Diversity on European Television - Lots of Room for Improvement
This year, MediaCatch launched the first major study on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) on European television which mostly covered representation and on-screen time. This is the first such attempt to evaluate the “DEI state” of European broadcasters and it showed that only one among the 25+ monitored broadcasters had equal representation on the air. Georgi R. Chakarov talked with Lars Damgaard Nielsen, Co-Founder and CEO of MediaCatch, about the methodology and results of this pioneering study as well as the importance of developing DEI in media content for both public and commercial benefits.
Lars Damgaard Nielsen, Co-Founder and CEO of MediaCatch
Lars, MediaCatch is an audio and video media intelligence and research company that was born from research conducted at the University of Southern Denmark. Could you provide our readers a brief overview of your activities and methods of research, which also involves the use of artificial intelligence?
We’ve developed technology that understands media the way humans do. We see, listen to, and read everything, and we do it live 24/7. Just imagine the insights you could glean from all the content out there if you could observe every piece as a human does, noting all the intriguing insights. Now, combine that with traditional ratings and metadata from social media and websites. For instance, we pinpoint where every logo is displayed on television, social media, and websites. We identify who’s on screen, their age, gender, origin, and the topics they discuss. Additionally, we develop custom AI algorithms for our clients.
If you’re a brand, our technology can help manage contracts with creators and influencers, ensuring you receive the value you’ve paid for in terms of branded posts, video placements, reach, topics, and more. Think of it as the ad rating data of the future. Moreover, we can assist in ensuring that creators align with your brand’s safety standards.
For media outlets, our technology offers insights into the diversity, inclusivity, and equality of your content. We employ a variety of technologies in our tech stack to analyze genders on screen or in audio, as well as age and origin. In our in-depth reports, we also delve into topics to identify potential misrepresentations. While achieving gender equality in screen time is one thing, ensuring gender equality in topics is a more intricate challenge. Experience it for yourself at diversitycatch.com.
Earlier this year you published the first serious attempt at creating a diversity index that spans the European broadcasting industry: Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content. What prompted the creation of such a report, how long did it take to compile it and were the results surprising?
We did this because no one else has done it, and it’s a very important topic. On top of that, it’s interesting knowledge for some of our customers in the broadcasting industry to benchmark themselves against other broadcasters. We spent three weeks on it. During this time, our AI watched the TV channels live to gather all the data. Unfortunately, the most surprising thing was that only one broadcaster had equal representation regarding gender on screen. In this first benchmark, we did not look into the topics.
What was the scope of the research? What did you analyze in the report, which territories and how many broadcasters?
The Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content consists of an analysis of more than 25 broadcasters content across 21 countries. Analyzing more than 13500 hours of content.
Tell us more about the DiversityCatch AI used for the research - what is it, how does it work and is it accurate enough?
The AI we used for The Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content have an accuracy of: Gender identification: 98%; Age identification: +/- 4 years;and Origin identifications: ‘caucassian/non-caucassian’: 90%.
Many international companies are creating senior management positions with the sole task of implementing more diversity and inclusion. What is the role of diversity in today’s media and are Western and Eastern European companies lagging behind in this respect?
There is a commercial aspect of it, and there is an institutional aspect. Commercially, you end up missing a great business opportunity because a lot of research shows that DEI is important for the new generations when they choose what to buy and where to work. From an institutional point of view, media representation plays a vital role in shaping social attitudes and contributing to the discourse around diversity and inclusivity. Especially when it comes to public service broadcasters, they are mandated to serve as mirrors to society, reflecting the diverse lived realities of the populations they represent. This disconnect compromises the ability of public broadcasters to act as the cohesive force they are meant to be. It undermines their credibility and relevance to a large segment of the society they are tasked with representing. This is problematic because, for public service broadcasters, it is their reason for existence. If the mirror is broken, its raison d’être for the public broadcasters is too.
Which are the broadcasters that champion diversity and which are the ones which still have progress to make in the various categories?
SVT in Sweden was the only broadcaster that had equal representation of genders on screen. We also looked at age and origin - and here, you also have to consider the census data for each country. When it comes to origin, our experience shows that many people on screen who are non-Caucasian are often featured in news segments about countries outside of Europe, as well as in TV series and movies.
Are there significant differences between different types of broadcasters, i.e. public service and commercial ones and are there particular regions in Europe that fared “worse” in the index?
Some of the countries that could rise to the challenge and attempt to resolve their representation issue are Greece and the Czech Republic. Three quarters (76%) of screen time is allocated to men which is deeply unequal.
In terms of countries, what differences have you observed in terms of West vs East, or North vs East?
There were no significant differences in this respect.
What are the main takeaways and implications from your reports and what are the ways for improvement to have more representative media and content?
The main takeaways are that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to equality in representation. There are many ways to work towards more inclusive media representation. One aspect is equal representation in gender, age, and origin. Another is ensuring equal representation in the topics people discuss to identify and avoid misrepresentation and stereotypes. But the first step is to have the insights to act on. Because if you don’t have data, all you have are opinions. And that doesn’t bode well when creating a strategy. ′
We’ve developed technology that understands media the way humans do. We see, listen to, and read everything, and we do it live 24/7. Just imagine the insights you could glean from all the content out there if you could observe every piece as a human does, noting all the intriguing insights. Now, combine that with traditional ratings and metadata from social media and websites. For instance, we pinpoint where every logo is displayed on television, social media, and websites. We identify who’s on screen, their age, gender, origin, and the topics they discuss. Additionally, we develop custom AI algorithms for our clients.
If you’re a brand, our technology can help manage contracts with creators and influencers, ensuring you receive the value you’ve paid for in terms of branded posts, video placements, reach, topics, and more. Think of it as the ad rating data of the future. Moreover, we can assist in ensuring that creators align with your brand’s safety standards.
For media outlets, our technology offers insights into the diversity, inclusivity, and equality of your content. We employ a variety of technologies in our tech stack to analyze genders on screen or in audio, as well as age and origin. In our in-depth reports, we also delve into topics to identify potential misrepresentations. While achieving gender equality in screen time is one thing, ensuring gender equality in topics is a more intricate challenge. Experience it for yourself at diversitycatch.com.
Earlier this year you published the first serious attempt at creating a diversity index that spans the European broadcasting industry: Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content. What prompted the creation of such a report, how long did it take to compile it and were the results surprising?
We did this because no one else has done it, and it’s a very important topic. On top of that, it’s interesting knowledge for some of our customers in the broadcasting industry to benchmark themselves against other broadcasters. We spent three weeks on it. During this time, our AI watched the TV channels live to gather all the data. Unfortunately, the most surprising thing was that only one broadcaster had equal representation regarding gender on screen. In this first benchmark, we did not look into the topics.
What was the scope of the research? What did you analyze in the report, which territories and how many broadcasters?
The Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content consists of an analysis of more than 25 broadcasters content across 21 countries. Analyzing more than 13500 hours of content.
Tell us more about the DiversityCatch AI used for the research - what is it, how does it work and is it accurate enough?
The AI we used for The Diversity Index of European Broadcasters content have an accuracy of: Gender identification: 98%; Age identification: +/- 4 years;and Origin identifications: ‘caucassian/non-caucassian’: 90%.
Many international companies are creating senior management positions with the sole task of implementing more diversity and inclusion. What is the role of diversity in today’s media and are Western and Eastern European companies lagging behind in this respect?
There is a commercial aspect of it, and there is an institutional aspect. Commercially, you end up missing a great business opportunity because a lot of research shows that DEI is important for the new generations when they choose what to buy and where to work. From an institutional point of view, media representation plays a vital role in shaping social attitudes and contributing to the discourse around diversity and inclusivity. Especially when it comes to public service broadcasters, they are mandated to serve as mirrors to society, reflecting the diverse lived realities of the populations they represent. This disconnect compromises the ability of public broadcasters to act as the cohesive force they are meant to be. It undermines their credibility and relevance to a large segment of the society they are tasked with representing. This is problematic because, for public service broadcasters, it is their reason for existence. If the mirror is broken, its raison d’être for the public broadcasters is too.
Which are the broadcasters that champion diversity and which are the ones which still have progress to make in the various categories?
SVT in Sweden was the only broadcaster that had equal representation of genders on screen. We also looked at age and origin - and here, you also have to consider the census data for each country. When it comes to origin, our experience shows that many people on screen who are non-Caucasian are often featured in news segments about countries outside of Europe, as well as in TV series and movies.
Are there significant differences between different types of broadcasters, i.e. public service and commercial ones and are there particular regions in Europe that fared “worse” in the index?
Some of the countries that could rise to the challenge and attempt to resolve their representation issue are Greece and the Czech Republic. Three quarters (76%) of screen time is allocated to men which is deeply unequal.
In terms of countries, what differences have you observed in terms of West vs East, or North vs East?
There were no significant differences in this respect.
What are the main takeaways and implications from your reports and what are the ways for improvement to have more representative media and content?
The main takeaways are that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to equality in representation. There are many ways to work towards more inclusive media representation. One aspect is equal representation in gender, age, and origin. Another is ensuring equal representation in the topics people discuss to identify and avoid misrepresentation and stereotypes. But the first step is to have the insights to act on. Because if you don’t have data, all you have are opinions. And that doesn’t bode well when creating a strategy. ′
