New drive to improve disability portrayal on BBC Television
To underline its remit to reflect all UK audiences, BBC Television has introduced its first set of targets and a raft of new initiatives to improve the portrayal of disabled people on its channels, Jana Bennett, Director of Television announced today (Monday 9 February 2004).
The move is part of a bigger BBC drive to positively increase the organisation's commitment to the recruitment and portrayal of disabled people, which is being led by Mark Byford, Acting Director-General, and which is due to report later this winter.
Following extensive consultation both inside and outside the BBC, a number of practical targets and recommendations have been made to begin to improve BBC Television's performance in this key area from 2004 onwards.
"One in four of the population is either disabled themselves or knows someone with a disability and independent research last summer showed that audiences were overwhelmingly in favour of seeing more disabled people on television," says Jana Bennett.
"Although we have been making real progress in this area, we still have further to go and we can't afford to lag behind public opinion.
"BBC Television's remit is to reflect all audiences in the UK and so we are now putting in place a two-stage strategy to achieve a better performance: a set of targets to create visual impact within the next two years; and a longer term strategy of talent development to bring about significant cultural change.
"We recognise that the widest possible range of voices, people and characters should be seen on our screens, and that disabled people need to be shown less as minorities with issues and problems, and more as people with lives as rich or as complex as the rest of society."
The agreed targets, which will be reviewed on an annual basis, are as follows:
A target of at least one regular disabled character in a returning drama series on BBC ONE by the end of 2004
A target for disabled extras across all BBC ONE drama of two out of every 100 characters by end of 2004
A target for three factual and leisure shows on BBC ONE and BBC TWO - for example Get a New Life, Changing Rooms and Bargain Hunt - to feature at least one disabled contributor per series
A target for three key entertainment series on BBC ONE and BBC TWO - for example The Weakest Link, Mastermind and National Lottery Jet Set - to feature a minimum of one disabled contestant in 50
A target for BBC THREE to broadcast one drama or entertainment series with a regular disabled character by end of 2004
A target for BBC FOUR to broadcast a minimum of two profiles of people of achievement per year, and an ambition to develop new onscreen talent in its factual output.
Other initiatives to help develop change
BBC Television is in the process of drawing up a number of initiatives to help drive change, which will roll out over the next few months, and which include:
A fund of £800,000 (across three years) to encourage innovative ideas and talent development in factual, drama and entertainment.
For example, BBC Talent will mount a scheme to specifically find talent in the disabled community (writers, presenters, actors, directors).
BBC Drama, in collaboration with appropriate partners, will mount a national audit of disabled actors in the UK.
Led by a senior casting director, holding open auditions, this would be a definitive guide to UK talent.
Drama Serials to mount a series of workshops for disabled talent as part of a rolling commitment to achieving the targets.
Jana Bennett commented: "We have achieved some notable examples of good practice, with disabled characters in The Office, Holby City, Doctors, Balamory and the most recent series of All About Me, together with the presence of presenters like Ade Adepitan and Tanni Grey-Thompson for example.
"But this is only the start and we need to build on this beginning until we achieve real visibility of the disabled on our screens."
Notes to Editors
The research, Disabling Prejudice, was commissioned jointly by the BBC, the BSC and the ITC in 2003.
Diversity and the BBC
The Disability Discrimination Act describes a disabled person as anyone "with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect upon their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".
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