Guardian article, by Jasper Jackson, Monday 18 January 2016 Channel 4 is to launch its year of disability at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games:

Channel 4 is launching a “year of disability” to increase representation of disabled people in broadcasting including a commitment to double the number of people with disabilities appearing in its 20 most high-profile shows such as Googlebox and Hollyoaks.

The initiative includes a £300,000 fund to foster new talent, some of which will be used to help support the careers of 20 disabled people working behind the camera in Channel 4’s biggest suppliers, and the channel will also ringfence half of its apprenticeships and 30% of work experience places for disabled applicants.

The year of disability will coincide with Channel 4’s broadcast of the Rio Paralympics later this year. In November, the channel revealed that Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte, who has cerebral palsy, will join the presenting team for the games.

The initiative comes a year after the the launch of Channel 4’s 360° Diversity Charter, which set out a range of targets on increasing diversity. The broadcaster said it has achieved or is on target to for 24 of the 30 targets in areas such as casting disabled actors and overall employee representation. However, it said six of the targets need more work, including one relating to Project Diamond, a pan-industry project to monitor diversity both on and off-screen.

Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham said:

“When we launched the 360° Diversity Charter last year we set ourselves challenging targets across every level of the organisation and I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made, though there remains more we must do.

“I hope that with the launch of 2016 as our year of disability we can extend the impact of this Paralympic year right across our schedule and help do something lasting to increase representation of disabled people on, and off-screen.”

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey MP said:

“The lack of diversity on and behind our screens is truly shocking. I am pleased the industry is at last beginning to address this, and it’s good that Channel 4 is keeping this issue prominently on the agenda. But this is only the beginning. No one can assume the job is done or even half done. We have a long way to go and I will continue to engage with broadcasters on this issue.”

Minister for disabled people Justin Tomlinson MP said:

“Channel 4 programming has set the standard for disabled representation both on and off screen. By partnering with charities to raise awareness of specific issues and presenting believable disabled characters they have made a real difference. The ambitious goals in the 360° Diversity Charter report will enable them to build on this fantastic work.”

Channel 4 said it would focus on another aspect of diversity in 2017.

The announcement follows a commitment from the BBC earlier on Monday to put a further £3.5m into maintaining schemes aimed at increasing ethnic minority representation both on-screen and off at the corporation.

Abraham, BBC director general Tony Hall, ITV chief executive Adam Crozier, and Sky head of drama Anne Mensah will all appear at a Channel 4 diversity event called Diverse on Tuesday 19 January 2016.

Read more about Channel 4 and Diversity

This entry was posted in News and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.