Damning report accuses British TV of being “too white”
Monday, July 21st, 2008Is it cos I is white?
Some of the UK’s most popular TV shows have been deemed “too white” in a report commissioned by Channel 4 and headed by race equalities chief Trevor Phillips.
The study followed a race row last year when Jade Goody and glamour model Danielle Lloyd - “the world’s thickest coven,” according to Charlie Brooker - shouted racist abuse at Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
The report reveals that ethnic minority viewers still feel underrepresented on television, despite the growing number of people from ethnic minorities living in the UK. When ethnic minorities do appear on soap operas and dramas, they are often cast into “tokenistic” and “stereotyped” roles, such as Asian corner shop owners in Coronation Street and the black single mother Denise in Eastenders who has children by two different fathers.
One respondent said: “We would like to see a more realistic view of Asians. A lot of Asians are professionals and educated and we don’t just work in corner shops.” A man from the Caribbean said: “They don’t portray black people doing different roles and in every aspect of every field, like doctors, lawyers and architects.”
Shows such as the X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice were praised because they chose contestants on the basis of “talent, not skin colour”.
However, a number of mainstream TV shows fared badly, with Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, ITV’s Emmerdale and Australian soaps Neighbours and Home and Away criticised for having almost no ethnic minority characters. The Vicar of Dibley was taken to task for having an “all white” cast, while US sitcom Friends was also deemed “very white”.
Mr Phillips echoed the comments of Dr Samir Shah, a non-executive director, who accused the BBC of rampant tokenism in its programmes this month. Like Dr Shah, he believes this is because the corporation’s decision makers are predominantly “hideously white”. Dr Shah had previously expressed irritation at the “tick-box” attitude of some BBC producers.
The report conceded that Channel 4’s Big Brother had a wide range of ethnicities in the house, but expressed concern that the “extreme personalities” chosen for the programme might reflect badly on the communities they represent.
However, not everyone has taken Mr Phillips’ comments kindly, with some rural viewers baffled by his comments on the Vicar of Dibley which is set in the Oxfordshire countryside, an area that is predominantly white.
