'Gay people 'almost invisible' on BBC flagship channels' - findings from major new research by Stonewall
Gay people are almost invisible on the BBC's flagship channels, according to new research commissioned by Stonewall, in spite of contributing £190 million a year to the BBC in TV licence fees.
A major monitoring exercise carried out for Stonewall of 168 hours of prime-time BBC One and BBC Two found lesbian and gay lives realistically portrayed for just six minutes, or 0.06 per cent of airtime. A further 32 minutes of programming featured derogatory or offensive references to gay people. These came from a range of programmes including the Weakest Link, hosted by Anne Robinson, and The Lenny Henry Show.
"The stark conclusion of this major exercise is that gay licence-payers receive astonishingly poor value from the BBC," says Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill. "At a time when the BBC is seeking renewal of its Charter, it's difficult to argue that 1.5 million households should be expected to continue making such a substantial contribution to channels on which their real lives are hardly reflected, and which are often punctuated with derisive and demeaning depictions of them."
Tuned Out, carried out by Stonewall and researchers from the University of Leeds, found
Focus groups of both gay and heterosexual people told researchers they wanted to see increased and better representation of gay people on screen, and better value for money for lesbian and gay licence-fee payers.
The BBC was singled out by focus group participants as the least successful broadcaster at capturing the realities of gay lives. "If you put the BBC against Channel 4, it's just like the caveman," said one interviewee from London.
Gay innuendo was broadcast across a wide range of programmes in spite of BBC editorial guidelines which explicitly require staff to avoid "offensive or stereotypical assumptions".
"The BBC has made strenuous efforts in the last five years to serve minority ethnic viewers more effectively," says Ben Summerskill. "Gay people are forced to pay the BBC £126.50 a year on pain of imprisonment if they fail. We hope that the BBC will now develop for the first time a similar sense of obligation to lesbian and gay licence-payers."
The report suggests eight key recommendations to the BBC. These include provision of urgently-needed "balanced and unsensational" coverage in its news and current affairs programmes, developing authentic gay characters throughout drama and soap outputs and including six per cent of gay contestants in game shows, reflecting the wider British population.
To find out more about Tuned Out click here.
For further information contact: Andy Forrest, Communications Officer, (020 7881 9441 / 07985 439 660), Alan Wardle, Director of Public Affairs (020 7881 9450 / 07720 718176) or Ben Summerskill (020 7881 9446/07949 108798)
Notes
1. Researchers monitored BBC One and BBC Two during eight weeks between May and July 2005 for references to lesbian and gay people and gay sexuality, capturing 168 hours of prime-time viewing between 7-10pm.
2. Six minutes balanced coverage of gay people's lives in 168 hours included an interview with singer Rufus Wainwright. However, the monitored coverage included a further 30 negative or derogatory references to gay people broadcast on 22 different programmes.
3. Treasury actuaries now estimate six per cent of the adult population to be lesbian or gay. That indicates that they contribute £190 million per annum to the BBC as licence-payers.
4. The research was carried out by Professor Gill Valentine and Dr Charlotte Kenton of the University of Leeds and Katherine Cowan, policy officer at Stonewall.
back to top