New scheme will monitor UK TV shows for diversity

The Creative Diversity Network’s Project Diamond will survey key staff including actors and camera crew at television stations, including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, to assess levels of diversity within their workforces. A response to Lenny Henry’s call two years ago for increased representation of ethnic minorities in the industry, the system’s first set of results will be released in six months' time. If successful, other countries may purchase the technology.

Shows such as EastEnders and Coronation Street are to be monitored for diversity following the launch of a new system that measures the ethnic, gender and sexual orientation makeup of British television.

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky are taking part in Project Diamond, which will gather data about the background of those working on all UK programmes.

All key staff, from actors to sound technicians, will be asked about their gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity via a confidential, encrypted computer system.

The organisation behind Diamond, the Creative Diversity Network, is also looking at making public how shows such as EastEnders measure up.

CDN executive director Amanda Ariss said it is “one of the things we are looking at at the moment”. However, while it might be possible to monitor some of the most-watched programmes individually, she said the project does not have the resources to do it for all shows.

Speaking ahead of the launch of Diamond at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Ariss said it will help to “create an accurate picture” of the makeup of television today: “This is a big tool to help us speed up diversity and do it better. Everyone agrees the more detailed the data is the stronger the driver for action is.

“The whole point of Diamond is about transparency. It’s unprecedented the amount of details that will be in the public domain – it’s far more than for any other industry.”

As soon as a show is commissioned then Diamond is triggered, with its workforce emailed the diversity questions. If their details are already on the system they are automatically updated.

Project Diamond was created in response to Lenny Henry’s rallying call two years ago for an improvement in the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people on-screen and behind the camera.

Early results are due to be unveiled in around six months, depending on how quickly a sizeable amount of data has been collected. In the first stage, drama, entertainment and factual shows will be monitored, with news and sport covered from next year.

The technology behind Diamond has taken months to create in order for it to be secure enough to ensure people are happy to reveal personal information such as their sexual orientation.

Some actors had been unsure about Diamond as they did not want casting directors to be able to get hold of some personal information.

Aries said that although some producers and union Bectu wanted the makeup of all programmes revealed, as “we’re going to be monitoring pretty much every UK programme for all the channels who are UK broadcasters … we think it will be very difficult to report at programme level with other than a very small selection” without great expense.

New minister for digital and culture Matt Hancock said: “Whilst BAME representation in the UK’s creative industries is increasing twice as fast as the rest of the UK workplace, we want to see greater social mobility and diversity across this and across the arts sector.

“The launch of project Diamond is a clear example of how the UK’s broadcasting industry is leading the way. Together with industry we want to see diversity continuing to improve both on and off screen, and this world-first initiative is a step forward to achieving that.”

If the project proves a success, other countries have said they may buy the technology. CDN chair John McVay, who is also chief executive of producers’ alliance Pact, said “Diamond is an incredibly ambitious project – as far as we know no other broadcasting industry anywhere in the world has developed a cross-industry data collection and publishing process like it.”