Time to Change
Concerns about the lack of diversity within the British media were initially identified in 2002 in an NCTJ study entitled Journalists at Work.
Today, the National Union of Journalists has “equality, diversity and inclusion” at the heart of its work. Yet even now, according to PressPad, a social enterprise which links young people with work experience, 94 per cent of journalists are white.
A “striking lack” of diversity amongst newspapers, radio and television prime-time news programmes in the UK has also been highlighted by the organisation Women in Journalism – comments reinforced by former Midlands journalist Anu Shukla.
Anu, who started her career in Worcestershire with Bullivant Media before achieving her NCTJ qualification at the City of Wolverhampton College, is now a multimedia freelance journalist based in London, where she has recorded byline contributions with media organisations such as Reuters, The Independent, Al Jazeera and The New Internationalist.
In an interview with the Refugee Journalism Project, where she is signed up to mentor refugee journalists, Anu said: “There is such a huge lack of diversity in the newsroom that it’s not even funny anymore. Women of all colours are facing this gender inequality across many sectors, whether it’s on the decks as a DJ or in the newsroom as a journalist.
“I noticed how my white male counterparts that had just started at the major broadsheet I worked at were given the opportunity to excel as I got left behind. At the same time, I felt ignored by other members of staff around me as if I didn’t exist.”
She added: “Something in the corporate media environment needs to change as the impact on mental health can damage confidence in the long run. Acknowledging the existence of structural racism and gender inequality would be a positive start. It’s also time to reverse the impact of misguided attitudes by re-learning what we know about race and gender inequality with training sessions and lectures on the impact of unconscious ‘otherising.’
“However, the biggest challenge is being ‘pigeonholed’ into writing certain stories because you happen to be female and or a person of colour. It means you may have to work 10 times harder than your white male colleagues just to be noticed.
When asked about the advice she would give refugee women starting careers in journalism, Anu added: “Know you are of immense value and an asset to any media organisation you work with and that you are a great source of knowledge and wisdom to those around you who have not had your experience.”