CAN NEW MEDIA HELP THE UNDER-REPRESENTATION?

I was watching a great debate last night on CNN's International Correspondents on the rapid growth of new media and its growing supreority over traditional media. Although I understand the fears of cynics who argue that new media has allowed almost everyone to live out their life-long ambition to become a journalist, I must say that I got a sudden buzz over the idea that perhaps new media might help many who are trying to break into the PR industry a platform to voice their frustrations and more importantly competence.

We are all very aware that the PR community has a very strong presence in the world of blogs and podcasts. I honestly believe this might be a great opening for us all.

WHO IS TREVOR PHILIPS?

On the 8th of September 2006, Trevor Phillips OBE was appointed the Chair of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

CEHR is a new organisation which inherited the responsibilities of the existing equality commissions: the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission. The new body, became operational in Autumn 2007, providing a powerful, authoritative, single voice on equality and human rights.

In addition to its legal role in enforcing equalities legislation, the body works to ensure that organisations and individuals have access to clear and understandable information in order to foster debate, tackle issues early on and encourage a change of culture within institutions.

Despite his impeccable track record and achievements, Mr Phillips has quickly become the figure of hope for many minorities (especially professionals) and those discriminated against.

Evidence of this lies with one of the aspiring PR practitioners that I have been speaking to whom has recently written a letter to Trevor Phillips about the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in the industry.

We await a favourable response.

HOW THE AMERICANS PRACTICE DIVERSITY

Although this blog seeks to address the trend of the underrepresentation of minorities in UK PR industry, I thought perhaps it might be interesting to explore how our American counterparts practise diversity.

Upon extensive research, I stumbled upon a National Survey conducted by the PRSA on barriers to diversity. The survey revealed that women-owned/managed firms have a significantly greater commitment to and success in retaining multicultural practitioners, compared to their male counterparts.

This got me thinking, these firms are essentially considered "small-to-medium scale businesses", does this mean that ethnic minorities in America (and perhaps, this could apply in the UK) have a better chance of applying for jobs in smaller and medium scale PR firms? Is the rat race for the top consultancies just too tiring to chase after?

I think it would be fair to say that both countries need to do a lot more to encourage the full integration of minorities into the industry.

THE MILESTONES THE MEDIA INDUSTRY HAS MADE SO FAR

To be fair, the entire media industry has recently started to look within to see how the faces that make up the industry might affect its output. For instance, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising have set up the IPA’s Ethnic Diversity project. It’s co-chair Barrett Cernis says the industry must stop recruiting predominantly from the same narrow talent pool of middle class graduates regardless of race

So far, the Ethnic Diversity project showed that the advertising industry has a 4% ethnic minority representation and 70% of that figure are support staff. What about senior management roles?

Those figures need to be reviewed to get a good balance. As much as I appreciate that this is a step in the right direction, more steps must be taken for the media industry to be successful - we must elevate our programs of specialized development, and take into account a broad range of multiculturalism.

The industry must appreciate that there is a massive potential role for ethnic minorities in enhancing the diversity of the PR work force, which would also create a better cultural understanding. With better understanding comes greater success and quality. A one-size-fits-all “minority program” can no longer be expected to identify the talent required to address the diverse needs and challenges of our clients and companies.

WHAT ABOUT TODAY'S ETHNIC PRACTITIONERS?

Apart from the goal of attracting more members of the ethnic minorities into the PR industry, I feel it is important to encourage those currently working in the industry. It gives me great pleasure to speak with and since I have started operating this URL I have tried to speak with as many ethnic practitioners as possible. Some have given me some ideas as to how they feel their rarity can be preserved. Below are some recommendations -

1) make diversity recruitment & retention part of the institution’s objectives
2) educate supervisors and employees about fostering good working relationships with everyone in the company, including ethnicl practitioners

I think it is fair to say that their longevity and visibility in the industry can only help reduce this trend of under-representation.

PR ASSOCIATIONS TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY

Upon greater reading and research, I have narrowed down some potential ways in which PR associations like CIPR can promote diversity, they include –

 Create a campaign geared toward recruiting minorities practitioners getting the message earlier to youth
 Offer development opportunities to diversity professionals
 Assist businesses with recruiting competitive diverse candidates
 Avoid creating a quota hiring policy for its own sake, but instead foster a corporate culture that values and supports diversity.

‘MINORITY’ PR PRACTITIONERS FACE HUGE CHALLENGES IN THE WORKPLACE

To get a true PICTURE of some of the day-to-day challenges faced by practitioners of ethnic origin in today's PR industry, I decided to ask some very basic questions to 4 ethnic practitioners to fully explore this issue of underrepresentation. Our encounter revealed the following challenges -

1) Job satisfaction - our interviews shows that job satisfaction is extremely low. All four are not in the PR sector of their choice.

2) Work related racism - all say they have experienced incidences of racism in their career. The most common problem is the notion of been more qualified for positions than their white counterparts. They also feel ethnic practitioners are put on slow moving career tracks and are often relegated to menial tasks.

3) Mentoring – there is a huge need for mentoring, although all agree that they have been mentored by one or more PR practitioners they would like to be mentored by another minority who has become successful in their own right.

Thank you to all that provided us with their information. Your participation is priceless.

THE EVIDENCE IS EVERYWHERE INCLUDING CLASSROOMS

On the first day of my postgraduate degree, I was overwhelmed by the number of ethnic minorities on the course.

The class is testimony that the current PR industry does not reflect the true state of the profession. The class is a combine of many ethnic background and origins – Asians, Indians, Africans and Americans. Even more worrying is the fact that the few minorities tell me they likely won’t be joining the profession.

The main objection to practising in this field lies in the 'perceived' low-employment rate. Many will be moving back to their respective countries to pursue jobs sometimes unrelated to their training in public relations.

My fellow classmates embody attributes we all hope are being espoused at the training grounds for PR’s next generation – awareness, focus, and positive direction. So I ask the question, why aren’t the minorities in PR’s classrooms reflected in the UK industry? Why are ethnic students convinced their isn't a job for them in the UK? How can the public relations profession lead, or even remain relevant, if its practitioners do not adequately represent a ethnic society that is a significant % in the U.K?

I’d like to hear from you.

HOW MANY MINORITIES ARE IN PR TODAY?

In order to truly establish the current status of minority employment within the UK PR industry, I have been speaking extensively with Mr Papa Lawson (an African who currently works with a Top 20 PR agency). I found some of his views very interesting and informing.

"Somehow I don't quite believe that there aren't enough qualified ethnic candidates in the applicant pool, everyone talks a good game about diversity and multiculturalism but in the end it's about commitment. In order to increase the number of minorities in PR, we need to recruit, hire, mentor and promote all people with equal tenacity. It's that simple. In light of our nation's changing demographics, our field must accurately reflect the diversity of thought in the population if we want to remain vital, strategic partners for our clients".

It can be argued that individual success in some fields is less dependent on merit as it on personal connections and aesthetics. Public Relations has always maintained a certain air of exclusivity but at what cost? How can we legitimately represent a diverse range of businesses and consumer brands (with diverse target audiences) if our employee base remains so homogeneous?

The UK currently has a ethnic minority population of 4635296 (Source: ONS, 2003). Go figure!

I want to hear from you.

www.cipr.co.uk/diversity

www.ons.com

THE ETHNIC HUMOUR ON TV

I’m often deeply saddened by the media's portrayal of the average minority youth especially teenage boys aged between 14 and 19 or should I refer to them as the 'ASBO' generation.

The thought that this is often the image portrayed by comedic sketches such as The Caterine Tate Show burns me as I’m proud to say I’m a produce of hard-working parents who have managed to send all my siblings to prestigious independent schools across the United Kingdom and we have developed a sound mind from our exposures and experiences which we have indirectly brought to our respective professions.

I have similar friends whom we have shared similiar life experiences and we all share the same view that in our industries we often find that instead of trading ideas, we spend most of our career years trying to convince people that even though we have different colour skin, we are exactly the same as them – we speak the same way, eat the same things, watch the same movies, listen to the same music and have similar aspirations.

SOME STEREOTYPES ARE ETERNAL

To set the records straight, it would be false on my path to say that the underrepresentation of minorities in the PR industry is not partly the community's fault.

As an African and I have a few Asian friends whom have all shared similar expectations with me. When I was growing up, my parents knew that they wanted all their children to have specific job descriptions, these descriptions didn’t stretch beyond the conventional doctor, lawyer or if you were lucky, an accountant.

They were very clear that they wanted me to be a doctor - this is not just a stereotypical anecdote that people hear about - it's true! All first generation 'ethnic' parents wanted their kids to have a good solid profession - after all that is why they flock out thousands of pounds in overseas fees - to make a better life for their children. So, like the good dutiful son that I was, I followed the right path to become a doctor. I studied sciences at school, got the necessary preparations by subscribing to all medical soaps – with my personal favourite been Channel 4's ER.

However after my A’ Level results it was apparent to both my parents and I, that my career path had to embark on a diversion. It took a poor exam result for my parents to reconsider.

The moral of the story is tradition has it that many ethnic minorities, particularly Asians and Africans, are obliged to pursue a doctor-lawyer vocation route because they are perceived to be of a high status and financially rewarding backing.

This we must accept plays a part in interested kids to fully explore their passion if it be Public Relations, Journalism or Marketing from an early age. The only way in which we can hopefully change our parents mindset is if increasing numbers of ethnics show interest in these fields and the successful ones in the industry become more visible.

Or maybe I'll just keep dreaming!

VISIBLE YET SO FAR AWAY….

As a Sky viewer, since I started thy blog – I cannot help but realise more and more, the explosion of ethnic media. For instance, in the asian market alone there are now more than 30 Asian TV channels.

Flicking through my 506 Sky channels (of which, I only watch 5), there is a pool of satellite channels dediated to the 'advanced' tastes of ethnic minorities. To name a few BEN, OBE, RAJ TV, TV Asian etc. There are even dedicated ethnic pornographic channels targeted at specific demographics i.e. ASIAN BABES. I wonder whom the targets are?

This got me thinking, why are these essentially pirated TV and radio channels despite their bad picture quality and content being not truly exploited by the agencies?

I concluded that it isn’t that marketing and PR agencies are not aware that these mediums exist, they just cant get to grips with this explosion of ethic-specific entertainment, after all why would anyone want to hold on so tightly to what they left behind. But the question is not so black & white, just because people have relocated for a ‘better’ life in England doesn’t translate to the need to forget one’s heritage.

Mainstream advertising agencies needs to jump at the chance to reach a new group of people with high levels of disposable incomes in most areas that they obviously aren't targeting in any way and they probably don't understand

I remember I was only 15 when I first saw Black bank clerk Howard Brown as the face of Halifax Bank's £25m annual advertising. Little did I know that the advert did not translate to the advertising and marketing industry becoming comfortable with multi-cultural Britain. The reality is that Brown is still an exception rather than the norm. Almost every advertising executive you speak to about on-screen ethnic minority representation points to the Howard campaign as their one example of better representation.

Michael Cudlipp, chair of the History of Advertising Trust Archive, says : "The use of black people in advertising is, at the moment, still very self-conscious."

HAT is a charity organisation backed mainly by the advertising industry, they spent two years researching ethnic minority representation in British advertising over the last century.

www.hat.org

THE POTENTIAL FRUITFUL RESULTS OF CHANGE

In order for agencies to go the next step into the future of PR and to keep up with all of the niche specific firms that are blossoming everyday - they need more diversity.

Different angles and viewpoints is what brings creativity and progression and to just keep bringing those of similar backgrounds and viewpoints into your company equal the same results for your clients.

I encourage top firms to take a chance every now and then and see what gem they might be able to mould.

The top consultancies have to do more of what Edelman is doing - giving young minorities an opportunity to work and succeed in the business. Edelman has made strides by hiring ethnics, giving them meaningful job descriptions and as much responsibility as they demonstrate they can handle rather than just hiring to be "window dressing" with small roles on small accounts.

I applaud Edelman on this exemplary behaviour. I would now like to call on Geronimo Communications, Exposure Promotions, The Red Consultancy, Lexis PR, Trimedia Harrison Cowley, Cake and other top consultancies to support this concern.

There can not be a "glass ceiling" for the advancement of blacks and asians in higher positions (managers, directors, VPs); nor can there be quotas on the number of minorities hired within a firm. The UK PR industry demands the diversity of ideas and that can only come from the collective minds of people of varying cultural and social backgrounds.

WHAT TO DO

The only way I see to fix this problem of underrepresentation is to incorporate some type of program strictly for ethnic practitioners that will help correct what "it" is that might be missing and is causing them to be looked over.

Students and other potential PR employees are unaware of the benefits of joining the growing field of Public Relations. Schools aren’t doing a good job of introducing students to the field--- or adequately preparing them to compete for jobs in the PR workforce, universities like University of Westminster on the other hand, take this engagement very seriously – providing its students with countless opportunities to gain an internship during their respective programmes.

More so, PR employers could help by making an effort to come on campus and introduce students to the field who may not have known about the career opportunities. We know Edelman for instance, through recruitment fairs has experienced an increase in the number of ‘ethnic’ students that applied for their prestigious internship program both in the UK and the US.

Some other ideas include -

1) Industry professionals and HR staff must take action if we are going to effect meaningful change
2) The industry may want to look to women-owned firms for leadership in this important area
3) Organisations need to work to alleviate the double standards and racism practitioners feel they face
4) Provide diversity and management training for staff and managers
5) Actively recruit at universities with high minority enrolment and at conferences and job fairs that target minorities
6) Hire more people of colour to do outreach. focus on building minority middle & upper management ranks with key positions, not just entry level trainee jobs with no support
7) Advertise in multicultural magazines and media