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RIGHTNOW...”
“One word -
Inclusiveness - will
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
be right at the
heart of what we
do. Our aim: 11%
of staff from ethnic
backgrounds; 8% in
senior positions in
all areas by 2003.”
MICHAEL JACKSON
Chief Executive, C4
“No more sitting through seminars making the right noises, we just have to get on and do it.” GREG DYKE
Director General, BBC
“We must get the
walls down and
get the (ethnic)
talent inside.”
ANDREA WONFOR
Creative MD, Granada
“All the leading broadcasters are standing up to be counted. Together, we shall bring about a meaningful change to the face of UK broadcasting.”
CHRIS SMITH MP
Secretary of State, Culture Media and Sport
In 1973 I first appeared in LWT’s Within These Walls playing a 16 year old shoplifter. I went on to do several more episodes and it
was during one of the lunch breaks while filming that I asked one of the producers why black characters couldn’t have professions other than thieves, prostitutes, nurses and bus conductors. His reply was, “it is not realistic!”
That was the beginning of my crusade to campaign for cultural diversity right across our industry and beyond. The latest campaign I am involved with for the Cultural Diversity Network has captured the imagination of all the broadcasters which is like a breath of fresh air after being suffocated for so long.
But it takes more than the heads of organisations to sign up to our charter; it also requires produc- ers, directors and commissioning editors not to be blind to the issue of representing cultural diversity both in front and behind the cam- era in a realistic way.
It frightens me how many influ- ential people do not think or
see cultural diversity as
being a priority or an issue
and quite obliviously contin-
ue to behave as they would
have back in the seventies.
Four years ago I was at the Advertising Forum
Annual Dinner at the Savoy and spoke to their Chairman. I pointed out to him that the advertising world held the key to a better cul- tural reflection of our nation.
I am thrilled to say the advertis- ing world have come good and being black or Asian is not an issue but a pleasant reality in advertising today. That is what I want to hap- pen in film and television. Well, it has taken nearly thirty years but what I have been campaigning for has started to become a reality at last.
My plea is for all to think and be conscious of the true portrayal of our society, wherever it is obvious, in all programming. That means producers and directors making a conscious effort to act in a well bal- anced way and using black and Asian actors and presenters in all types of programmes and in all roles.
I find a simple test of how we are progressing is to channel hop during the course of one evening’s viewing and count the number of black and Asian faces I see. Sadly,
on some evenings it can be none at all (except on the adverts, of course!).
FLOELLA BENJAMIN
Industry At Work
RIGHTNOW...”
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