Channel 4 has kicked off an external review of its diversity performance and hired its first director of inclusion.
The broadcaster has re-enlisted HR consultancy Caerus Executive, which conducted a similar review in 2017 that identified “suppressed ambition” among BAME staff despite C4 being an attractive pull to staff from underrepresented backgrounds.
That review spoke to 75 staff, across ten primarily BAME focus groups, reaching a third of the broadcaster’s BAME workforce.
In an email seen by The Times, the new review will include confidential interviews with present and former staff.
The review’s aim is to provide recommendations on how C4 can create a “truly inclusive and anti-racist environment”. C4 said it wants to identify and address what “hinders inclusiveness” at the broadcaster and ensure that it can “create space for diverse perspectives to be included”.
C4 told The Times the review was already underway in April, when the newspaper published allegations from former employees of a “toxic culture” at the broadcaster, claims C4 has dismissed.
The review comes as C4 seeks to cement the legacy of last autumn’s Black To Front initiative with tighter diversity requirements in its commissioning guidelines and partnering with Gritty Talent to build a database of diverse talent to help indies deliver on its ambitions.
Director of inclusion
Meanwhile Channel 4 has appointed Marcia Williams as its first director of inclusion.
Williams takes up the board-level role next month after a year as Transport For London's diversity and inclusion executive.
She has also spent three years at Ofcom and held inclusion posts at the UK Film Council and HM Treasury.
Williams will oversee C4's strategic direction of inclusion and diversity, lead the internally-focused 4Inclusion team, and will have manage some of the broadcaster's creative diversity team.
