Amy Jenkins, Channel 4’s customer and commercial leader, said the channel had led the way on issues such as the portrayal of disabled people.
“You can make a statement without it being a political statement or a grandstand,” she said. “The biggest concern is about a backlash. People often feel if they haven’t got it 100% right they have got it wrong.”
One example, she said, was race which, while attracting a lot of negative social media commentary, did not reflect genuine public opinion. “Only 2-3% [of people] really believe you have to be white to be British," said Jenkins. "Unfortunately, they have a loud voice online.”
She added: “If you are doing something that allows people to complain, you’re probably doing the right thing.”
Jenkins said Channel 4 had made a success of taking risks, such as winning the coverage of the 2012 Paralympics “on the basis that we wanted to change attitudes towards disability”. “The idea was that we needed to change representation to such an extent that we would swivel the dial so far it would never swing back."
She advised other brands on how to progress DEI: “The best thing is to have executive board sponsors for each of the Employee Resource Groups. It’s changed the kind of organisations we work with and it’s changed recruitment.” However, she raised age and social grade as areas yet to be tackled.
Jenkins outlined other successes such as Channel 4’s menopause policy, which it allowed others to share it, its support for early pregnancy loss and fertility level testing for staff. “It really puts us [Channel 4] on the map as a reproductivity-positive employer,” she said.
Commercial initiatives included Black in Business, which donated five prizes of £100,000 of advertising to black enterprises, plus mentoring.
She advised advertisers to always speak to black creatives if they are planning a campaign. She said it was very obvious where a black person in an ad had been swapped for a white person. “The make-up, the hair, the storyline is not authentic – and it’s very, very apparent to the community.”
