Ade Rawcliffe, Diversity and Talent Manager
Assistant: Sophia Rehman
Assistant: Sophia Rehman
Alison Walsh, Editorial Manager, Disability
Channel 4's ambition is to be at the forefront of change in the television industry. We are clear that this requires not just rhetoric, but also firm commitments in terms of resources and management time. We are also clear that Channel 4's strategy needs to embrace all forms of diversity, including ethnicity, but also disability, nationality, regionality, age, gender and beyond. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that Channel 4's operations and output truly reflect the diversity of contemporary Britain today. We believe this is vital to our ability to fulfil our public role. We will implement a coordinated strategy for strengthening our commitment to diversity across all our activities, both on- and off-screen, with a number of measures to be introduced this year:
- Establishing a new Head of Diversity at senior executive level to lead Channel 4's diversity strategy across all the organisation’s activities
- Creating a ring-fenced £2 million fund to commission multicultural programmes for 9pm and 10pm on the core channel
- Giving a commissioning editor specific responsibilities for commissioning multicultural factual programmes in the heart of peak-time
- Rolling out the existing Commissioning diversity placement scheme to other departments across Channel 4 and doubling the number of diversity placements in the commissioning team (from 3 to 6)
- Working with key suppliers to ensure that they have diverse teams on Channel 4 projects and meaningful diversity policies
- Building Channel 4's commitment to diversity and disability training through our new Diversity Production Training Scheme – which funds 18 placements at
independent production companies for researchers and other entry-level positions from various minority groups
We are planning to publish the findings of a major research project and analysis of multicultural Britain in the spring. Its brief included the role of broadcasting in helping different ethnic groups learn about other communities, and potential areas for improvement in the quality and quantity of representation of diversity across the television industry. We will work with Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, to discuss the implications of this research for the entire industry.
The issues highlighted above are complex. Realistically, the most meaningful changes will take years to achieve. The plans set out above mark a first step, not the full scale, of our ambition, and we recognise there is more that Channel 4 needs to do, not least in terms of diversity within the organisation's workforce. But we are clear that there must be a step-change in Channel 4's commitment to diversity, and we hope the rest of the sector will follow us.
Is there a set diversity budget?
Yes, Channel 4 has committed £1.5 million over the next three years to the training and development of ethnic minorities across the industry. In addition, we also spend £230,000 annually specifically on disability initiatives including the training and development of disabled talent.
Do you have quotas?
We encourage diversity across all our output and both on and off screen, but we do not have quotas.
Do you monitor your output on screen?
Yes all Channel 4 programmes are monitored to ensure that they accurately reflect modern, vibrant multicultural Britain.
Is there a multicultural department?
We don't specifically have a multicultural programming department, but we are about to appoint a Commissioning Editor in Documentaries who will commission multicultural factual output for 9pm and 10pm. However all departments accept and are willing to commission multicultural ideas.
Is there a disability department?
No but all commissioning editors are encouraged to include disabled people across all programme areas as well as commission programmes that focus on disability themes.
Channel 4's ambition is to be at the forefront of change in the television industry. We are clear that this requires not just rhetoric, but also firm commitments in terms of resources and management time. We are also clear that Channel 4's strategy needs to embrace all forms of diversity, including ethnicity, but also disability, nationality, regionality, age, gender and beyond. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that Channel 4's operations and output truly reflect the diversity of contemporary Britain today. We believe this is vital to our ability to fulfil our public role. We will implement a coordinated strategy for strengthening our commitment to diversity across all our activities, both on- and off-screen, with a number of measures to be introduced this year:
- Establishing a new Head of Diversity at senior executive level to lead Channel 4's diversity strategy across all the organisation’s activities
- Creating a ring-fenced £2 million fund to commission multicultural programmes for 9pm and 10pm on the core channel
- Giving a commissioning editor specific responsibilities for commissioning multicultural factual programmes in the heart of peak-time
- Rolling out the existing Commissioning diversity placement scheme to other departments across Channel 4 and doubling the number of diversity placements in the commissioning team (from 3 to 6)
- Working with key suppliers to ensure that they have diverse teams on Channel 4 projects and meaningful diversity policies
- Building Channel 4's commitment to diversity and disability training through our new Diversity Production Training Scheme – which funds 18 placements at
independent production companies for researchers and other entry-level positions from various minority groups
We are planning to publish the findings of a major research project and analysis of multicultural Britain in the spring. Its brief included the role of broadcasting in helping different ethnic groups learn about other communities, and potential areas for improvement in the quality and quantity of representation of diversity across the television industry. We will work with Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, to discuss the implications of this research for the entire industry.
The issues highlighted above are complex. Realistically, the most meaningful changes will take years to achieve. The plans set out above mark a first step, not the full scale, of our ambition, and we recognise there is more that Channel 4 needs to do, not least in terms of diversity within the organisation's workforce. But we are clear that there must be a step-change in Channel 4's commitment to diversity, and we hope the rest of the sector will follow us.
Is there a set diversity budget?
Yes, Channel 4 has committed £1.5 million over the next three years to the training and development of ethnic minorities across the industry. In addition, we also spend £230,000 annually specifically on disability initiatives including the training and development of disabled talent.
Do you have quotas?
We encourage diversity across all our output and both on and off screen, but we do not have quotas.
Do you monitor your output on screen?
Yes all Channel 4 programmes are monitored to ensure that they accurately reflect modern, vibrant multicultural Britain.
Is there a multicultural department?
We don't specifically have a multicultural programming department, but we are about to appoint a Commissioning Editor in Documentaries who will commission multicultural factual output for 9pm and 10pm. However all departments accept and are willing to commission multicultural ideas.
Is there a disability department?
No but all commissioning editors are encouraged to include disabled people across all programme areas as well as commission programmes that focus on disability themes.
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