drama where an audience member asked “how do I learn to do this, where do I train?” The session presenter (who has worked in the industry) responded with “you just learn on the job.” Deborah explained that this is the old catch 22 situation. She went on to reveal that 40 years ago she embarked on a career as an actor. However, she found she couldn’t be an actor unless she had an equity card but she couldn’t act without an equity card. What is clear to Deborah is that people at the top of the game, learnt on the job and had more opportunities.

How can we maintain momentum?

Before this discussion point it had been explained what the big broadcasters were doing (I talk about this in my previous blog post) and Deborah highlighted Sky’s most recent announcement around their new Diversity Targets. She described this as: “a real commitment around retention and progression for black people and others from an ethnically diverse background, to move on up in the organisation.”

Babita then stated that, “we need to have honest conversations about data; around how it’s collated and reported on… you look at the representation on news for example and then see the data and it does not correlate,” – meaning that the data outlines there is more representation compared to what is actually seen on screen and behind the scenes in the newsroom.

Deborah went on to explain that the Diamond data focuses on UK transmission only and that they don’t collect BBC World Service data. This is to avoid binary collection that will skew or weight the data – and this is critical – not to say it’s not needed but CDN don’t do it. Deborah goes on to say that, “Open, Transparent and Honest are the three words I work by – if you’re serious about this stuff, then you’re willing to accept to listen and work together to find solutions.” Babita added, “It’s ok to have that conversation!

Deborah also wants to see how the next Ant and Dec will be nurtured – “how are we going to make a pathway for the rough diamonds to shine through? Because if we’re not nurturing them now they won’t be able to get on camera straight away without development.” Deborah did make a point about the fact that Ant and Dec were able to easily push boundaries without anyone ‘blocking’ them; they went from being child actors, to pop stars, to kids TV presenter and then making it into prime time TV – and staying there. Babita described the experiences of others in the industry who were being ‘blocked’ by outlining the thoughts of decision makers: “We’ll put you in Countryfile and you’ll stay there.” (I knew Babita was referring to Anita Rani in this instance, although she didn’t state that’s who she was referring to – read these articles from the Guardian about Anita Rani in 2016 and again in 2019 and you’ll realise why Babita referred to this as an example).

There has to be diversity at every level

Here Deborah spoke about the fact that there is a real issue in Drama – where most of the investment goes – because there is a lack of diversity in commissioning, production and senior roles: “This allows for the perpetuation of stereotyping and ill thought out ways of representing.”

Babita spoke of her personal experiences in pitching The Corner Shop to commissioners with the conversation going like this:

Commissioner: “We’re not sure about the popularity of that subject… and even if we do it, we’re not sure about you telling it.”

Babita: “I grew up above a corner shop.”

Commissioner: “Yes but, you don’t have enough experience in the industry.”

Babita: “I’ve spent 17 years as TV journalist.”

Commissioner: “Yes but…“

Changing the story landscape… an optimistic assessment

As the event drew to a close, Babita asked Deborah whether she was optimistic for the future. Deborah said:

“I am optimistic because I’m seeing it what is possible – it is becoming wider, e.g., Bridgerton, Married at First Sight Australia etc. The more we share our stories and narratives in a public space, the easier it becomes to tell people that those stories need to be told.”

I could relate to that last sentence. Some of you may have noticed that I have been sharing a lot of my own personal story recently. I haven’t had the backlash I thought I would. If anything, it may have opened up more doors for me. It is my hope that more doors will open, not just for me, but for every person who may have had challenges ‘making it’ in the industry.

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Diversity & Equal Opportunities Stats in TV & Radio 2019/20

Over the course of 2020 I had read every white paper and report under the sun about diversity, equality and inclusion in the creative industries, with a particular focus on TV and Radio.

In November 2020, Ofcom (the appointed regulator of the broadcast industry), published their latest report. It made for an interesting read given everything that has happened in the last year. Here’s the lowdown from the report:

There are x3 key areas where Ofcom wants to see tangible progress during 2021

  1. Critical Under-representation – greater progress in the representation of disabled people on all levels and a faster increase in the diversity of crucial decision-makers (senior management, as well as employees in commissioning, content and creative roles), specifically addressing the under-representation of colleagues from an African or Caribbean heritage.
  2. Understanding class and geographic diversity – Ofcom have acknowledged that a person’s socio-economic background and where they live has a massive effect on their opportunities in broadcasting. This particular area, is something close to my heart given my own background.
  3. Accountability – Ofcom expects broadcasters – in particular those in leadership roles – to be accountable for delivering not just diversity initiatives but real change by:
  • setting clear measurable workforce targets and diversity and inclusion targets, with tangible outcomes
  • undertaking better, more transparent, evaluation of work designed to produce change, so that efforts can be focused and results accelerated
  • holding production partners to account for meeting diversity requirements

Update on Progress of Protected Characteristics

The stats on the progress of each protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act are insightful. I’ll share the key ones where infographics were produced.

Disability: only 7% of TV employees and 6% of Radio employees are disabled compared with 19% of the working age population in the UK.

Ethnically Diverse Groups: Ofcom refers to this group as Minority Ethnic Groups (MEG). Since reading the #BAMEOver Statement for the UK, written by Inc Arts – details of which are in my #BAMEOver article – I will never refer to myself or any other ethnically diverse person as being within a ‘minority’. I plan to write to Ofcom to share this statement with a view that they change the language used in future reports. This group – and particularly those from an African or Caribbean heritage – are under-represented in senior management. There are 8% of those who are ethnically diverse working in senior management in TV, compared with a national workforce average of 12%. Only 1% of this group are from an African or Caribbean heritage, compared with 3% of the working population.

And below you can see a detailed breakdown of people working in the industry by ethnicity:

Gender: This focuses on the representation of women. It shows that that the proportion of women closely reflects the UK working age population (47% of which is female). However, they remain under-represented at senior levels.

It’d be good to see Ofcom obtaining stats on other genders, e.g., those who identify as being transgender or non binary etc.

Social Mobility: Last year’s report was the first time that socio-economic backgrounds/ class were reported on. The volume of data submitted was limited however, and it’s the same for this year. That said, it formally shows what was thought to be the case; that those working in TV are twice as likely to have attended private school as people in the working age population more generally and that twice as many TV workers come from ‘professional’ family backgrounds.

Data, data and more data!

I cannot stress the importance of data collection like this. The industry has to understand where they are now to then figure out how to address where we need to be. That process has to include creating a long term strategy with clear, tangible, measurable and actionable objectives. Not just with broadcasters but also with independent production companies. I would caveat this by stating that indies need the support of the big broadcasters generally and more specifically by the commissioners. Because once a commission is green-lit, it’s all systems go and productions simply do not have the time or resources needed to nurture diverse talent. That’s why in the past, they’ve generally picked up the phone to people they know, and the people they know look like them and that generally tends to be people of European ancestral heritage. I know it’s easier said than done when the deadlines loom and the pressure increases to deliver a production in a really short space of time. The whole process needs time, money and most of all commitment to ‘do the right thing’. However, things are changing for the better, or at least there has been some momentum. There is a lot to do but the intention for change is there like never before.

What are the broadcasters doing?

Channel 4 announced Babita Bahal as Head of Creative Diversity in November 2019. She started her role in early 2020 having previously been the Diversity and Inclusion Lead for BBC Content. Channel 4 have shown great commitment to the diversity cause by opening new Headquarters in Leeds and also opening Creative Hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. They have also set a target of having 50% of its production spend in the Nations and Regions by 2023. In the summer of 2020, they announced the launch of their Indie Accelerator in a two year partnership with The TV Collective. This will focus on matching commissioning heads of department for unscripted genres with independent production companies led by ethnically diverse people. They have also launched The Black Takeover – an ambitious day of programming for Autumn 2021 which will see Channel 4’s entire programming schedule fronted by Black talent as part of the Channel’s ongoing commitment to improve Black representation both on and off screen. And applications are open right now until 29th January 2021 for their Production Training Scheme, with opportunities available right across the UK in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, North Wales and Glasgow.

ITV also launched their Diversity Acceleration Plan in the summer of 2020. This includes an initiative called ITV Step Up 60, designed to increase Diversity at senior levels of decision making in TV production, both within ITV Studios and independent producers. The ITV apprenticeship programme also has a remit to attract diverse talent. In the summer they announced the appointment of Ade Rawcliffe as Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion. Just before this they had appointed Nana Hughes as Head of Scripted Comedy. You can find out a little more about Nana in this Facebook Video where she talks about what she is looking to commission. She is joined by BBC 3 Comedy Commissioner, Sarah Asante.

The BBC appointed June Sarpong as Director of Creative Diversity, also in November 2019. It’s clear that through her leadership, many great events and initiatives have been delivered under the BBC Creative Diversity banner. She also led the creation of a Blueprint for Belonging which has received much praise in the industry. In December 2020, the BBC announced their Creative Diversity Plan to accelerate diverse representation on and off screen. Click here to find out more. On the BBC Creative Diversity page (link above) June shares a story about a nineteenth century abolitionist, Frederick Douglass – he was a man of African heritage who challenged the status quo. A former slave, he rose to be a trusted advisor to the US president Abraham Lincoln. Douglass argued that art and imagery provided a mechanism for societal self-refection, critique and progress. Through this story, June has reiterated the importance of diversity in the broadcast industry in such a poignant way.

If like me, you love reading a report, because I mean, who doesn’t?! 🤪😅 …then you can read the Ofcom Report in full here.

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#BAMEOver

I write this with a heavy heart. When I first read this #BAMEOver statement it made me realise something that I hadn’t really taken the time to explore fully until now. I am someone who has used the term BAME in my vocabulary in the past. I used it without even batting an eyelid – not realising why grouping us together like this isn’t helpful. When I say ‘us’ I mean those who identify as being ethnically diverse.

BAMEOver is a statement for the UK. In August more than 1000 people completed a survey conducted by Inc Arts. On 4th September 2020 over 250 people came together to reset the terms of reference for people with lived experience of racism.

Essentially this document provides guidance on the terms to use instead of BAME. The very last paragraph states:

The difference between saying ‘BAME’ and ‘people of South Asian heritage’ or ‘people who experience racism’ is approximately 2 seconds. 2 seconds is not too much time to devote to taking positive anti-racist action on a daily basis. Remaining actively conscious of the language we use is a powerful act of allyship.

After reading this I felt a real sense of unease. I took the time to delve into why I didn’t think twice about the use of this acronym before – especially as someone who is British Indian – I was born in the UK and I am of Punjabi heritage.

At the risk of a possible backlash, I am going to openly state that I spent much of my youth shunning my roots. I grew up in a family where pretty much every single male ‘role model’ beat the sh*t out of their wives and if they weren’t beating the sh*t out of them, they were manipulative and controlling. There was also sexual abuse thrown into the mix. Please know that this is NOT indicative of the behaviours from those of my heritage. I understand that the cyclical behaviours in my family were passed down from generation to generation and why it never stopped – it was because it was all they knew. And this can and does happen in all cultures. However, when I discovered from two of my other peers at school that they were witnessing the same behaviours, I thought that’s it – it must happen in every Punjabi family. My mum and dad’s marriage ended abruptly in the late 90s. Over 20 years ago, my mum was one of few Punjabi women at the time to go through a divorce. Within a week of the split we were essentially deserted from both sides of the family. I witnessed how a lack of education – and freedom to make her own decisions – meant my mum did not live her true potential and I did not want that to happen to me.

I grew up knowing very little of British colonial rule of India, other than the anecdotes I heard about my maternal grandmother who with her family, had to suddenly leave their home because they lived on the wrong side of the border. In the panic to get on to trains out of the newly formed borders during Partition, my Bibi’s (we call my nan Bibi) younger sister died – she had fallen from a train in what was described to me as hysteria, where thousands of people were fleeing for their lives. I admit that I still don’t know everything about ‘The British Raj’ – a term used to describe Britain’s rule of India. My family had land to grow food but were not ‘cash rich’. All I grew up hearing from my parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents was that England was the place to be – to live better, more fulfilled lives and provided the chance for them to climb out of poverty. To be in England and be ‘English’ was a good thing. Remember this Goodness Gracious Me Sketch?

At school I was referred to as ‘coconut’ by my Indian counterparts – “brown on the outside white on the inside” – because I had a non-Indian forename and couldn’t speak Punjabi (I didn’t start speaking until I was 6 and speech therapists told my mum that I was confused so she should only speak to me in English. I wasn’t confused I just chose not to talk but that’s another story for another day).

This next admission may cause yet more backlash. I leveraged the fact I was given a ‘western’ name, despite being picked on about it as a child. I also leveraged having fair skin. This thought process used to go through my mind when sending CVs to gain work experience in the broadcast industry over 15 years ago: “They won’t know I’m Indian – my surname only has 3 letters – they’ll think I’m ‘English’ and if I get an interview, when they see me, they (hopefully) won’t be able to tell that I am actually Indian.” I never consciously questioned why I thought my heritage would be an issue and why being perceived as ‘white’ would help me ‘get on’ in the industry. At the time – in the words of Tupac Shakur – “That’s just the way it is” was my ‘way of living.’

I was once loved by people whom I considered as family and they are of European ancestral origin. I am loved by friends of European ancestral origin. These friends give me joy, support and love in abundance, as do my friends from other heritage backgrounds of course! I am lucky to have them all.

I am also someone who has never been on the receiving end of racism. No malicious behaviour or rhetoric has ever been directed towards me personally about my ethnicity. Is this because of my non-Indian forename, my fair skin, how I behaved and who I surrounded myself with? I don’t know. I have, however, been in situations where what has been discussed with me about my heritage has been rooted in ignorance with remarks like: ‘When the Indian’s came over we thought their women were good looking at least. And to be fair you’re a very good looking woman yourself.‘ I think they were attempting to be complimentary but I didn’t settle for days after this.

I grew up truly grateful for being born in the UK, because I was able to have more opportunities than my mum. And I still am grateful. I think about how lucky I am to live in the UK Every. Single. Day. So with all this – and there is so much more but then this blog would turn into a book! – the shunning of my heritage and hoping to ‘get away’ with being identified as being ‘English’, meant I had never before questioned the label BAME. In a weird way I didn’t attribute myself as being part of this group because I never felt ‘Indian’ enough, but there again I never felt ‘English’ enough either.

I shared the #BAMEOver document with a number of people of African, Caribbean and South Asian heritage who work within the UK broadcast industry, to get their thoughts on this. Here’s what was shared with me anonymously:

“The term seemed to appear from nowhere and became standard. I think that it diminishes racial differences and is disrespectful.”

“It’s a great document and I felt better after reading it. I am guilty myself of NOT KNOWING WHAT I WANT TO BE CALLED! What’s my label?”

“I see myself as an individual working in favour of a collective sense. I identify myself as a Black British man and honoured by that right. I don’t identify with saying I’m Caribbean, because that is not my full identity but then I understand how that part of me has had an influence on my life. I truly think it’s your given right to be identified how you see fit and acknowledge or come to terms with your existence in the world – specifically knowing what your role is and how you rule from your disposition.”

“The word BAME is now considered inappropriate and people are getting angry about its use. I believe a re-education plan needs to be to executed. There was a time when ‘coloured’ was acceptable and now it’s not! So… there is an amount of work to do to ensure that people understand that Black people are no longer happy to be put into a box with other people of colour. However, I can’t help but wonder if my Asian friends or colleagues feel like they are being left out?”

I keep reading what I have written here over and over again because I fear what the response to this will be. Will I be judged? Will I be hated for admitting the things I have? Will I regret being this open and honest? Will I become completely unemployable? On the flip side will this be ignored? Will it roll on by like tumbleweed?

But then I continually ask myself; what is it that I want to happen as a result of writing this? The answer is that I want to make a positive difference, in whatever way I can, to highlight the changes needed in the language we use around describing groups of ethnically diverse people and share the knowledge I have gained over the last few months.

Below are useful resources that have helped me gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of those from other heritage backgrounds:

BAMEOver: An Essay on Terminology

BBC Sounds Podcast: No Country for Young Women [note: this is hilarious and contains strong language and makes overt references to sex]

BBC Sounds Podcast: Brown Girls Do It Too [note: this is also hilarious and again contains strong language and also makes overt references to sex]

BBC Sounds Podcast: Have You Heard George’s Podcast [note: this is truly moving, creative and the ‘word play’ is articulate, eloquent and raw.]

If you’re on Instagram I’d encourage you to follow these people who actively discuss their heritage and the heritage of others, as well as matters on social justice generally:

@jameelajamilofficial
@munroebergdorf
@kehindeandrews
@amandaseales
@laysieee
@cephaswilliamss
@russellbrand
@claraamfo
@gottabelavin_ya
@kuchenga
@libenedettii
@nadiyahussain

There are loads more but following these people is a good place to start.

I want to share one last quote from an email I was sent about the #BAMEOver document.

“My children are of mixed heritage and I constantly correct people for calling those of mixed ethnicity “Mixed Race”! It is my understanding that there is only one race of people on this planet and they are humans!”

I concur. I certainly don’t want to dismiss the importance of #BAMEOver or the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement. It is vital that we acknowledge the wrongs of the past to make it right for the future and embrace our differences as human beings.

My nephew recently turned a year old and he is of mixed heritage. His mother is Welsh and grew up in England. This little boy has lit up my life in a way I did not imagine possible. I love him sooooooo much. It is my hope that we as a human race always act from a place of love, empathy and compassion for one another, so that my nephew never faces the identity crisis I grew up with. Throughout my life many strangers along my travels have tried to place me in a group of people (not with racist intentions, more out of curiosity), and the typical question I get asked is ‘Where are you from? Are you Italian, French, Spanish, Armenian, Persian, Argentinian, Chilean, Brazilian?’ There is a part of me that likes the fact that I can’t be placed because the most important thing for others to acknowledge is that:

I am human and I’m from planet earth.

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Reframing Disability

Last week the BBC hosted an event called ‘Reframing Disability’ in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act. It seems as though there has been a real step change at the BBC since the appointment of June Sarpong as Director of Creative Diversity, in terms of it’s commitment to becoming more diverse, equal and inclusive. Like with many of the broadcasters there’s still a long way to go, but their recent activity has been really encouraging to see.

One of the Spotlight Sessions – CripTales: Mat Fraser in conversation with Alex Brooker was a brilliant watch. Mat was such a fantastic speaker and his energy shone through online – as it would do since he is an actor. CripTales is a BBC Four series where a life-changing moment is captured in six powerful, dramatic monologues. All of these are written, directed and performed by disabled people and curated by Mat Fraser.

Talking of his experience curating this series, Mat referred to working exclusively with disabled people as being, “very rare, weird, momentous and joyous.” He went on to say: “I had to pinch myself sometimes because it was a career dream of mine.” It was heart-warming to hear this. However, Mat quite rightly pointed out that back in 2009 he was part of an all disabled cast in Channel 4’s Cast Offs and that it had taken 11 years for something like this to happen again. He went on to say that the transmission slot for Cast Offs wasn’t great as it was broadcast around the same period as popular comedy drama Skins and at different timeslots each week – not ideal as viewers prefer regularity when it comes to tuning in to their favourite shows. Mat was at pains to say that he wasn’t criticising the broadcaster’s decision on TX slots.

It was a thought provoking session. They also discussed the roles that disabled actors are given in programmes where the focus is on their disability and that is a shame, with the host Alex stating that “Our disability is just one aspect of us. We do regular stuff as well.”

That theme continued in a panel discussion called Representation Matters. Adam Pearson – a presenter and actor – asked a question that he went on to answer himself: “How do we get disabled people on TV doing incidental non disabled things? You hire disabled people to do incidental non disabled things.” So simple. Adam also made a very good point around the fact that: “There are no disabled people with positions of influence in the media industry at an executive level,” and with that “…there is a cycle of bad representation of disabled people year after year.”

When it comes to disability, another panellist – Katie Piper – said from her perspective it was important to “…allow people to develop their own understanding , empathy and knowledge via podcasts, books etc.,” and encouraged individuals to take responsibility in seeking out information for themselves, rather than being spoon fed. I agree with this, although the reality is that the majority of ‘time poor’ people will only invest their free time into matters that interest or affect them directly.

I think education plays an important part. Schools should invest more in teaching children the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion and about cultural history on a global, as well as a national level. I have heard from parents with children of primary school age that this seems to be happening more recently because of the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

I hope in years to come we live in a society that embraces each other’s differences where diversity, equality and inclusivity is as natural as breathing air.

The BBC’s Reframing Disability events are available to watch on demand HERE. If you work in the media and entertainment industry (or even if you don’t) these are well worth your time.

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