Diversity Position Paper on BBC & Naga Munchetty
Introduction
There are mainly two decided roles of people of color in the media Industry. The first is for them to be seen as “a Person” whose purpose is to speak about their experiences of discrimination and racism as a black man or woman. The second is to benefit the media organization with their talent and fulfill the diversity requirement. BBCs breakfast show presenter, Naga Munchetty, recently discovered that her role was the latter. BBC was happy to have brown and black faces as long as they did not go beyond the reservation and attempt to use their experiences to bear in their reporting. Naga Munchetty comments were a potential violation of Section 4 of BBCs editorial guidelines on impartiality; however, a prominent news organization with a diverse pool of journalists and a stated commitment to diversity and inclusion treated her unfairly yet she was playing her role as the face of diversity.
Unfair Treatment of Naga Munchetty by BBC
The number of black females in the TV industry is already worrying. A recent report by the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) indicated that out of the 2600 scripted television programs that were analyzed between 2010 and 2011, only 1% were written by females from minority groups (Warner). The small number of women from minority backgrounds in the media industry makes their decisions more difficult (Waterson et al.). Naga Munchetty had the right to express her anger concerning President Trump’s language when he told black democratic congresswomen to go to their homes. It only took a single complaint from the public for BBCs executive to uphold disciplinary measures against Munchetty and left her white partner out. The revolt by the media house’s staff is warranted because the organization failed to balance its responsibility towards its audiences and its staff concerning the issues they face. Munchetty’s colleagues circulated petitions demanding that the action taken against the reporter be reconsidered. The way the problem was handle galvanized the staff in a way such an issue should never have done. The dismay displayed by the public as well as the BBC staff in support of the black reporter is something that BBCs management did not see coming when they made their decision. Such an action has the potential to damage trust and destroy the reputation of the BBC and needs to be urgently reversed.
The comments made by Munchetty during the breakfast show are insufficient to satisfy a partial uphold of the complaint that was made against her. If she was guilty of breaching the organization’s guidelines, it was only in a limited way because she made it clear after her comment that she was not in a position to give her opinion. Judgments to do with a journalist’s impartiality are often tricky and require balanced judgments. A suction against her could be considered unfair treatment. She is an exceptional presenter and journalist. Therefore, BBCs actions are equivalent to accusing her of having a racists attitude, which makes her even more aware of her color in a place she is considered a minority. However, it is essential to understand the need to separate impartiality from the responsibility to identify and report any cases of racism. Although Munchetty’s case was poorly handled, there are likely to be sole unresolved concerns regarding the validity of the complaints against her.
BBC might defend itself with its editorial guideline, which prohibits journalists from giving their opinions about an individual making any remarks or the motive of their comments. However, the ruling made on Munchetty’s case is a legitimization of racists opinions. What this reporter was doing was calling out racist comments and not giving her view, which is acceptable in the guidelines she was found guilty of breaching. President Trump’s words were framed using racist language, and there was no way of sugar-coating that. Munchetty should, hence, not face any disciplinary action or be a reprimand.
Racism is never an issue of opinion and should never be put up for discussion. Racism is wrong, and that is how it should always be put. Munchetty should be considered a star, and it is within her rights to talk about President Trumps that have been widely condemned for being racist. She was being honest and speaking from the heart about her experiences, and she is to be admired because she had all the justification for doing what she did. Many of her viewers might have found her sentiments relevant and relatable. The beauty that comes with diversity is that it provides different insights and opinions. It offers a wealth of knowledge and experience, which enables an organization to grow into a global society. Therefore, diversity is crucial for the success of any media house, and the BBC should support its journalists and accept that impartiality cannot be accepted when it comes to serious issues, such as racism. It is entirely absurd to allow a horrifying and shocking position taken by BBC when a presenter expresses her experience of racism. She should never have been judged as being racist.
From Munchetty’s experience, minority journalists always have to manage two main demands. They have to struggle between deciding when to talk about their experiences using the platforms they have and when to refrain from speaking up even when the topic in question is exploitative. Also, they have to decide when to lean into a discussion concerning a persons’ identity because they feel responsible and when to bow out. The industry seems to have its own pitfalls, whereby diversity is portrayed with a window-dressing (Malik). It allows people to produce the right diversity that does not result in any real change. As such, non-white people are only brought into an organization so that their presence can prove that the employer is not discriminative.
The increased confusion on the role of black people is overwhelming because the people in charge of the discussion are majorly whites. The notion that constitutes the roles of blacks and whites is purely a product of social contexts (Coates). Diversity was encouraged among those of lower ranks, while those who decide the fate of Munchetty are far removed from the actual consequences of the decisions they make. This discrepancy seems to happen universally. Be it in women or minority groups, as long as they are brought into an organization to fulfill the need for diversity; these groups will always be invisible when it comes to giving opinions and making decisions. Even with the right platforms, they will be in a position to do very little to change the norms and cultural inequality and bring about equality in power redistribution.
The media industry is marred by a long list of offensive comments and behavior towards women, and it is indeed true to say that President Trump was sexist and a racist in his comments. Many prominent actors, celebrities, and broadcasters joined in to write an open letter to the BBC. They stated their position concerning the decision taken by the institution as illegal and deeply flawed. They also warned that the step taken against Munchetty was racial and discriminatory against black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) women (Rhiney). In their response, the BBC editorial team only targeted the black female reporter. It is worse when the original complaint that was sent to BBC included Dan Walker Munchetty’s white colleague. However, the focus was narrowed down on Munchety alone at the final stage of the complaints handling process. Most people are left to wonder how different BBC is from President Trump when it gives white males privileges, but is quick to silence and suppress females from minority communities. A study by Racism Ruins Lived indicates that BAME employees face a lot of racial harassment and believe that the unfair treatment they face from their employers is because of their color. Another report by Global Shapers shows that BAME women working in London suffer double disadvantages in their working places (Rhiney). If a popular host of BBC’s breakfast show can be mistreated in front of the whole world, where do the rest of BAME women stand?
There have been concerns about the greater representation of staff from minority groups even before the problem of Munchetty’s censure. These concerns led to the creation of a creative diversity department to represent minority groups and improve the portrayal of their on-air talent at BBC. (Waterson). The unit will also be responsible for increasing staff diversity and the diversity program commissioning progress. The organization took this step after it became clear from the reaction of Munchetty’s treatment that the minority communities within the BBC do not trust the management. However, this action does not reduce the tension over the impartiality of BBCs rules and how they could be implemented in the future when handling topics that reporters consider worthy of debate, such as racism.
After several days of complaints from the public and BBC staff, the grievance against the reporter was overturned, and Munchetty resumed her post. However, the occurrence has revealed several problems that are deeply rooted in BBC as an organization and the media industry in Britain in general, especially how the issue of diversity is approached. Diversity records in Britain show that 94% of those who work in the British media industry are whites and are often recruited from elite schools, which BAME communities do not afford to attend (Miller). BBC also attempts to make sure diversity targets are aligned to the gender and racial demographics in Britain (BBC). However, although BBC is considered as part of the better media organizations that seem to handle the diversity problem collectively, many problems related to how diversity issues are handled are still problematic. Even as the BBC meets its quota on paper, every employee is not equal. The non-white employees remain targets of different types of diversity targets.
Another question that is left to be answered is the role of diversity initiatives in media houses. If a reporter handles a topic that is considered sensitive, there should be tools that can be used to approach a story in a way that sensitivities are carefully handled. When journalists from different backgrounds work together, they bring various contacts and stories, resulting in authentic and truthful journalisms. BBC may have employed Muchanetty with the right intentions, but immediately, she reacts to comments against people of color made by a prominent person; she is labeled a racist and criticized for not being impartial. Muchanetty colleague contributed to the discussion that morning, but no accusations were brought against him. It seems like she was being told that she has no right to personal opinion. It is like the organization just wants to see people of color as part of their staff, but they are never to be heard. However, the world seriously needs to hear different perspectives. There are increasing cases of white supremacy and hate speech globally, most of it from leaders of society. Instead of supporting journalists, media houses are busy accusing them of impartial standards. It is vital to understand how racist and violent language affects people to allow media personalities to have honest and openly discuss such topics. If reporters do not share their experiences, how are other people with no public exposure supposed to deal with what they go through every day? What is the need for television talk shows if reporters cannot use their experiences to debate? Lastly, what is the importance of debates if only whites have the right to contribute without judgment?
Conclusion
Naga Munchetty comments may have been a potential violation of Section 4 of BBCs editorial guidelines on impartiality; however, a prominent news organization with a diverse pool of journalists ought to have done better. The type of reactions gotten from the story indicates the complexity of inclusion and diversity in media organizations. Diversity, in itself, is one of the steps in the process of cultural change. Any adjustments take time; however, cultural adjustments are harder because they require individuals to be willing to accept and embrace changes. Partial response from the management does not create the necessary foundation that will lead to effective and lasting change. The difficulty in the situation results from the fact that media houses are dealing with their assets and talents without considering the long-term impacts of their actions. BBC came under fire because media is a business that is always in the spotlight; however, many other organizations go through the same challenges.
Works Cited
BBC. “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2016-20”. Downloads.Bbc.Co.Uk, 2016, http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/diversity/pdf/diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2016.pdf.
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is A Social Construct.'” The Atlantic, 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/what-we-mean-when-we-say-race-is-a-social-construct/275872/.
Malik, Nesrine. “The Naga Munchetty Row Shows Diversity Is Still About Optics, Not Real Change | Nesrine Malik.” The Guardian, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/30/naga-munchetty-row-diversity.
Miller, Anna Lekas. “Naga Munchetty Is Back on Air, But Questions About Diversity Still Remain.” Media Diversity Institute, 2019, https://www.media-diversity.org/naga-munchetty-is-back-on-air-but-questions-about-diversity-still-remain/.
Rhiney, Diahanne. “Naga Munchetty and the Diversity Myth.” Linkedin.Com, 2019, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/naga-munchetty-diversity-myth-dr-diahanne-rhiney-bcae.
Warner, Kristen. “Don’T Hate the Player, Hate The (Nearly Impossible to Win) Game: Analysis of Minority Employment Kristen Warner / The University of Alabama – Flow.” Flowjournal.Org, 2011, http://www.flowjournal.org/2011/09/don%e2%80%99t-hate-the-player/.