C4 unveils £5m diversity blueprint

The commercial broadcaster set out its blueprint for boosting diversity at Westminster event on Monday after chief executive David Abraham initially trailed the plans in August last year.

High among C4’s priorities is the introduction of a set of Commissioning Diversity Guidelines, which have been developed alongside Pact to ensure producers meet certain diversity commitments in their programming.

Deputy chief creative officer Ralph Lee is ultimately responsible for these guidelines after it emerged director of creative diversity Stuart Cosgrove is to leave the broadcaster this year.

C4 has also put in place a raft of internal targets. The broadcaster has committed to boosting the percentage of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals in its 120 most senior staff from the current level of 8% to 15% by 2020.

This group must also have an equal gender split, as well as 6% representation from people with disabilities and the same percentage of lesbian, gay and bisexuals (LGBT). Current representation stands at 1.9% for disability and 2.4% for the LGBT community.

C4 has also committed to ensuring that 20% of its total workforce are from BAME backgrounds over the next five years. Some 15% of its employees are currently from diverse backgrounds.

Game changing

The commercial broadcaster, which said the proposals were “game changers”, confirmed that senior managers could lose out on part of their bonus if diversity targets are not met over the coming years.

C4 also said it would supercharge its £2m Alpha Fund, an initiative designed to back projects from the grassroots of creative communities across the country, while the broadcaster has already pledged that a BAME-owned company will be among its next indie Growth Fund investments.

Employment opportunities, meanwhile, are high on C4’s agenda. It will make funding available for seven diverse deputy commissioning editors over the next two years, who will advise on boosting BAME representation.

Furthermore, C4 wants to invest in a “new generation of on and off-screen disabled talent” ahead of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. The broadcaster will hire 30 production trainees with disabilities and two new disabled presenters to work on producing coverage of the event.

C4 chief executive David Abraham said: “Diversity is baked into C4’s DNA and our remit – it’s vital that we are open to the widest variety of voices, and that we nurture new talent from all backgrounds and reflect all of contemporary Britain.

“The launch of our 360° charter is an opportunity for us to change how we think about diversity and ensure that it’s at the very heart of everything that we do, on and off-screen.

“It’s a complex area but our goal is to create meaningful and long term change and I believe the commitments we’re setting out today are a significant moment in the history of C4.”