Broadcasters must be more ambitious in continuing to grow our
world-leading TV sector beyond London and the South East, so more
people see their lives and experiences reflected on screen,
will tell TV leaders later
today.
In her first major speech on media and broadcasting at the Royal
Television Society London Convention, the Culture Secretary will
discuss how television has the power to foster greater social
cohesion, improve trust in media and instil pride in place.
She will challenge the industry to showcase new voices, cultures
and communities on screen, allowing people to feel they have a
greater stake in the rich cultural fabric that makes up the UK's
national story.
Nandy will point to the success of hit shows like Peaky Blinders,
proving that captivating programmes made outside of London, often
using local casts, crews and production companies to create jobs
and spur economic growth, are possible.
She will also highlight the need to improve the representation of
people from working-class backgrounds, with recent surveys
revealing only 8% of those currently working in TV identify as
such.
In her speech, the Culture Secretary is expected to say:
“For all of the efforts made by many of you in this room, it
should shame us all that television is one of the most
centralised and exclusive industries in the UK. Because who tells
the story determines the story that is told.
“So I want to ask, if you aren't commissioning content from every
part of the country – towns and villages as well as major cities
– why not?
“Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. And if you've moved
jobs and people and content, but the heads of departments and
commissioners are still in an office in London, do something
about it.
“Eight per cent - the proportion of working class people in TV.
Twenty three per cent - the proportion of commissions made
by companies based outside of London. Thirty per cent - the fall
in trust in media over the last decade. None of this is
inevitable.
“Frankly, if you don't know why the film industry is so attracted
to the beauty of Sunderland, or why the arts sector is buzzing in
Bradford, or the potential to TV of the Welsh Valleys, it is most
likely because you've never been there. And you have no right to
call yourself a public service broadcaster.
“I know it isn't easy. The costs are short term, the payoff is
long term. But there is so much at stake and it is my belief that
an industry that belongs to the nation is an industry that will
not just survive but thrive. That is what I want to see. We will
do everything we can to put rocket boosters under your efforts,
but that effort in the first place belongs to you all.
“Through us doing our bit and you doing yours. With a new
relationship based on respect for one another. A television
industry that leads the world and is the pride of all of Britain.
Thriving well into the latter half of this century. That is what
we will build, together.”
