Doubling Disability in TV – time for action, not research
In 2016 I attended a TV sector roundtable hosted by Channel 4 to discuss the under representation of disabled people on and off screen. Attendees included broadcasters, independent production companies (Indies), industry bodies, and disabled people. There were lots of good words and intent, but to be honest little action arising in the months that followed.
It was with this backdrop that I welcomed CDN's recently announced #DoublingDisability initiative and its goal of doubling disabled people in TV by 2020.
But…
Do we really need to spend more time and money researching the underlying issues and developing ‘sharable solutions'? Are we at risk of more talking-shops and reinventing of wheels?
Can’t we just crack on by tackling the well-known issues that were raised at that round table 2 years ago (and I don’t doubt at many other round tables prior to that)?
Can’t we reuse the best practices that already exist to help Indies and others become brilliant in hiring and employing disabled people?
There are actions we can take right now that will move things forward. Here’s my starter for 10:
1. Leaders from across the sector should come together and kick-off a campaign to raise awareness, challenge assumptions and reduce the fears/uncertainties/doubts that disabled people make about careers in TV, and likewise employers have about the capabilities of disabled people.
2. Employers must introduce creativity and flexibility in entry-level roles, expanding the scope beyond Runner and Production Assistant. There are many potential entry-level roles in production that would not discourage disabled people or present them with insurmountable barriers, and that would play to their strengths and career aspirations.
3. Commissioning Editors and Production Execs must look beyond their circle of known and trusted talent and be prepared to take a risk on using people they haven’t used before. They also have to accept that it can take longer to hire different talent, especially disabled talent. Culture, approach and crewing/casting timeframes must be changed to accommodate this.
4. We need to fix the excruciating Access To Work process that places undue burden on both employers and individuals, particularly freelancers who make up the bulk of the talent in TV. I have submitted a proposal to the Government to this end, more on that as it happens.
5. On the topic of Access To Work, we need to educate all employers – large and small – about Access To Work and the support it can provide so that when they’re interviewing a disabled person they can focus on the person’s experience and skills, not the logistics of providing them with adjustments and support.
6. We need to create a pool of disabled talent to ‘prime the pump’. Indies often tell me that they’d love to hire more disabled people but don’t know where to find them. We need to make this easier and I’m working with Jane Hatton, CEO of Evenbreak, to this end.
7. Broadcasters can no longer just tell Indies and others in their supply chain to hire more disabled talent, they must proactively support them in doing so and lead by example. For example:
a) Encourage them to sign up to #DisabilityConfident and provide guidance and support to help them achieve Level 2 (embedding of best practice). Maybe broadcasters could chip into a fund that provides support that Indies can dip into as needed?
b) Promote Channel 4’s free guide on employing disabled talent. It contains a wealth of down-to-earth practical advice and guidance to help remove barriers and open up the talent pool.
c) Seek the support of experts who have spent decades developing reusable best practices that work in every sector, including media. Experts like Evenbreak, Business Disability Forum and, yes, Graeme K Whippy.
We could make a significant impact on the representation of disabled people in TV in 2 years, but we need to act now, not talk more.
Do you have other examples of issues facing disabled people trying to get in to (or stay in) TV? What about solutions? Let’s hear about them in the comments.
Diversity of thinking is what we should be aiming for. Equal opportunity , not equality of outcome. No quotas , tick boxes or percentages. Value of the individual not the “group”/tribe society assigns to them. Remove the barriers blocking individuals . Trampolining “groups of people” over any such barrier is counter productive . Let’s just be respectful and act in a fair manner..... to ALL . ( aka “Inclusion”) .
ICU World Champion ??|Athlete |Journalist/Presenter |Dystonia UK Ambassador
6 年I’d like to see broadcasters commit to paying disabled talent, rather than calling them “contributors” meaning they don’t have to pay them. I work now for a fair broadcaster who pays a fair rate and pays me the same as their AB freelancers, how it should be done, but there was a period of about 9 months when producers/researchers/reporters from another broadcaster were trying to get me to do stuff like script editing/producing for them, when I asked about the rate of pay the responses I continuously got from them was “oh we don’t do that we don’t pay for that” ?? I obviously said no as I’m a qualified journalist and still have bills to pay but it feels almost as if in some, not all, cases broadcasters feel that just by offering unpaid work to a disabled person they are doing their duty and expecting people like me to bite their hands off for the opportunity - just no, that’s not acceptable
Sports Presenter/Reporter/Commentator and Event Host/Panellist/Speaker. Born in N.Ireland, without a full complement of limbs. Enquiries: [email protected]
6 年I chatted about this with Dan B last week. I do feel the broadcasters and production companies are making a decent effort, but are continually being undermined by the lack of support from other quarters...namely government benefit cuts etc. If the disabled person isn't fortunate enough to get the financial support he/she needs to employ carers or have a Motability car, then they are going to find it much harder to have ANY job, let alone one in the media industry.
Founder of Disability at Tesco I Writes and produces awesome content for a living!
6 年The issue will always remain that way until senior leadership within industry commit long-term to diverse talent. Until then, the industry will continue to lose diverse voices as they seek fulfilment elsewhere.? All too often, the struggles of talented individuals working within media, who happen to have a disability are sidelined, marginalised and generally overlooked. If you raise it as a valid concern you're classed as a 'troublemaker' or 'gobby. Not good in a network driven industry. It breaks my televisual heart when I reflect on the amount of talent that has been lost because of lack of opportunity or investment in individuals. For all the bluster, TV needs to commit. Talent schemes are all well and good but it should be classed as a collective failure of media that, like other industries?rates of promotion, development and retention are woefully low.? The alternative is the frustrations of seeing talented colleagues STILL in the role you saw them in 10 years ago without promotion, on a minuscule rate compared to peers are real... and they hurt.? The temptation to take that piece of work, just because you believe so much in an industry and want to prove to others you can succeed, is great. Time to stop talking and deliver!
Creative arts coach and mentor
6 年Having recently become disabled myself, I am astonished at how quickly well meaning people put me in a disabled category, placed me in the disabled box, then offered me help and support on how to now get out of the box that they had put me in in the first place. I am then asked if I minded if they could use my situation and disability to tick a box.?Graeme's comments are indeed spot on. But I did reflect on the fact that broadcasters had these same discussions 15 years ago and then ten years ago. He is right - it's positive action and indeed, possible implementation of consequences for not achieving??that's?needed.?We need to reeducate people in a positive mode of learning to value difference. We should talk about valuing difference rather than 'you must include different people', people from differing?heritage, ability, differing faiths, etc. It shouldn't be that way, it's about valuing difference. It should be a positive and not a negative mindset. Value difference. Everybody has a unique set of knowledge, skills, behaviours and experiences, that is their strength. It is these that we should value, not the handy box they comes in. Rant over.