Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories?

"Under-representation in both gender and cultural diversity means that Australian television networks are not functioning at their optimal capacity."

Previous research has shown that Australia lags behind other similar nations when it comes to people of cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds being represented in the media. The culmination of a 3-year research project by the non-profit organisation Media Diversity Australia (MDA) in collaboration with 4 Australian universities, this report provides a picture of who tells, frames, and produces stories in Australian television news and current affairs. It: spotlights the experiences and representation of culturally diverse television news and current affairs staff, examines how Australian media treats cultural diversity at the workplace level, offers a rationale for why cultural diversity matters on both economic and social levels, and makes recommendations on how networks can improve their cultural diversity.

The following cultural background categories were used in the study:

• Indigenous background (3.3% of Australia's population);
• Anglo-Celtic background (58% of Australians);
• European background (18% of Australians); and
• non-European background (21% of Australians).

Selected findings:

• Data set 1: On-screen presence - MDA examined 81 news programmes on news and current affairs free-to-air television between June 1 and June 14 2019. In terms of frequency of appearance on screen, more than 75% of presenters, commentators, and reporters have an Anglo-Celtic background, while only 6% have either an Indigenous or non-European background. There were no Indigenous presenters, commentators, or reporters identified on any regional news networks, and television news and current affairs programmes were not presented by anyone from non-European or Indigenous backgrounds in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Tasmani.
• Data set 2: Industry perspectives on cultural diversity - In June 2020, 314 television journalists completed a survey examining their perception of cultural diversity. More than 70% of participants rated the representation of culturally diverse men and women in the media industry either poorly or very poorly, and 40% noted they viewed the approach to managing cultural diversity (in terms of staff and audience) poorly to very poorly. In addition, 77% of respondents with diverse backgrounds believe having a diverse cultural background is a barrier to career progression. (Unsurprisingly, female respondents of all backgrounds noted amplified barriers to career progression when compared with their male counterparts.)
• Data set 3: Diversity and leadership in Australia's media industry - Using publicly available information, MDA examined the cultural backgrounds of editorial leaders in television newsrooms, as well as the composition of television network boards. 100% of free-to-air television national news directors in Australia have an Anglo-Celtic background (and they are also all male). Within the group of 39 board members/leadership teams, only one has an Indigenous background, and 3 have a non-European background.
• MDA also held in-depth interviews with 9 senior news and current affairs leaders from the country's 5 free-to-air networks. Most leaders recognised that their outlet failed to reflect their audience, but there remains ambivalence towards having formal diversity and inclusion policies. Interviewees suggested strategies to increase cultural diversity in news and current affairs media, including:
  • Invite news media role models to talk to young people at schools and universities, and offer scholarships to culturally diverse journalists.
  • Start identifying people from the reporting ranks and looking at what opportunities there could be for them to progress through the industry.
  • Put in place affirmative action plans to recruit people who would normally face barriers, and allow them to prove themselves.
  • Change the wording on application forms to encourage journalists of all backgrounds and diversity to apply for cadetships and jobs.
  • Support incoming staff to make them feel welcome and believe they belong and deserve to be in the newsroom.
  • Create structured mentoring and sponsorship programmes to support culturally diverse employees to develop their talents and to progress through their careers.
  • Compile a repository showcasing the work of culturally diverse potential employees to help with talent identification and recruitment.
  • Develop a charter to steer commercial networks to represent a culturally diverse Australia and to guide editorial decisions.
• When compared with the news media in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK), the Australian media lags on both the representation of diversity and on organisational responses to the issue. However, Australia's national broadcaster's ABC Diversity & Inclusion Plan 2019-22 sets clear strategic directions, noting that inclusion in the teamwork that grounds media production is about acknowledging "people's individual experience and the extent to which they feel respected and valued. It means creating a supportive environment in which our people feel safe to be themselves and inspired..." The plan includes targets that will be monitored and regularly reported - data that MDA describes as potentially useful in the future for comparison with overseas nations.

One of the researchers guiding the study, Macquarie University Professor Catherine Lumby, commented, "There's no doubt the traditional business model of free-to-air television is struggling. That's due to a range of factors. But in an online and streaming media environment where the competition for viewers is more intense than ever having more diverse staff means a greater capacity to speak to and grab the attention of diverse audiences. It makes good business sense. Furthermore, MDA argues that a culturally diverse news industry in Australia "would help ensure that all Australians feel represented in the way stories are sourced, told and prioritised. It would enable the telling of a broader range of stories, with greater relevance to our increasingly diverse audiences."

Recommendations to support this vision include:

1. Educate the existing workforce, including leaders, about the benefits of a culturally diverse workforce, and actively build a workforce that is literate about the benefits of cultural diversity - including better and broader news content and the knock-on effect that more nuanced reporting has on social cohesion. Train them on diversity and inclusion, including on unconscious bias. Engage an experienced external educator who is evidence-based, brings an understanding of how media organisations work, and is able to work with teams to deepen understanding of the benefits of diversity.
2. Collect measurable, meaningful and manageable data on cultural diversity. This process should be initiated by asking everyone in the organisation to complete a diversity questionnaire related to gender, language, and ancestry.
3. Establish measurable targets to develop a more culturally diverse workforce, and report on progress. Everyone in the organisation should be informed about the role of targets in achieving the goal of a more inclusive organisation.
4. Incorporate the financial benefits of building a diverse workforce into strategic and business plans, and ensure that key performance indicators (KPIs) for senior executives reflect this.
5. Prioritise diversity in the organisation's approach to recruitment and promotion by, for example:
   • Reducing reliance on insider recommendations;
   • Developing an alternative set of entry-level opportunities for non-graduates;
   • Establishing portals that can act as repositories for talent identification - for example, by giving potential recruits an opportunity to pitch and show portfolios of their work;
   • Promoting the organisation's commitment to employing a culturally diverse workforce;
   • Providing opportunities for entry-level employees to work in a range of roles in multiplatform newsrooms;
   • Establishing pathways for increased collaboration between employees working across digital and TV newsrooms; and
   • Collaborating with culturally diverse people when developing plans to ensure cultural diversity and inclusion.

The academic partners in this report include Macquarie University, Deakin University, University of Sydney, and Western Sydney University. Funding was provided by Google News Lab and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), and in-kind support was given by Telum Media and Isentia.