The LSE Media Policy Project and Department of Media and Communications are hosting a seminar on:
Who’s in the media? Challenges and opportunities for diversity
27 November at 18.00 in the Thai Theatre
LSE’s New Academic Building, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LJ
A drinks reception will follow the session
Amid rising concern that diversity in British society is not adequately represented in the media, neither on screen nor behind the scenes, the panel will explore the options available to improve this. In June, the BBC announced new measures to improve the representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and Sky announced diversity quotas in August. But are these the measures appropriate, and sufficiently far-reaching?
In light of the upcoming BBC Charter renewal, the issue of how broadcasters and other media can remain relevant and more effectively speak to their diverse and changing audiences becomes more urgent than ever.
The seminar will focus on tackling the following questions:
- What’s the problem with diversity representation, both in production and on our screens and airwaves?
- Is monitoring the solution? Is self-monitoring sufficient or is there a need for regulation?
- What other solutions exist and what would be an effective way to enhance diversity and inclusiveness in broadcast media?
The event is free to attend but space is limited: please register by emailing media.policyproject@lse.ac.uk
Speaker biographies:
Mukti Jain Campion is founder of the independent production company Culture Wise. She trained as a film maker at the BBC and has been producing television and radio documentaries for more than 30 years. She has a particular interest in how the media can bridge different social and cultural divides, and in 2004 was awarded the Guardian Research Fellowship at Oxford University for a ground-breaking study of cultural diversity in public service broadcasting, Look Who’s Talking: Cultural Diversity, Public Service Broadcasting and the National Conversation. She has lectured widely on the topic in the UK and internationally.
The Focus E15 Mothers Campaign was started by a group of mothers who were given housing eviction notices and told to move out of London in the wake of recent social benefit cuts. Against this backdrop, they took action with the help of others, to stop their eviction and to create a serious, vibrant campaign calling for Social Housing, not Social Cleansing! This campaign’s driving force has been its fun direct actions, consistent weekly stalls speaking to the public and its ability to organise itself outside of old bodies of protest.
Myria Georgiou is Associate Professor at LSE’s Department of Media and Communications, and for 18 years she has been conducting research on the role of media in minority representation and identity construction. She has received funding for her research from bodies such as the European Union, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and International Broadcasting Trust (IBT) and has advised organisations such as the Council of Europe and Panos. She has recently completed a consultancy for the Council of Europe/EU programme Mediane, focussing on the development of a self-monitoring tool on diversity inclusiveness for media professionals. Before she became a full time academic she worked as a journalist for the Greek press and BBC World Service.
Marcus Ryder is the Chair of the Royal Television Society Diversity Committee. He has championed diversity throughout the television industry, working closely with Government ministers, opposition MPs, industry executives and high profile diversity champions such as Lenny Henry. In 2014 he gave evidence to a Parliamentary Select Committee on how to increase ethnic minority representation in television both in front of and behind the camera. He also recently organised the first political hustings on media diversity between the three main Westminster political parties on how each Party would aim to increase diversity if they won the General Election in May 2015.
Henna Zamurd-Butt is on the editorial team for Media Diversified, and also works as an editor at Newzulu, a global citizen journalism platform. She is interested in subaltern narratives, mainstream media, and the chasm betwixt. Media Diversified is a young and growing non-profit organisation which seeks to cultivate and promote skilled writers of colour, by providing advice and contacts as well as through promotion of content online through its own platform. Live since July 2013, the initiative is already diversifying the UK’s media landscape, providing important, challenging and new content which contributes to global as well as domestic discussion on issues of social justice and equality.
Chair: Shakuntala Banaji, lecturer in LSE’s Department of Media and Communications, where her research focuses on representations of gender, ethnicity and class amongst audiences as well as on young people and online civic participation.
