Tony Bennett, Differing diversities - Council of Europe

Differing diversitiesthe changing demographics and new cultural tastes? Structural analysis also examinesthe texts of minutes and reports to determine whether boards are sensitive tothe need for cultural programming that supports diversity based on the post-secondworld war ideas of human rights and the equality of citizens. In addition to theactors themselves and their decisions, a structural analysis examines the institutionalchannels afforded to migrant and ethnic organisations to access the culturalresources controlled by those organisations.Evaluations by watchdog organisationsEvaluations by “watchdog” organisations, such as the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Council on EconomicPriorities, have produced some of the most impressive improvements in expandingdiversity in the culture and media industries. Even Fortune magazine now collaborateswith the non-profit Council on Economic Priorities to rank the fifty bestcompanies for minorities on fifteen different quantitative and qualitative measures.Watchdog organisations use a variety of evaluation strategies including:i. Nelson polls of visible minorities to rate how much the cable, broadcast, andnewspaper industries contribute diversity coverage and respond to diversitycultural interests;ii. monitoring the effectiveness of programmes to promote diversity in culturalindustries (for example, programmes in leading multinational corporationssuch as Disney, New York Times, CMP Media, SBC Communications),including measuring the percentage of minorities at senior, middle and linemanagerial ranks who are hired and retained and customer surveys about theresponsiveness and quality of services to diverse customers and audiences;iii. analysing the percentage of ethnic minorities on boards of companies in thecultural industries;iv. publishing lists of organisations that have done the most to make employees ofall races into full participants;v. interviewing minority executives to determine the percentage that have beenthe target of racial or cultural jokes at work;vi. assessing organisational opportunities and corporate culture for minorities inthe cultural sector.The publication of these evaluation results and advocacy efforts by minority coalitionshave resulted in ground-breaking diversity initiatives in the American advertising,cable-TV, broadcast, motion picture, and newspaper industries. Many of thebusinesses have signed “diversity pacts” ensuring more minority representation onboth the executive and talent sides, appointed senior vice-presidents to be accountablefor implementation, expanded minority recruitment and retention programmesand internships at various operating divisions, increased the use of minority-ownedmedia to promote cultural products, and set a minimum percentage of minority procurementon goods and services where qualified minority suppliers were available.100