BBC ‘must strive to be more diverse’ – like the Tory party
THE top of the Conservative Party is more ethnically diverse than the upper ranks of the BBC, David Olusoga has said, as he called for a more representative television industry.
The historian said television has a problem with diversity, in terms of both race and class.
“Our industry is not representative of the nation. It’s not represented particularly at senior level. It’s not representative of the diversity of Britain.
“Television has a profound problem,” Mr Olusoga told Radio Times. “The Conservative Party, under David Cameron, understood it had a problem. They took action to solve it and they need to be given credit for that.
“It’s ironic that lots of those liberal, progressive sectors are failing in diversity, both in terms of ethnic diversity but also, significantly, in class.
“I’m half-white working class; I was brought up and lived on a council estate. Some of the disadvantages that I’ve experienced in my life are to do with class, not race.”
Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet includes James Cleverly as Foreign Secretary, Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and Kemi Badenoch as International Trade Secretary. At the BBC, the director-general, chairman, and heads of drama, comedy, news, factual and arts, entertainment and sport are all white. The BBC has set a goal to improve its leadership diversity by next year.
But Mr Olusoga said the broadcaster retained a place in his heart. Of his childhood on a Tyneside council estate, he said: “We couldn’t afford to go to the theatre, we couldn’t afford to engage in many parts of culture, but we had this incredible institution in the corner of our room, teaching us about nature, travel, classical music and art. The BBC changed my life.”
He has made a documentary for BBC Two about London’s Covent Garden, which is being aired on Sunday. In The People’s Piazza, Mr Olusoga will explain that black people were “an absolute feature” of 18th-century life, pointing to a character included in Samuel Scott’s painting from the time, A View of Covent Garden, from the Artist’s Studio.
“It just shows what I spend my life saying, which is that black history is British history. It’s just normal,” he said.
Those who complain that the contribution of black people is over-represented in history are “people who’ve never studied history in their life. Historians know better” Mr Olusoga said.
“Black people have been present in Britain continuously since at least the 18th century.
“The thing I find strange is that people are uncomfortable with that fact.”