Seite - 111 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Leen d’Haenens | Whither Cultural Diversity on the Dutch TV Screen? 111 […] I was born in 1960, and this whole issue of multiculturalism or multi-ethnic diversity did not play a role in my youth. And because “The Band” is inspired by my own youth and my own band time, the series is white. This would be different should it be about rappers, I would have probably thought about Moroccans and Moroccan bands, but I’m simply too old for this. A second factor of importance is the broadcasting organization airing the pro- duction. Usually one single contact person is playing the intermediary role between the production team and the broadcaster who commissioned the production. The contact varies between once and several times a week to discuss story lines and role attributions. The producers acknowledge that to maintain their creative freedom, and ethnic diversity rarely seems to be an issue in the discussions: when brought up, it is never a goal in itself. In two instances the broadcasting organizations have put their stamp on the subject of the series. For example, “On the Way to Tomorrow” moved from the commercial broadcaster Yorin to BNN, a public broadcasting organization aimed at youngsters. This move resulted in doing away with some older characters and introducing some younger ones. Moreover, instead of a hospital set-up in its former version, the emphasis is put on life in the big city, which automatically brings along more ethnic diversity. The second case is “Children No Objection”: the broadcaster explicitly asked the producer to make a product that caters to an audience similar to that of the previous program. However, this request did not have an impact on the degree of ethnic diversity in the series. The difference between commercial and public broadcasters is also pointed at: The former will only look at the interest of the advertisers and therefore consider the opportunities offered by programs and series to attract an audience as large as possible. Since ethnic minority groups are not yet seen as an interesting group by commercial broadcasters, their interest in catering programs for this group is still relatively low. As the public broadcaster is publicly financed and every tax payer should find his or her taste in its supply, it seems to be gradually more aware of its public role in diversifying its programs. According to the informants each of the four fiction genres under study offer possibilities of their own in terms of portraying ethnic diversity. Multiculturalism can offer a prolific soil for misunderstandings and hilarious situations. Nevertheless, opinions are diverging here: while one informant sees difficulties in connecting multiculturalism with humour, another believes humour offers an excellent platform to keep away from the heavily loaded stereotypical images and portrayals as experienced in the news and current affairs formats. Soaps are seen as an excellent genre to show diversity because