The media diversity and inclusion paradox: Experiences of black and brown journalists in mainstream British news institutions

Douglas, Omega

doi:10.1177/14648849211001778

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Both interviewees, employed on contract by international or national titles, expressed fears that they might be commissioned to write about topics because of their cultural backgrounds, as opposed to their expertise. In the UK, where questions of diversity within the press have come under increasing scrutiny (Douglas, 2021), journalists have questioned whether superficial attempts to increase diversity within newsrooms lead to journalists having restricted opportunites to write beyond their own identities -in this case reporting on art or theatre produced by particular communities (Wilks-Harper, 2016).…”

Section: Sexuality Gender and Ethnicity In Arts Journalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional and Personal Identity, Precarity and Discrimination in Global Arts Journalism

Sharp

Vodanovic

2022

Journalism Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Arts journalism, journalism on the arts and entertainment industries, has been primarily defined in a Western European context within Journalism Studies. Yet this neglects the globalised nature of arts and entertainment production and consumption and the mobile reporters who cover it, and the nationally contingent challenges and opportunities they face. In a world grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, arts reporters face a triple threat: the precarity of what is often a freelance career, the financial disruption of the global media and entertainment industries, and the exclusionary biases of a global media ecosystem which favours reporters who are transnationally visible and mobile. Drawing on a data corpus of 24 interviews with arts journalists from 12 different countries in four continents in 2020-2021, we explore how such journalists are increasingly subsidising their work with employment beyond the media sector. Arts journalists from Europe grapple with complex challenges relating to their professional and personal identities, in contrast to journalists from the Global South, where questions relate primarily to economic and structural challenges. Journalists from West Africa interviewed face increasing if sporadic interest from media organisations in global economic centres, and the emerging content possibilities of internationally funded digital and streaming platforms, mirroring broader economic flows of capital and labour.

show abstract

Section: Sexuality Gender and Ethnicity In Arts Journalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional and Personal Identity, Precarity and Discrimination in Global Arts Journalism

Sharp

Vodanovic

2022

Journalism Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is widely acknowledged that media serves as the main source of the attitudes of the public, as well as their attitudes towards certain religion or certain group of people within a religion (Douglas 2021). However, studies on religious representation in the media imply serious 'religious illiteracy' in the media, which leads to a high probability of unintentional misunderstanding or misrepresentation of religious content (Seta 2016;Douglas 2021;Nicholls 2020;Hanif 2019;Wakelin and Spencer 2015). Some studies also suggest religious content is sometimes intentionally misread for political and commercial reasons (Wakelin and Spencer 2015).…”

Section: Women Of Faith In Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

A UK ANALYSIS: Empowering Women of Faith in the Community, Public Service, and Media

Lowe¹,

Huang²,

Urkmezturk³

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the UK, belief, and faith are protected under the legal frame of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) and the Equality Act 2010 (Perfect 2016, 11), in which a person is given the right to hold a religion or belief and the right to change their religion or belief. It also gives them a right to show that belief as long as the display or expression does not interfere with public safety, public order, health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others (Equality Act 2010). The Equality Act 2010 protects employees from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of religion or belief. Religion or belief are mainly divided into religion and religious belief, and philosophical belief (Equality Act 2010, chap. 1). The Dialogue Society supports the Equality Act 2010 (Perfect 2016, 11). Consequently, The Dialogue Society believes we have a duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations within our organisation and society. The Dialogue Society aims to promote equality and human rights by empowering people and bringing social issues to light. To this end, we have organised many projects, research, courses, scriptural reasoning readings/gatherings, and panel discussions specifically on interfaith dialogue, having open conversations around belief and religion. To encourage dialogue, interaction and cooperation between people working on interreligious dialogue and to demonstrate good interfaith relations and dialogue are integral and essential for peace and social cohesion in our society, the Dialogue Society has been a medium, facilitating a platform to all from faith and non-faith backgrounds. The Dialogue Society thrives on being more inclusive to those who might be overlooked in society as a group. Although women seem to be in the core of society as an essential element, the women who contravene the monotype identity tend to remain in the shadows. The media is not just used to get information but also used as a way of having a sense of belonging by the audience. The media creates collective imaginary identities for public opinion. It gathers the audience under one consensus and creates an identity for the people who share this consensus. Hence, a form of media functions as a medium for identity creation and representation. Therefore, the production and reproduction of stereotypes and a monotype representation of women and women of faith in media content are the primary sources of the public's general attitudes towards women of faith. In the context of this report, the media limits not only women's gender but also their religious identity. The monotype identity of women opposes the plurality of the concept of women. Notably, media outlets are criticised for not recognising the differences in women's identities. Women of faith are susceptible to the lack of representation or misrepresentation and get stuck between the roles constructed for their gender and religion. Women who do not fit in these policies' stereotypes get misrepresented or disregarded by the media. Moreover, policymakers also limit their scope to a single monotype of women's identity when policies are made, creating a public consensus around women of faith. As both these mediums lack representation or have very symbolic and distorted representations of women of faith, we strive to provide a platform for all women from faith and non-faith backgrounds. The Dialogue Society has organised women-only community events for women of faith to have a bottom-up approach, including interfaith knitting, reading, and cooking clubs. Several women-only courses have informed women of the importance of interfaith dialogue, promoting current best practices, and identifying and promoting promising future possibilities. We have hosted panel discussions and held women-only interfaith circles where women from different faith backgrounds came together to discuss boundaries within religion and what they believed to transgress their boundaries. Consequently, we organised a panel series to focus on the roles of women of faith within different areas of society, aiming to highlight their unique individual and shared experiences and bring to light issues of inequality that impact women of faith. Although women of faith exist within all areas of society, we chose to explore women's experiences within three different settings to give a breadth of understanding about women of faith's interactions within society. Therefore, we held a panel series titled 'Women of Faith', including three panels, each focusing on a particular area: Women of Faith in Community, Women of Faith in Public Service, and Women of Faith in Media. In this report, following the content analysis method to systematically sort the information gathered by the panel series, we have written a series of recommendations to address these issues in media and policymaking. This paper has a section on specific policy recommendations for those in decision-making positions in the community, public service, and media, according to the content and findings gathered. This report aims to initiate and provide interactive and transferable advice and guidance to those in a position. The policy paper gives insight to social workers, teachers, council members, liaison officers, academics and relevant stakeholders, policymakers, and people who wish to understand more about empowering women of faith and hearing their experiences. It also aims to inspire ongoing efforts and further action to accelerate the achievement of complete freedom of faith, gender equality in promoting, recommending, and implementing direct top-level policies for faith and gender equality, and ensuring that existing policies are gender-sensitive and practices are safe from gender-based and faith-based discrimination for women of faith. Finally, this report is to engage and illustrate the importance of allyship, the outstanding achievement through dialogue based on real-life experience, and facilitate resilient relationships among people of different religious positions. We call upon every reader of this report to join the efforts of the Dialogue Society in promoting an equal society for women of faith.

show abstract

“…The NCTJ’s 2021 study used data from the Labour Force Survey to demonstrate that journalism is “whiter” than the labour force overall: 92% of journalists are from white ethnic groups, compared to 88% of UK workers (Spilsbury, 2021: 2). Douglas (2021) notes that there is frequently a disconnect between expressed organisational commitments to diversity and the experiences of black and brown journalists in the UK. Echoing this, a 2022 exposé of the BBC documented the “exodus” of women of colour from the broadcaster, with one commenting that the newsroom “has a significant issue” with women of colour (Yossman and Ravindran, 2022).…”

Section: Monitoring Gender Race and Ethnicity In The Newsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time to Pass the Mic: Gender and race in Scotland’s news

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pass the Mic is a project focusing on women of colour in Scottish news, established by Talat Yaqoob. In 2020, funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust enabled us to undertake original research to investigate the representation of women of colour in Scottish news, providing baseline evidence for Pass the Mic’s ongoing work with media partners and women-of-colour writers. Focusing on media produced in Scotland with a national audience, we conducted two periods of media monitoring (November 2020, May 2021) to investigate where and how women of colour are represented in Scottish news. Situating this study relative to existing media monitoring projects, we discuss the methodological challenges of codifying gender and race in news. Whilst our finding that women of colour are under-represented in Scottish news is not surprising, in considering how women of colour are represented we point to the tensions of visibility for women of colour, the limited construction of their expertise, and the marginalisation of women of colour’s opinions within stories about Scotland, including when these stories explicitly address racial in/equality.

show abstract

The media diversity and inclusion paradox: Experiences of black and brown journalists in mainstream British news institutions

Cited by 16 publications

References 22 publications

Professional and Personal Identity, Precarity and Discrimination in Global Arts Journalism

Professional and Personal Identity, Precarity and Discrimination in Global Arts Journalism

A UK ANALYSIS: Empowering Women of Faith in the Community, Public Service, and Media

Time to Pass the Mic: Gender and race in Scotland’s news

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About