Page - 110 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Leen d’Haenens | Whither Cultural Diversity on the Dutch TV Screen? 110 Seven factors (Table 1) were found to impact on the reflection of ethnic diversity in television fiction: the program maker, the broadcaster, the genre, the media logic, the actors, the audience, and the subject dealt with. The following paragraphs will look into each of these factors in more detail and expand on the accompanying rationales brought up by the makers interviewed. Individual preferences and opinions unmistakably tend to play a role in the portrayal of ethnic diversity (or the lack thereof). Sometimes the aesthetics of the showing of different cultures mark the decision. At times colour does not play a decisive factor in the decision-making process at all. Other factors do, such as the quality of an actor, which is considered more important at all times. Also the personal living context of the producer does have an impact on the series produced. Success factors Rationales Personal experiences and preferences 1. Determining and emphasizing certain issues. 2. Own living conditions play a role in the writing of the scenario. 3. Own opinions of what is “good” when it comes to the showing of diversity. Broadcasting organization 1. Contact with contact person/intermediary at the broadcasting organization. 2. Few conditions set out by the broadcasting organization when it comes to diversity. Genre 1. Each genre has its own possibilities. 2. Each genre is in principle apt to show diversity. Media logic 1. Too few crew members from ethnic minority background available. 2. Amount of time and money available is determining the possibilities to visualize ethnic diversity. Audience 1. Connection seen between the colour of the series and the colour of the audience. Actors 1. Disagreement about the influence of actors on the ethnic diversity of the series. 2. Disagreement about whether a character should be performed by a person of the same ethnicity. Subject 1. Subject determines whether ethnic diversity is already self-evidently present in the story. If not, it is the task of the makers to make it so. Table 1: Factors playing a role in the portrayal of ethnic minorities with accompanying rationales The interviewees all recognize that their own world and the production world in which they evolve is predominantly white, and they all see this reality as a serious impediment for ethnically diverse scenarios (as in “The Band”, written from the personal experience of the writer and with obvious implications for the script):