Male, pale and stale: Media’s lack of diversity is causing a disconnect with audiences
Yesterday, a notable piece of research into the (lack of) diversity of Australia's media industry was released. Sheba Nandkeolyar explains why its findings are damning, and require media companies to do more.
As early as 1991, a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission raised concerns about the lack of diversity in Australia’s media, leading to inadequate representation of significant sections of the Australian public. The recommendations included the recruitment and advancement of Indigenous and non-English background journalists to sensitise the media to issues of concern to these groups and contribute to more informed and realistic reporting.
Three decades on, and new research by Macquarie University, Deakin University, Sydney University and Western Sydney University in partnership with Media Diversity Australia (MDA) has confirmed little movement has been made in the representation and voice of cultural diversity in Australia’s media.
The report was three years in the making, and launched yesterday
The report’s key findings include:
- 100% of free to air’s national news directors in Australia are men of an Anglo-Celtic background
- 77% of those with CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) backgrounds believe their backgrounds are a barrier to career progression
- More than 75% of presenters, commentators, and reporters on screen in news and current affairs broadcasts have an Anglo Celtic background, while only 6% have Indigenous or non-European background.
- More than 70% of television journalists rate the representation of culturally diverse men and women in the media industry poorly or very poorly.
Ouch.
Australia is among the most multicultural nations on the planet, with half of us either born overseas or with at least one parent born overseas according to our latest census. As a migrant myself, it breaks my heart to see that our media lacks cultural and linguistic diversity, from leadership teams to who is on camera. There is a gap in representation between those reporting Australia’s news and current affairs and the broader Australian population.
Our media is undeniably male, pale, and stale, as networks continue to feature panels of white men (often with little diversity experience) speaking on issues that impact our very multicultural and diverse nation.
And why does this matter?
When you are in the majority, it is very difficult to see the world through the eyes of a minority. Stereotyping is rampant and the lack of cultural diversity in media is causing a disconnect with the audiences who are watching.
For example, recently I was watching the news (I won’t mention which channel) and found that 75% of the news was about sports – a topic which really resonates with white men, but perhaps not so much with other audiences.
Multicultural audiences are fond of news and entertainment but very often they fall back on their own community news and information because they cannot relate and do not feel like they are represented well enough.
A lack of diversity impacts the way stories are told and framed. Coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement has made this very apparent to me – including Indigenous stories.
Unless we see changes, our media will only become further disconnected from an audience whose engagement is already waning.
More television networks should be developing business cases around diversity. Fortunately, we are seeing a shift towards increased cultural diversity happening in marketing strategies in Australia, although we still have a long way to go.
I do want marketers to think beyond diverse representation when creating an ad. Some questions that they need to be asked include:
- Are advertising dollars directed at channels that only reflect one segment of the Australian audience?
- Does this one-size-fits-all strategy followed by marketers truly reflect their brand’s diversity vision?
The good news is that positive changes are increasingly evident in advertising, which is helping to break down stereotypes.
Increasingly, more people from diverse backgrounds are appearing in television advertisements, with businesses clearly wanting to target a broader range of people. So, let diverse and multicultural Australians get to work in media!
In 2020, McKinsey research confirmed that companies with both ethnic and cultural diversity and gender diversity in corporate leadership are outperforming non-diverse companies on profitability. They found ‘The most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform non-diverse companies on profitability’.
A culturally diverse workforce in the media industry 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.
Sheba Nandkeolyar is CEO of multicultural marketing agency Multiconnexions and an advisory board member for Media Diversity Australia
topics
media diversity
Media Diversity Australia
Sheba Nandkeolyar
Who gets to tell Australian stories?
Great article and so true… I hope that some changes are made for the better very soon!
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I think we can all agree that demonising anyone for their gender, skin colour and age is not acceptable.
Which is why it’s also time to put an end to the phrase, ‘male, pale and stale’.
It’s as sexist, racist and ageist as any other stereotype.
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this is 100% true, but unfortunately it’s been open season on white men in the media for several years and it’s deemed totally acceptable by almost all commentators.
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I didn’t see anything in the article demonising white men. It is simply commenting on the research. I suspect Double Standards may be an overly sensitive pale male?
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My op-ed piece is based on stats and facts and a piece of research – not hearsay.
‘Pale, male, and stale’ were actual words shared by industry respondents and captured in the research.
It is time to give Australia’s diverse audiences a voice and embrace change.
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To Double Standards
When have those 3 three words contributed to systematic exclusion, which is the whole point of this article?
I know many of that genre, who use those words with pride, when describing themselves. In truth, there is an underlying air of privilege in being described that way.
Give me a break.
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Hurts, doesn’t it.
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White men are hardly a marginalised group subject to sexism/ racism etc ! LOL lordy me
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I am an old white male, so I hope my opinion doesn’t offend the more viable members of our shared Australia.
The article, in my opinion, is largely politically driven, loaded with cobbled statistics and wildly inaccurate
[quote] “I was watching the news (I won’t mention which channel) and found that 75% of the news was about sports – a topic which really resonates with white men, but perhaps not so much with other audiences.” [unquote]
What are you talking about? Sport is international, multicultural, played and followed by men women and children of all races creeds and religions. I am a white male and, with the exception of the magnificent Hockeyroos, I hate most sport as it happens.
Does SBS world news, SBS news in many languages, NITV, world movies, etc stand for nothing in your opinion?
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We also need diversity to ‘improve’ and ‘challenge’ content on the commercial TV networks. Some (not all, but a good part) of the TV personality commentaries – think morning shows, sports shows, news shows – I have witnessed over the past years are absolute dross and appeal to the lowest form of intelligence. God help us if we had to put forward these programs to compete on the world stage. We would be booed and heckled and the laughing stock. Let’s shut them all down and start again.
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Why are nearly all newsreaders and weather presenters pleasant on the eye as well, even on the ABC and SBS.
We need to stop the discrimination of average looking people and stop this nonsense. Good looking people only represent about 10% of the population.
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They forgot to add ‘fragile’ to ‘pale, stale, male’.
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“Australia is among the most multicultural nations on the planet, with half of us either born overseas or with at least one parent born overseas according to our latest census.”
But a huge chunk of this migration wouldn’t fall into diversity as defined in this report (And rightly so). NZ and the UK remain the two biggest groups within those stats, even if China and India have risen in recent numbers. Not saying diversity isn’t a problem, but can we use some clear stats.
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As a middle-aged white male – I’m sick of seeing carbon copies of me on screen as much as I’m sick of white men complaining about being so marginalised.
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White dudes are hardly a marginalised, downtrodden group!
Let some more diverse people take the mic for once!
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Look up all the profiles of the heads of programming at the networks. We rest our case.
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It possible to delve deeper in to the rabbit hole? Could we also look at statistics around ethnicity in the recruitment process? people that study journalism etc…even down to the difference in values placed on journalism between the different ethnic backgrounds at uni, tafe and even school?
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May we have the citation for “McKinsey research” in your piece? I am interested in the real products and outputs of your stated position.
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“Our media is undeniably male, pale, and stale, as networks continue to feature panels of white men (often with little diversity experience) speaking on issues that impact our very multicultural and diverse nation.”
But your own research shows females are over represented in all but one cultural background.
Also, what part of the research shows who has or does not have “diversity experience “?
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Yet it doesn’t seem to have impacted their careers @fleshpeddler. They still dominate the most senior roles. No one else has that privilege.
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There is lots of global data about racial bias in recruiting – here is an Australian study from last year. It’s very frustrating that people have to keep repeating what we already know – that racism and sexism (both conscious and unconscious) exists. We need to move on to what to do about it.
When I studied journalism there was quite a diverse cohort. Certainly more diverse than what we see on the nightly news.
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It’s a really interesting and complex debate that opens up a lot of questions without easy answers.
For example, does a journalist necessarily need to be a representative of a particular group in order to tell compelling and important stories? I don’t think so. The ABC, for example, has broken powerful stories about all sorts of issues – pedophilia in the Church, sub-standard quality in aged care etc. I doubt the journalists behind those stories lived in aged care or experienced sexual abuse.
I do see the logic in promoting people from diverse backgrounds to prominent positions in the media because of the way it “paves the way” for others to follow. However, how do you avoid the impression of tokenism or does that not even really matter? Also, who decides what an acceptable level of diversity looks like and where does it stop: the obese, the disabled, stutterers, introverts etc.?
These are hard questions, I think.
I haven’t read the McKinsey report you refer to. However, it is often difficult to disaggregate correlation versus causation. For example, it could just be that inherently more profitable companies operate in “hipper” industries that are run by and employ younger and more “woke” staff? I don’t know. I also wonder why if the link between diversity and profitability was that clear, profit-maximising firms wouldn’t adjust their policies accordingly.
Nice article.
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Male, pale and stale. Those 3 words have never been anchored in systemic exclusion, which is what this article is about. In many instances, those 3 words imply the exact opposite, unashamed privilege and/or entitlement. The times are changing, and rightfully so.
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If you take offense perhaps be less stale.
It’s about time white men used their privileged positions for good instead of self preservation that works only to stagnate progress and pad out retirement savings.
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A related metaphor maybe AFL, which has been critically described as ‘pale and male’ yet the AFL has endeavoured to support indigenous footballers and increase participation of women.
However, any progress was contradicted by one particular high rating football show on commercial tv that had hosts exhibiting misogynist attitudes towards women and bigotry towards indigenous….
Further, demographically the AFL maybe in regional decline (ageing population and third tiers clubs disappearing) and challenged by other codes which seem to have more diversity.
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Such entitled arrogance that is made so many celebrities wealthy and deluded to the changing society around them?
I’ m surprised there aren’t more Ellen type scenarios within our own media landscape.
I wait with baited breath to see what our national treasures are really like behind their nice persona.
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Go and watch American mainstream breakfast television mate..It’s more diverse and this is Trump’s America.
Sadly Australian television just mimics a white Australia that hasn’t moved on from the 1950’s..pretty strange to me ?
These executives are even ridiculed by their own colleagues at conferences when they try justify their market research..
I think it’s a sad indictment of unconscious bias that has never been challenged like many other professional corporations who have adapted to change. eg Law, Medicine,Education.
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If you need an answer to that, you should not be in marketing ….
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One does not really need for a research paper to highlight the disconnection of mainstream media to the reality that is now Australia. But that is what programming is all about isn’t it? Media without agenda? I don’t think so.
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