The UK TV diversity monitoring project is to introduce questions around Jewish and Muslim identity for the first time, as Diamond‘s seventh report reveals minor diversity gains.
One of new Creative Diversity Network (CDN) CEO Miranda Wayland’s first moves in charge has been to announce an expansion of Diamond’s scope in a bid to create wider data sets and respond to global shifts.
The move comes following a year in which the TV industry has battled with the ructions caused by October 7 and the ensuing Israel-Hamas conflict.
A Film & TV Charity survey in February found that 94% of Muslim, Jewish and Arab people working in the film and TV sector had experienced a deterioration in their mental health since October 7. “CDN’s role is to provide our partners with the most comprehensive set of diversity data and work with them to tackle barriers to inclusion and representation,” said ex-BBC and Amazon diversity exec Wayland, who started on September 1. “I’m pleased to be able to announce that going forward, we will expand the data Diamond collects by adding new questions on ethnicity, religious affiliation and socio-economic background.” The next data set will also “highlight evidence showing whether freelancers and others from lower socio-economic backgrounds, with disabilities or from ethnic minority groups are disproportionately impacted by the current economic downturn in the industry,” added Wayland, coming off the back of James Graham’s MacTaggart, which focused on poor working class representation.
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