
Lack of diversity negative for TV shows
There is a lack of diversity when companies hire writers for TV shows and that has a negative effect on the creation of inclusive shows, according to a report by US-based Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The report stresses that to truly create inclusive television, underrepresented categories of writers are needed on all levels.
The report “Behind the scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing” says that” top slots, where power resides, continue to be filled by overrepresented writers.” It also concludes that there are more women and BIPOC writes hired but that sexual discrimination and harassment are common.
FIRE THE TOXIC
Among advises are to hire underrepresented writers at all levels and to “fire/stop hiring toxic and abusive showrunners, producers, and executives and/or learn to identify and solicit information to determine if new hires are problematic.”
“As we have found in previous years, many underrepresented writers continued to be discriminated against and harassed or bullied by colleagues.”
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
“Underrepresented writers were almost one and a half times as likely to experience discrimination or sexual harassment than their overrepresented counterparts. Most women stated they had experienced gender/sexual discrimination or harassment.”
“Despite some respondents saying that overt sexual harassment has become harder to get away with following #MeToo and #TimesUpHollywood, covert forms of harassment and bullying are creeping into the workplace, especially with the shift to virtual rooms.”
Among top findings:
- 73.7% of women respondents reported having faced gender/sexual discrimination or harassment.
- 58.6% (57.4%)1 of underrepresented writers have experienced discrimination or sexual harassment, 1.5 times the rate of overrepresented writers (39.7%).11.9% of underrepresented writers who reported incidents of discrimination, bullying, and/ or harassment were fired.
- Inclusion seems to be improving for BIPOC ( Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) and women writers. Nevertheless, 93.0% of writers said their most recent writers room had no Disabled or Deaf writers, 79.6% had no lower-level writers age 50+, and 25.3% had no LGBTQIA+ writers.
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