Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
28/06/2005

Reality TV ‘aids racial understanding’

Reality TV shows, such as ‘Big Brother’, have done more to promote racial and ethnic understanding than any other media creation in recent years, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has claimed.
Sir Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the CRE, will deliver a speech on the impact of reality TV on race relations at the Commission’s Race in the Media Awards (RIMA), which will take place at the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair this evening.
Sir Trevor said: “Until very recently most people’s idea of what a black or Asian or Chinese or Gypsy person is really like is almost entirely based on what they read, hear and see in the media and have been very stereotyped.
“But so called ‘reality TV’ has given many British people a chance to encounter people from other ethnic groups they would never meet in their own everyday lives.”
Sir Trevor said that, in the current Big Brother house, people such as bisexual Muslim Kemal, posh Conservative black man Derek and feminist Zimbabwean nurse Makosi, were “three people who would confound any possible stereotyping”.
The CRE chairman also said that, according to Big Brother producer Peter Bazalgette, voters were “completely uninfluenced” by issues of race and ethnicity when it came to deciding which of the show’s contestants to vote off.
Sire Trevor said: “Take ‘The Apprentice’ where the final four contestants all came from immigrant backgrounds. The winner, Tim Campbell, in spite of being a black man, who grew up with a single parent – turned up to work on time and was, at last, someone who wasn’t a one dimensional “bad ways” black man.”
Sir Trevor added: “Reality TV has also shown that non-white folks can be just as individualistic as anyone else. We can defy our own historical stereotypes. Young British people are increasingly demonstrating that they can respect the culture of their parents without having to adopt it wholesale. For example, who would ever dare to ask British Asian women to be sweet, submissive and silent after watching The Apprentice’s Saira Khan in action?”
The RIMA awards, which cover 16 categories including television, radio, print, film and new media, are awarded to those regarded by independent judges has having made a significant contribution to public appreciation and understanding of multiculturalism, diversity or race relations.
The shortlist for RIMA media personality of the year includes Private Johnson Beharry, the solider who became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in over 20 years, in April; Double Olympic gold medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes; and Arsenal footballer and French international Thierry Henry.
(KMcA/SP)
Solidmate Ltd Memory Card Hire London

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

14/03/2023
Big Pic Media Helps Build ELMNTL
Big Pic Media has announced its role in helping build London's latest creative studio, ELMNTL. The Shoreditch facility is built around a host of cloud
21/08/2017
IBC2017: At The Core Of Global Media And Digital Industry Trends
With its Digital Tech Hub, Qvest Media is encouraging the exchange of global trends between the media and broadcasting industry at this year's IBC Sho
26/02/2024
MBC GROUP's Shahid Named 'Best Digital Platform In Media'
Shahid, the world's leading Arabic streaming platform by MBC GROUP, has been named 2024's 'Best Digital Platform in Media' at the third edition of the
12/02/2024
LOGIC Media Solutions Unveils PORTAL Version 3
LOGIC Media Solutions has unveiled the latest version of its innovative PORTAL solution. With the update to PORTAL Version 3, the platform for impleme
06/02/2024
9 Story Media Group Acquires Portfolio Entertainment's Slate
9 Story Media Group has acquired Portfolio Entertainment's library, production slate and development projects. Portfolio Entertainment was founded in
19/04/2023
Universal Tennis Selects M2A Media's Live IP Transport Product
M2A Media has announced that Universal Tennis has chosen M2A Media's live IP transport product, M2A CONNECT, to automate, optimize, and manage the tra
18/04/2023
Globecast Partners With Brklyn-Media
Globecast has formed a strategic partnership with New York City-based Brklyn-Media, provider of virtualized media management and infrastructure servic
18/04/2023
TrackIt Achieves AWS Media & Entertainment Competancy Status
TrackIt has announced that it is one of the first partners to achieve the AWS Media & Entertainment Competency status. This latest recognition confirm
11/03/2024
Vivaro Media Selects Appear
Appear has been chosen by Vivaro Media to support live contribution of a major sporting event taking place this summer in Paris. Vivaro Media, which p
29/02/2024
Rohde & Schwarz To Display Transmitter And Media Solutions
Rohde & Schwarz is to showcase the latest developments across its transmitter and media solutions at NAB 2024 (booth SU4039, Las Vegas Convention Cent
15/12/2023
Sustaining The Initiative In Broadcast Media Test And Measurement
Our role as a company is to develop test and measurement products for one of the most dynamic areas of human activity – the creative media business –
12/12/2023
DPG Media Collaborates With Limecraft
DPG Media is one of Europe's fastest-growing and ambitious media groups, with a variety of TV, radio and print interests in Belgium, the Netherlands a
08/12/2023
Sky Media Unveils The Grub Club
Grub Club has been unveiled by Sky Media as the recipient of the Grand Prix prize of the 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund. The £2 million advertising init
27/11/2023
S4C Partners With Consortium Media Cymru
S4C are working in partnership with media innovation Consortium Media Cymru to offer a free, specialist training programme on creating, financing, pac
24/11/2023
Sky Agrees New Partnerships With ATP Media And WTA Ventures
Sky has agreed new five-year partnerships with both ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP, and WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA, which wi