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Media releases > Reflecting the real world: How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005
(3 April 2006)
Famine, disaster, corruption – TV audiences demand more rounded coverage of the developing world
TV audiences are fed up with how the developing world is portrayed on the small screen, according to a new VSO report published today. Reflecting the real world? How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005 reveals that television viewers have an overwhelmingly negative view of the developing world and that they hold TV responsible. The report shows that viewers have a real appetite for richer representations of the world outside the UK and calls on broadcasters to invest more money, creativity and talent in bringing the world to UK audiences.
The report is based on interviews with TV viewers and leading broadcasters. It shows that despite the high level of developing world coverage on TV over the last year, there has been no sign of a positive shift in public attitude. TV viewers associated the developing world with famine, disaster and corruption and people’s initial image was very often of starving babies with flies around their eyes.
The research highlights that news coverage and charity campaigns have also contributed to a feeling that the developing world is a hopeless cause. News reporting of the Asian Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake brought people’s attention to poorer countries but reinforced a doom-laden view of them. Even the Make Poverty History campaign and the Live 8 concerts, which enthused millions of people, appear to have inadvertently contrived to confirm a stereotype of Africa as a continent on its knees and added to a sense that nothing has changed over the last 20 years.
The research uncovered a very strong sentiment that TV coverage of developing countries is too negative. Viewers expressed a desire to see the positive side of life in the developing world and hear about any progress being made. Crucially, they wanted TV programmes that were positive and transforming, challenged their perceptions, and contained human interest stories, real-life issues and characters they can relate to. Their ideas for new developing world programming tended to reflect their favourite genres and included Jamie’s African School Dinners, Life Swap, African Grand Designs, Spooks or 24 in Africa and Africa’s Next Top Model.
The findings from the audience research were shared with leading broadcasters including Jana Bennett (Director of Television, BBC), Roly Keating (Controller, BBC TWO), Peter Horrocks (Head of Television News, BBC), Dorothy Byrne (Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4) and Lorraine Heggessey (Talkback Thames) in a number of one-to-one interviews. Broadcasters agreed they had a responsibility to deepen understanding of the lives of people around the world and felt that recent experiments, such as last summer’s BBC Africa season of programmes, have broken new ground. They also highlighted the challenge presented by the growth of multi-channel, internet and on-demand viewing which means that viewers are becoming increasingly selective about what they choose to watch.
Writing in the report foreword, Jonathan Dimbleby, broadcaster and VSO president, points to the way ahead. He says:
“Broadcasters not only need to put the developing world far more emphatically and systematically on their agenda. They should also exercise far more imagination to ensure that people living in poor countries are not merely seen as victims of poverty. I do not expect, or wish, news and current affairs programmes to become ‘good news’ propaganda, but they could offer a wider and more balanced perspective. Similarly, documentary, drama, and entertainment producers should use their range of talents to embrace people of the ‘poor’ world as well as the rich world.”
The report includes a number of recommendations for both broadcasters and NGOs. These include ensuring that developing world stories feature across genres and don’t stop at news and current affairs; ring-fencing funding for innovative work which takes representations of the developing world into new territory; investing in a wider pool of talent, particularly from UK Black and Minority Ethnic and Diaspora communities; and putting more resources into creating richer links between broadcasters and development charities, for example through establishing media bursaries and fellowship schemes.
The five big insights: what broadcasters need to know about TV viewers & developing world coverage- The most recalled media images remain those of starving children, poverty, disease and desperation.
- Viewers have limited appetite for serious documentaries and news coverage. Crucially, they want to see more ‘good news’ stories.
- Viewers are engaged by developing world programming that reflects their viewing preferences – drama, light entertainment, comedy, sport and reality TV.
- The most appreciated programme themes were those that had characters viewers could relate to, that showed a positive and transforming difference being made and that contained new news.
- Viewers respond to presenters who are from the developing world or have roots there. The African presenter of Channel 4’s Living with Aids, Sorious Samora, was widely praised and viewers found him very engaging.
The research was jointly commissioned by VSO, the International Broadcasting Trust, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, The Open University and the Department for International Development.
Notes to editors- VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. Currently there are 1,500 volunteers sharing their professional skills with local colleagues in 34 countries across the world.
- Reflecting the real world? How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005 is available from VSO by calling 020 8780 7343 or emailing media@vso.org.uk
- The consumer research agency Rosenblatt was commissioned to run a number of focus groups to explore viewers’ reactions to television coverage of the developing world in 2005. They ran ten sessions in the home among key audiences. 6 x two-hour groups of six respondents each. 4 x 90-minute in-depth interviews with pairs of second or third generation UK nationals.
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