RTÉ has denied that its commissioning policies discourage ethnic minorities interested in pursuing a television career in Ireland. Announcing its 2007 television schedule for spring/early summer last week, the Irish national broadcaster’s major contribution in the area of multiculturalism in Ireland will be No Place Like Home, a programme in which an Irish presenter visits the homeland of an immigrant living in Ireland and meets their family and friends.
In a speech to independent producers at a Dublin hotel last June, a representative from RTÉ’s Irish language/Multiculture commissioning department stated in reference to ouside-funded proposals that “an Irish audience always responds better to an Irish face on screen, or if there’s an Irish angle to a story”.The speech transcript is accessible through RTÉ’s website, under the commissioning section. It continued: “We want to promote intercultural understanding using programming that is lively and attractive to an Irish audience. At some point in the future, too, we are going to have to deal with more serious issues to do with our new multiculturalism...” There was no reference in the transcript to the use of ethnic minority presenters.
An RTÉ spokesperson said the reference to “Irish faces” was underlining the fact that a programme should specifically appeal to viewers in Ireland, as opposed to a programme that an independent producer wants to sell in television markets throughout a number of countries. She said RTÉ’s remit was to provide programmes to viewers in Ireland who pay a license fee, and that editorially, RTÉ is always looking at featuring ethnic minorities in its mainstream programming, citing a news report during Christmas which looked at how various nationalities would be spending the holiday period.
She added that RTÉ has had ethnic presenters in the past, and did not think that the “Irish faces” remark could be interpreted to mean that ethnic minority presenters were being discouraged.
However, one African immigrant – who did not wish to be named – felt that the comments in the transcript speech were discouraging and could be interpreted as discriminatory. He said that immigrants are licence fee payers too, and that No Place Like Home – which the RTÉ transcript says addresses multiculturalism “ingeniously” – is less about multiculturalism in Ireland and more about travel.
Chinese national Oliver Wang, who hosts a Chinese language radio show on Dublin’s Anna Livia FM, said that on television channels in the UK “there are Black and Asian presenters, you can see the diversity there. [RTÉ] should have the idea to look at this area.” However he complimented the format of No Place Like Home. “It is like a travel show but it is also a cultural showcase,” he said, adding that he has actually been a participant in an episode to be broadcast in a number of weeks.
Wang recommended that RTÉ pursue ways in which immigrant or ethnic minorities can be encouraged to be presenters, and put forward an idea of an immigrant presenter taking an Irish person to their home country as a programme suggestion.
Responding to a request for comment, Shalini Sinha, former presenter of Mono (theintercultural programme which RTÉ scrapped last year) said: “To be honest, I find this comment [RTÉ’s reference to “Irish faces”] discouraging. It also hurts me at a personal level. RTÉ always said that Mono was ‘a success’. Also, I met then, and continued to meet, fans of the programme who were delighted to see myself, my co-presenter Bisi Adigun, and later Kusi Okamura as faces of the programme. They were genuine fans, and delighted with us. So their view is being ignored by RTÉ.”
Sinha added: “It is true that Ireland has changed, and continues to change since RTÉ first started to encourage intercultural programming with Mono. It is also true to say that mainstreaming the issues of interculturalism into other programmes is a step forward.
However, it’s incorrect to pretend that Ireland has moved forward so much that a dedicated intercultural programme is no longer needed. We certainly have not. I fear that this shows in RTÉ either the result of a lack of awareness of the real situation or a lack of commitment to the type of intercultural programming that is really needed.” She said that it takes “courage and leadership” to introduce ethnic minority presenters to Irish television screens, even if it is a major change for an Irish audience. “This is what is required from our national, public service broadcaster.”
Rotimi Adebari, a local politician in Portlaoise, originally from Nigeria, commented: “RTE could start by reflecting the diversity this country now enjoys... I expect RTE to take the leading role – the acceptance is not going to happen overnight, but it is achievable.” John McMahon, Education Editor in the Irish language/ Multiculture commissioning department, told Metro Eireann that bringing in ethnic presenters "is something we need to address".
He said a series for 2008 – if it gets funding – will feature ethnic contributors talking about their lives, while he added that RTÉ has commissioned research into what multicultural audiences would like to see on its screens.
