A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION as “Flash-in-the-Pan initiatives which are announced with a great flourish but which fail to deliver structural change.” 332 Let us be clear: additional money for diversity is a positive sign but the BBC’s £3.5 million spend in 2014 that was dedicated to increasing diverse employment constituted less than 0.1% of the BBC’s overall budget. Similarly, targets are entirely welcome and a very useful focus for organisations seeking to highlight the need for change but they are rarely successful by themselves, can be easily manipulated and are painfully slow in their realisation. The fact that there have been, according to Lenny Henry, some 29 target-led diversity initiatives adopted by the BBC in the last 15 years, bears witness to this. 333 The BBC has now launched its 30th such initiative promising to ensure that, by 2020, half of its workforce and its screen time will be composed of women, 8% of disabled and LGBT people and 15% of BAME individuals. 334 Channel 4 have announced similar targets (actually more ambitious in terms of BAME figures) and have announced ‘commissioning diversity guidelines’ which require independent production companies to demonstrate their commitment to diversity both on- and off-screen. 335 It is not clear to us, however, how these targets, no matter how necessary they are, will overcome the structural barriers that have undermined diverse employment in television up to this point (and which we discuss further in Chapter 11): the employment networks that favour friends and contacts, the reliance on unpaid interns and the reluctance of commissioners to take risks. Small steps in the right direction will do little to counter the pressures pushing in an opposite direction. So, for example, while there are a number of training schemes aimed at entry level positions, this can simply reinforce the notion that it’s the talent that is the problem and not the institutions themselves. “Training schemes and initiatives”, argues Simone Pennant of diversity campaigners the TV Collective, “inadvertently create the perception that the reason why Black, Asian and ethnic minority talent are leaving the industry or not striving in their careers is because they are ‘not good enough’ for existing roles.” 336 According to Lenny Henry: “When there aren’t enough programmes from Scotland we don’t give the Scots more training. We place more commissioners up there to find good Scottish programme makers to make decent programmes. Let’s do the same to ensure BAME representation.” 337 We believe that Lenny Henry is right to argue that “systemic failures” have led to a lack of diversity in the industry and we believe, therefore, that “systemic” solutions are required alongside the provision of targets and training schemes. This takes us back to the importance of the principle of quality that we discussed in Chapter 2: that high quality minority representations require conditions that support innovation, experiment, risk-taking and the right to fail, conditions that arguably undersupplied in the current PSM ecology. 332 Campaign for Broadcasting Equality, submission to the Inquiry. 333 BBC News, ‘Lenny Henry criticises BBC chief’s diversity plans’, June 24, 2014. 334 BBC, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, April 2016, p. 22 335 Channel 4, 360° Diversity Charter –One Year On, 2016. 336 Simone Pennant, TV Collective, submission to the Inquiry. 337 Lenny Henry, comments at ‘Are you being heard?’ Inquiry event, Goldsmiths, University of London, March 22, 2016. 112
CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD “IF BROADCASTERS WANT TO STAY IN THE GAME, THEIR COMMISSIONERS MUST TAKE MORE RISK WITH DIVERSE TALENT” Idris Elba So firstly, we need to tackle the blockages at commissioning level. Idris Elba, for example, warned in his speech to Parliament that, all too often, Commissioners look at diverse talent, and all they see is risk. Black actors are seen as a commercial risk. Women directors are seen as a commercial risk. Disabled directors aren’t even seen at all. In general, if broadcasters want to stay in the game, their commissioners must take more risk with diverse talent. 338 We need to change the culture of commissioning and to provide incentives for commissioners to take risks. This might be enhanced if the Equality Act 2010 were to be amended so that commissioning and editorial policy would then be covered by public service equality duties. 339 There is also a need to create new and more diverse commissioning structures at the same time as placing new obligations on existing commissioners to break from a ‘risk-averse’ mindset by working with a broader base of talent. As one BAFTA member warned us: “There’s so little risk taking…that we risk stifling a whole new generation of makers and audiences”. 340 Secondly, public service broadcasters who after all have a specific remit to serve multiple audiences, should be required to use a range of instruments to improve minority employment and representation. As the founder of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality told us, “there need be no conflict between ring fenced funds, quotas, targets and other measures to promote diversity. They are complementary.” 341 In particular, given the worryingly high levels of dissatisfaction of BAME viewers, together with the under-representation of BAME talent in the industry itself, we believe that public service broadcasters should be required to increase their investment in BAME productions through significantly enhanced – and ideally ringfenced – ‘diversity funds’ along the lines that Lenny Henry has called for 342 in order to secure conditions for a more representative workforce (at all levels) and prospects for more representative content. We recognise that television alone cannot be expected to solve issues of underrepresentation given the inequality we see in relation to access to other services like health, education, employment and housing. But television certainly has a role to play both in addressing these issues and in involving minority audiences in the dialogue that will be necessary if we are to live together and to act collectively to overcome all forms of discrimination. For that to happen, appropriate targets and quotas need to be complemented by sufficient resources if aspiration is to turn into reality. 338 Elba, speech to parliament. 339 As recommended to us by Simon Albury of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality in his submission. 340 Survey of BAFTA members undertaken for the Inquiry, March 2016. See Appendix 2 of this report. 341 Simon Albury, Campaign for Broadcasting Equality, submission to the Inquiry. 342 For example, in his demand for catalyst funding for BAME output that takes its cue from the quotas drawn up for content production in the nations and regions (Inquiry event at Goldsmiths, University of London, March 22, 2016). 113
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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVIS
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Contents Foreword by David Puttnam
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To instruct democracy, if possible
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Welcome Television is leading a cha
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CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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PSB channels 71.9% All other channe
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Why television matters Television i
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1982 1990s 2012 The BBC-ITV duopoly
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Time for action Today’s policymak
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Basic principles At the core of pre
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The multichannel revolution Perhaps
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The BBC For most people, the BBC is
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Page 61 and 62: CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
Page 67 and 68: Channel 4 If the BBC is the most im
Page 71 and 72: Only 8% of Channel 4’s total spen
Page 79 and 80: ITV and Channel 5 The focus of atte
Page 85 and 86: The changing face of ITV 1993-2002
Page 91 and 92: New sources of public service conte
Page 103 and 104: Television and diversity We have ea
Page 107 and 108: THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE TELEVISED If t
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Page 115 and 116: Nations and Regions Public service
Page 129 and 130: Content diversity One of the key wa
Page 135 and 136: Sports content now accounts for som
Page 145 and 146: Talent development and training In
Page 153 and 154: Conclusion Television is changing.
Page 155 and 156: Recommendations General The UK’s
Page 161 and 162: Appointing the BBC board Sir David
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APPLICATION OF THE NOLAN PRINCIPLES
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BAFTA members’ survey delivered i
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Public service broadcasting, public
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Inquiry events Do we still need pub
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Acknowledgements Inquiry Report Con
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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

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