ETHNIC MEDIA CONFERENCE 2006

Aimed at marketers, advertisers, media executives and public bodies, the Ethnic Media Conference in partnership with MediaGuardian presents a unique opportunity to learn about the latest trends in this section of the media and network with organisations at the forefront of BME marketing.

The 2006 conference saw speakers including David Cameron MP, Leader of the Conservative Party; David Lammy, Minister for Culture; and Dawn Airey, Managing Director for Sky Networks. The programme topics covered the rise of BME media, changing consumption patterns and the future of BME-focused branding. This year DipNet offered a sponsored place at the EMC to one of its members. Jane Smith (MD, Jane Smith Literary Agent Ltd) attended on behalf of DipNet, and produced the following report on the event.

For more information, please visit the conference website at www.ec-gb.com

Report by Jane Smith (MD, Jane Smith Literary Agent Ltd.).
Attendee on behalf of the Diversity in Publishing Network

Attending the Ethnic Media Conference 2006 on behalf of Diversity in Publishing Network, I was struck by just how many diversity issues in the wider world of media were so relevant to publishing.

The London Stock Exchange was the venue for this conference, and MediaGuardian were the sponsors. Incredibly, it was only the second time the UK's ethnic media have come together to discuss the issues of the day. TV and newspaper attendees were out in force, and the atmosphere was a cheerful one - if anything, there was a general sense of relief that here was at least an event specifically addressing ethnic media - although the subject of most insider jokes naturally revolved around Michael Grade's move to ITV.

Minister of Culture David Lammy MP gave an interesting talk covering barriers to entry for people from BME backgrounds, and while he thought that affirmative action is not something for the UK, he said we do need to redouble our efforts to get people from diverse backgrounds into the media to counter the "male, stale and pale" studios, newsrooms and boardrooms. He also touched on the issue of unpaid work experience, which is a huge problem for our own industry as well as in TV and radio, print journalism, PR and advertising.

I'd got some questions for Mr Lammy all formulated and ready - including library closures and what they mean for many people from BMEs - but he unfortunately left in a hurry, and didn't take any questions from the floor, which was a real shame.

Sky's MD of Channels and Services, Dawn Airey, said that if mainstream channels think that commissioning BME content is a job for someone else, the risk is a `ghettoization' of broadcasting.

Another speaker to touch a nerve with regards to publishing was MTV's European EVP and MD, Michiel Bakker (yes I've spelt that right), who said that in some editorial meetings he can "feel the limitations" of the white, middle-class staff majority. Last year though, MTV increased its intern salaries by 25% and following a diversity review last year, their percentage of interns from diverse backgrounds have gone from 8% to 18%.

Sky's Dawn Airey also answered a question from a Penguin delegate who brought up the question of low entry salaries in publishing, and how this issue was being combated in the world of television. Dawn took the view that "supply and demand economics mean that unscrupulous companies do use unpaid interns", and that it's the broadcasters - the paymasters of the companies involved - need to stop it.

Senior people from Al-Jazeera UK were out in force, with some very interesting angles on the reporting of current affairs, but as with the rest of the debates, I found that it was internships and commissioning of `ethnic' material which most struck a chord and had most relevance to publishing.

It was good to hear other sectors' views on essential issues around diversity. Our own area can clearly learn quite a lot from media colleagues, but we need to first convince our own publishing colleagues that diversity needs to be embraced seriously - and fast.