Channel 4 Protests Appointment of Four White Directors to Board

Channel 4 has launched a protest against the appointment of four white directors to its board in a row over ethnic diversity – even though one of the five new appointees is non-white, a proportion of 20% in a country where 18% are from ethnic minorities. The Telegraph has the story.

Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, on Monday approved the appointment of five new non-executive directors to join the broadcaster’s board, four of whom are white.

The move sparked criticism from Sir Ian Cheshire, the Chairman of Channel 4, who warned that the board was lagging behind its own diversity targets.

In an internal memo seen by the Telegraph, Sir Ian said: “These appointments will improve representation on the board but do not yet meet the levels of representation throughout the rest of the organisation.

“Appointments to the board are not ultimately in our control due to procedural reasons but we are committed to continuing to push for further progress.”

Following the appointments, Channel 4’s board will have 15 members, of whom 14, or 93%, are white. Under its remit to represent minorities the broadcaster has an overall target to draw 20% of its staff from ethnic minorities, 12% from people with disabilities and 6% from those who identify as LGBT.

The targets compare with 18% of the general population who are ethnic minorities, 18% who have disabilities and 3% who identify as LGBT.

Among the new board members is Boots Chief Executive Sebastian James, an old Etonian and former Bullingdon Club member who is close friends with Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary.

Advertising industry veteran Dame Annette King, Warner Records U.K. boss Alex Burford and entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow were also named as non-executive directors.

Tom Adeyoola, a tech entrepreneur who launched Metail, a start-up that allows retailers to showcase their clothes on AI-generated models, was the only non-white appointment. He attended St. Paul’s School in London and is now on the Board of Governors.

A spokesman of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: “DCMS is absolutely committed to advancing equality of opportunity in its public appointments, to ensure that boards of public bodies benefit from a range of diverse perspectives and are representative of the people they serve.

“Appointments to the Channel 4 board were made by Ofcom following a fair and open competition, with approval from the DCMS Secretary of State.”

Channel 4 was founded under Margaret Thatcher in 1982 with a remit to disrupt the U.K. broadcasting landscape. It has a statutory obligation to serve young and diverse viewers, as well as those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The Government last year abandoned plans to privatise the broadcaster over fears its financial model, under which is publicly owned but entirely commercially funded, was not sustainable. Instead it was forced to move hundreds of staff to Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol to better reflect Britain’s regional diversity, in a shift that was initially strongly opposed by executives.

The broadcaster’s board members, who will serve a three-year term, are selected by media regulator Ofcom but are subject to final approval by Ms. Frazer.

It’s clear that the Government is still committed to appointing on the basis of ‘diversity’ of course, with targets that would over-represent minorities firmly in place, so this is a ‘degrees of wokery’ argument. As usual, the radical notion that race or other identity marker shouldn’t actually play a role in public appointments fails to get a look in. And notice how the fact that half the white appointments are women makes no difference anymore –the identitarians have moved on to new battlegrounds. Besides, they’re just Karens, right? Enough of them already.

Still, nice to see someone from a Government department defending “fair and open competition” for a change. Let’s see how long it lasts.

Worth reading in full.