Task force suggests best practices approach for upping cultural diversity on TV

The Task Force for Cultural Diversity on Television has rejected imposed quotas as the best way to increase the representation of Canada’s ethnic communities on TV screens in favour of a best practices approach. "The task force emphasizes that it neither supports nor recommends the establishment of regulatory targets or quotas in order to rectify problem areas in the reflection of cultural diversity on Canadian television," reads a report released this month by the task force. "Targets or quotas that are imposed from above, rather than designed and implemented from the ground up on an internal basis, are not an effective means of bringing about change. The reality is that effectively changing and improving the dynamic of cultural diversity on Canadian television requires deep, long-term commitment. Imposed targets provide at best an artificial band-aid, and as a result cannot bring about effective, lasting solutions." The task force further suggests that the CRTC abandon its current practice of having broadcasters provide annual corporate plans on cultural diversity as a means of updating the regulator on their diversity activities. The task force states that replacing the current model with a best practices approach is preferable because it is more accessible to the public; its widespread adaptation and uniformity will have a much greater aggregate influence on the development of cultural diversity in the media; and while corporate plans are differentiated across different broadcasters, best practices provide a uniform, adaptable template. Not surprisingly, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has endorsed the report by the task force, which included five representatives from the broadcast industry and four non-industry representatives. No opposition has been voiced to the recommendations, but the report is deemed significant as it was undertaken at the request of the CRTC and is likely to carry some weight (CCR, Feb. 13/03). "Canada’s private broadcasters are committed to assuming a leadership role in the implementation of industry-wide best practices," says CAB president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell. "This commitment to advancing the reflection and portrayal of cultural diversity on television is critical to ensuring our television screens are truly responsive to Canadian audiences." Madeline Ziniak, VP and station manager of Omni Television and task force co-chair, tells Canadian Communications Reports that some of the best practices recommended in the report are already being implemented. For example, she says that the Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada (RTNDA) is already working on developing a database of experts from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Other recommended best practices in the report include seeing TV broadcasters develop and implement internal communication practices to ensure that all diversity plans are communicated to management and staff in a timely manner, that each broadcaster appoint a senior executive to be responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating diversity practices, and that the broadcast job postings be advertised not only in mainstream media but also in media targeted at ethnocultural and Aboriginal communities. Other best practices in the report include the incorporation of diversity plans in internship programs, and the creation of a database of ethnocultural and Aboriginal producers, actors, directors and other professional personnel to identify new talent resources and diversity programming. Ziniak also points out that it is important to get industry associations, unions, and guilds, such as the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ), Union des artistes (UDA), Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and the RTNDA, on board. With the task force, which was formed in February 2003 at the request of the CRTC, now disbanded, Ziniak hopes that the report will act as a guideline for broadcasters and others in the media to work toward ensuring more ethnic groups are represented on TV and in other media. "Our initiative was to create the best practices and industry initiatives and let the industry take off with this," she says. "The next step is for broadcasters and other industry partners to start building and developing on what they are already doing, and also applying best practices." The report - which includes conclusions drawn from an analysis of Canadian programming from May 5, 2003 to June 1, 2003, stakeholder one-on-one interviews and focus groups - found two major gaps on TV with regard to cultural diversity. First, the single largest visible minority group in Canada comprised of Canadians of Asian, and Southeast Asian descent, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Korean (about 1.7 million Canadians according to the 2001 Census) are significantly less likely to be represented onscreen. Second, Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples are represented in less than 1% in 10 of 11 program genres studied. The figure represents less than one-third of the proportional presence of Aboriginal Peoples in the general population. Programming on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) was not included. "The underrepresentation of Aboriginal Peoples was not only measured in the quantitative research or raised by Aboriginal participants in focus groups, it was also the subject of concern raised by participants from many other ethnocultural backgrounds," reads the report. The task force also wants the CRTC to evaluate cultural representation on TV in three years time to see if any progress has been made, but Ziniak says that the regulator has not yet responded to the report.

Task force suggests best practices approach for upping cultural diversity on TV

Broadcast | July 30, 2004

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