News - The British Broadcast Corporation, BBC, does not have one of the best track records when it comes to portrayal of lesbian and gay people. In order to try and turn this around the BBC now asks for our help.

Amanda Rice, Head of Diversity (at the BBC, not the dance group as my sister thought) talks to us about their new research into lgb representation. Will this survey give the Beeb a better score than the UK's leading equality charity Stonewall back in 2006?

QS: What is the new investigation into lgb audiences hoping to achieve?
Amanda Rice (AR):The BBC is a public funded organisation and we're here to service all of our audiences. One of the things our audiences tell us is that they want to be portrayed fairly and accurately. This piece of work researched under public consultation is to really understand our audiences perceptions around current and future portrayal of lgb people and also to an extent look at editorial policy issues around lgb portrayal.

QS: It's been reported that there will probably be people with homophobic views?
AR: We're a public funded broadcaster we're here to listen to the views of all of our audiences, so what we want to do is research not just lgb peoples perceptions, but all of our audiences, so heterosexual as well. We've got a focus group set up covering all the main diversity areas obviously we'll be talking to audiences that are absolutely tolerant, and some that are not so tolerant, but it's important that we hear the full range of views before making informed decisions.

QS: Presumably you do the same thing when it comes to race, gender and faith?
AR: It's not so much talking to people who are intolerant, it's just making sure we listen to a cross section of our audience.

QS: We have BBC Asian network, 1extra, Women's Hour, Thought for the Day and In Touch, covering race, gender, religion and disability. Why is there no similar platform for lgb?
AR: Um..(long pause) That's a good question, Our policy at the BBC is to provide mainstream programming. There are some targeted programs you mentioned there. I would say that Women's Hour has a high percentage of male listeners and it's not just gender issues. The reason we're doing this research is to help decisions around program making - general content.

QS: Is it likely there will be a program that will deal specifically with lgb people?
AR: No, this research is not about setting up quotas. It's about listening to audiences - how we can improve portrayal and policy in relation to lgb people.

QS: Is it fair that we don't even have half an hour on radio 4 given that lgb license fee payers contribute £190m?
AR: Our main programming is targeted at mainstream audiences.

QS: How is a weekly half hour programming for people who are partially sighted mainstream?
AR: Obviously we need to make sure that our programs are addressing key issues, making sure that our programs are accessible, this is one of the programs that addresses issues around accessibility. If the research tells us that lgb audiences really want something targeted at them then we would look at that. We don't know what the research will tell us yet.

QS: It seems to me that lgb is the only minority group covered by your equality policy that doesn't have dedicated programming on your output - that seems like a big discrepancy for no particular reason?
AR: That's one of the reasons we're doing this research.

QS: Let me put a couple of points to you that might be a good reason why we need a dedicated platform. In the past few years the BBC governors ruled that "gay" is an acceptable synonym for "rubbish". The homophobic killing of 18 year old Michael Causer went unreported at a time when the BBC spent weeks covering the racist killing of Anthony Walker. Leeds University research, published by Stonewall revealed that you were five times more likely to see lgb people portrayed negatively, than positively on BBC Prime Time TV. Do you think that should have been addressed sooner?
AR: Some of these things have been raised in the past. We want to understand what all of our audiences, including how lgb feel, what their views and perceptions are around our editorial policy. What comes out may well inform how we go forward.

QS: Will you be looking at existing lgb media platforms, to see how they deal with their lgb audiences?
AR: Absolutely, we want to see what's out there, what we can learn. All of this will be framed by what we learn from the research.


QS: The BBC apologised for the headline "Should homosexuals face execution", but not the discussion. What is it about gay people being executed that warrants discussion?
AR: The BBC was very clear in apologising for that headline, that it was far too stark, it would have significant impact for many people reading that. However the message board was there specifically to debate about these issues, to raise awareness of these sort of issues. I think the fact that there's a platform there is good.

They need YOU to help by filling in a survey that will be used in conjunction with a focus group, headed by Tim Davie. The results will be published in the Summer.

Fill in the survey by following the link below:
http://www.perceptor.com/perceplive/survey/BBC_LGB_Portrayal

COMMENT:
You can see from this interview how much this research is being touted as a solution to lgb representation. It is an admittance of some kind that change needs to happen, however it also suggests that there are not enough figures in power to know how to do that already. How then will the research be interpreted? It was my humble impression that underlying homophobia at the BBC is very unlikely, but that they live in a safe bubble - a liberal institution in a liberal city - where they don't understand the true extent of homophobia and inequality. Personally I have little gripe with the portrayal of fictional characters, it is more the current affairs, arts reviews and education that I feel is completely missing from OUR broadcasting corporation. The lgb PR lady admitted to me that she saw no need for a specific platform. I replied that I had worked with queer youths around the country, and I did. I doubt whether these youths (both the primary victims and perpetrators of hate crime), who could benefit so much from dedicated programming, would be the same people to complete this survey. So please, do your best to contribute your thoughts. I'll be going back in the Summer to see what the results are.