The BBC is “much more inclusive and authentic” in the way it portrays UK communities now than “even a few years ago”, the review found.<\/p>\n
But, it stressed, it should be “measuring class on and off-air as a matter of urgency”.<\/p>\n
And while audiences may “feel more satisfied than not with their portrayal and representation” in BBC content, “further steps need to be taken”.<\/p>\n
“The two most persistent issues that we identified are the need for the BBC to focus on and connect better with working class audiences and those based outside London and the south of England,” the report read.<\/p>\n
It also said that when considering diversity, the BBC tends to concentrate on race, disability – though still not to an “adequate” level – and, “to some extent”, female representation. <\/p>\n
“Significantly less attention” has been paid to “geography and class” it said.<\/p>\n
It recommended that the “geographical background of presenters and contributors should in future be monitored as a diversity characteristic” for all programmes and “commissioners held accountable”.<\/p>\n
“Looking at the review year, across the board, we believe the BBC does represent working-class people,” it continued. <\/p>\n
“However, it varies by genre and, according to audience groups and people we interviewed, more could be done, particularly in the choice of presenters in news and factual content.”<\/p>\n
“We believe it is not so much the quantity of working class representation which is the issue but the way working-class communities are portrayed and understood that needs further consideration.”<\/p>\n
Often when shows appear “clunky” or inauthentic, the review suggested, it was because “diversity seems superimposed rather than arising out of the subject”.<\/p>\n
“Audiences are particularly unforgiving of this if it challenges their expectations of what they have switched on to see,” the review said.<\/p>\n
“If there’s an Agatha Christie murder mystery over the Christmas period, they won’t expect to be taken into anti-colonial struggles, alongside the country-house murder. <\/p>\n
“Unless it’s very skilfully done, there is a danger it will feel overly didactic and preachy, as if the viewer is being lectured or a point is being made heavy-handedly. A vital component of quality for the viewer is authenticity.”<\/p>\n
It also said that overall, there appears to be less positive portrayal of white, working-class men and women in BBC output, particularly when looked at cumulatively,” it also noted.<\/p>\n
“Portrayal of working class communities can often rely on the themes of poverty, crime, addiction and de-industrialisation with an absence of role models.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BBC is “much more inclusive and authentic” in the way it portrays UK communities now than “even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-729096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115979740082982486","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}