BBC Find Under-Representation In New Survey
A new BBC-commissioned report has found that UK networks are believed to by ‘negatively stereotyping’ selected groups of people, after ‘young people’ and ‘older women’ both stated their strong beliefs that their respective demographic is being ‘misrepresented’ on TV.
A survey (conducted by NatCen Social) that formed part of a report entitled Serving All Ages (organised by the BBC’s ‘Creative Diversity Network’) gave a headline statistic that 40% of ‘young people’ questioned were unhappy at the portrayal of young adults on TV shows. Meanwhile, ‘older women’ interviewed believed that it was more a case that there is a lack of presenters and personalities ‘like them’ on-air, especially in prime-time situations.
This outburst follows on from a legal case made in January 2011 against the BBC, when then 53-year-old Miriam O’Reilly (pictured) successfully sued the public broadcaster when they sacked her from presenting Countryfile (a rural affairs-based magazine show) in favour of younger hosts (in what was dubbed a case of ‘ageist’ discrimination) as the show moved to a more prime-time slot.
The report would note the widespread feeling that there is a lack of ‘middle-aged and older women’ on TV’, and while young people were represented enough (probably more), it was most often in a manner that was ‘unduly negative’ and showed them as ‘disrespectful and unproductive’.
The report stated: “This portrayal [of young people] is also perceived to result in potentially negative consequences for young people and can contribute to distrust between generations. It is also felt to risk creating unrealistic expectations and unattainable goals for young people. There is [also] some concern about the way different ages are sometimes at best presented as slightly humorous but exaggerated caricatures, and at worst as negative stereotypes.”
It was thought that while the main issue with middle-aged women was not their portrayal, stereotypes of older people (as ‘stubborn-ness’ and ‘moaning’) were still claimed by interviewees as being used too often, while the small number of people on TV screens fitting the demographic was a problem that 40% of participants (in all ages and genders).
The BBC’s director general Mark Thompson, who is also in charge of the ’Cultural Diversity Network’, said of the matter: “There are lessons here for the BBC and the rest of Britain’s broadcasters. It is young people who are most concerned with the way they are portrayed and we need to look at this. But we should also note the concern, expressed by older people generally, about the need for greater visibility for older women. While of course there are many older women presenters and actors across our airwaves, this is something that needs to be addressed.”
Miriam O’Reilly herself is naturally an advocate for more women in her age range to be on-screen, as she recently stated: “There is an entrenched view in television that viewers only want to see young faces. It is an outdated notion. Viewers want to see all ages represented. This report is a clear message to programme makers and they have to start listening. Since I won my ageism claim against the BBC there has been an acceleration in the number of older women on TV, but we are only seeing a token amount in primetime and we have got to see more.”
Will changes be forced to be made to the system for both of the problems found, or is it just a long-standing nature of the entertainment business (young faces and the most ‘interesting’ situations), that cannot be altered for anyone?
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