Is media/television too white?

[lawrawrrr]

In a lot of TV shows, it's not fairly represented at all - not a fair representation of where the program is set anyway. More relevant to shows which have been going on for a while though - take Eastenders for example, in which I think there is only 1 black family, a few other black characters and one Indian family - not representative of East London at all, imho.

In media, the presenters are very carefully chosen to show diversity and equality - even (I would definitely argue) going as far to exclude white people. There's more white people in this country, in general.

Say the BBC has an opening for 10 new broadcasters. I'd say they'd look for 5 cis white anchors, 3 of other race and 2 with other minorities (if you don't know what cis means - here). There might be 50 people applying for the first, but only 10 for the other two... well you know where I'm going and that's an argument for another day.

Look at the cast of Glee, right. Each one is a 'token'. Disabled, gay, 'other' ethnicities - it's just not a situation you'd find in real life. It's prevalent in other TV shows too, because if they didn't, the activist community for minorities would kick up a fuss and a media storm and maybe even risk the show being taken down.

The thing is, TV is a business, and they have to sell it. Although in many cases it's unbelievably diverse, that makes the target audience, people who can relate to characters, much much much larger, meaning more profit.

Even if it's not that the audience can relate to a character, people will also tune in to see the weird and wonderful, the characters who represent a life that they don't lead, Rizzoli and Isles for example (lesbian crime-fighting duo), even Game of Thrones, an ancient (is it ancient or just elsewhere?) kill-a-thon.

[Mr-Trainor]

It's not so obvious to me with the shows I watch, so it doesn't really bother me.

[AgnesIO]

I want to watch the best actors, don't care if they are white/black/pink/... :L

[Empired]

Look at the cast of Glee, right. Each one is a 'token'. Disabled, gay, 'other' ethnicities - it's just not a situation you'd find in real life. It's prevalent in other TV shows too, because if they didn't, the activist community for minorities would kick up a fuss and a media storm and maybe even risk the show being taken down.

I actually studied Glee for a month for GCSE media studies and I don't think the diversity has anything to do with people kicking up a fuss. Although this may be true for other TV shows, Glee is aimed at younger teenagers who maybe don't fit in so much at school. I find it interesting to see that E4 really only plays it at 4pm (ish) and saves Prime Time for shows with a wider audience range.

When I was looking at it for Media my whole class came to the agreement that although the characters in Glee are very different, none of them actually "fit in" at Mckinley High. This explains perfectly why their audience is younger teenagers who aren't really in a "clique" at school.

Of course there are some people who watch Glee who don't fit that stereotype, but I'm pretty sure these people are the exception rather than the rule.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Glee is a special case really. Most TV shows fit what you were saying Laura!

[lawrawrrr]

I actually studied Glee for a month for GCSE media studies and I don't think the diversity has anything to do with people kicking up a fuss. Although this may be true for other TV shows, Glee is aimed at younger teenagers who maybe don't fit in so much at school. I find it interesting to see that E4 really only plays it at 4pm (ish) and saves Prime Time for shows with a wider audience range.

When I was looking at it for Media my whole class came to the agreement that although the characters in Glee are very different, none of them actually "fit in" at Mckinley High. This explains perfectly why their audience is younger teenagers who aren't really in a "clique" at school.

Of course there are some people who watch Glee who don't fit that stereotype, but I'm pretty sure these people are the exception rather than the rule.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Glee is a special case really. Most TV shows fit what you were saying Laura!

Nooo, I meant the diversity STOPS people kicking up a fuss. If there wasn't​ a diversity, if it was full of cis white people, the activist communities would pick up on it. But it's completely unrealistic, something which a lot of people forget when watching all these typically outcast children become popular and happy, giving unrealistic expectations sometimes.

[Empired]

Nooo, I meant the diversity STOPS people kicking up a fuss. If there wasn't​ a diversity, the activist communities would pick up on it.

No that's what I mean! Glee isn't diverse to stop people attacking it, it's diverse because of its target audience!

[-:Undertaker:-]

Can you IMAGINE if this thread was the other way around? can you IMAGINE if someone made the comment that London was too black?

As for television though - here's my opinion. Quite frankly, i'm fed up of the outright propaganda that's put across where every single face in an advert is black, chinese, yellow ... with one white person at the end. This is, whether some people like to admit it or not thanks to 'white guilt', a white country. Therefore, I expect white faces to appear 9 times out of 10 on television.

Do you think the Chinese have these sorts of discussions? do the Africans? do the South Americans? not a chance in hell.

[lawrawrrr]

No that's what I mean! Glee isn't diverse to stop people attacking it, it's diverse because of its target audience!

Same difference really, it has a larger audience because it is diverse, and attracts people who can relate to one of the minorities... the pilot was diverse an that wasn't affected by the audience...

[Aiden]

not really