Exclusive: Survey suggests journalists from minority ethnic backgrounds feel excluded from influential posts and seen as ‘diversity hires’
Broadcast journalists from ethnic minorities are still locked out of top jobs and face a backlash after being perceived as “diversity hires”, according to a survey of UK television newsrooms.
While there has been a sustained focus on racial diversity among Britain’s biggest broadcasters in recent years, the study concluded it had been “performed rather than embedded”, leaving minority ethnic journalists feeling excluded from influential posts and resented by colleagues.
The report, commissioned by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and co-authored by Rohit Kachroo, ITV News’s global security editor, based its findings on a survey of 80 journalists, with follow-up interviews.
“For many, the result has been stagnation, frustration, and in some cases exit from the industry,” the report said. “Yet even as racially minoritised staff report only limited progress, many are now experiencing a backlash from some white colleagues who believe they have lost out because of diversity, expressed through resentment, resistance, and attempts to roll back these efforts.”
