Cultural Diversity Advisory Group to the Media (est. 1992) 

President & National Coordinator: Anver Jeevanjee. 

Regional Vice President: Parvaneh Farid. Hon.Secretary: Honorine Macdonald. 

Committee: Mary Genis, Mohammad Riyami, Don John, Yuri Layhe, Ping Hua, Zita Eckett, Forkanul Quader, Denis Wong, Di Bernstein 
Vilma Scott, Barbara Storey, Alex Wu, Khatra Roles, Helen Jackson, Palo Almond, Nasreen Anwar, Veena Spratt. 

132 Bellemoor Road, SOUTHAMPTON. S015 7RA. 
Tel: +44 (0) 23 80 773435 / MB: 07 801270205 

Email: anver.jeevanjee@virgin.net 

8thApril 2007 

Open document 
Ann Bastow By post & Email 
Purpose Remits Public Consultation 

BBC Trust Unit 
Room 211 email: purposeremits@bbc.co.uk 
35 Marylebone High Street 
LONDON W1U 4AA 

BBC Public Purpose Remits: Public Consultation by the newTrust 

By Anver Jeevanjee, Founder and President of CDAGM 

Introduction. 

I formally respond on behalf of our group, to your kind invitation to 
consult us in respect the above matter. We comprise some highly qualified 
professionals, not merely confined to Black or Asian groups but of a vast 
diversity of cultures and faith’s. They are in their entirety volunteers based 
within our grassroots. They devote a considerable amount of their own 
time and energy freely to investigate, advise and enlighten the media. We 
have neither loyalty to any funding organisation, links with religion, 
politics, nor do we aspire to be attached to any. In that respect we are a 
unique self-help and independent group. Accordingly, I would welcome 
the views expressed to be placed fully into the public domain as well as on 
the BBC website. 

Initially it was with the moral support of the very few enlightened 
individuals within the BBC that we were first launched. People such as 
Nigel Kay listened and understood the dilemma of fast dwindling Ethnic 
Minority audiences within the British media and shared with me the urgent 


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need to stop it. This was not only for the sake of the BBC but for the 
development of multicultural Britain. 

Unfortunately, the BBC as an institution, continued to remain in denial, 
with the usual lip service and box ticking without much appreciable 
delivery of its paper policies or to allow minority cultures full participation 
within the mainstream, other than mere slots here and there. Hence, we 
still remain a deeply divided and a greatly fragmented society. 

Nevertheless, my group and I have managed to maintain a non-partisan 
community interest in creating a dialogue with other media groups, such as 
ITV, News Quest etc., and have kept up pressure on the BBC to heed to 
our groups advice at regular meetings with them. I travel world wide to 
observe and import best practices back to the UK but as usual the United 
Kingdom prefers to reinvent its own wheel. The group have often been 
critical of the domestic BBC in respect of our submissions to the 
Communications Act, Ofcom, Charter Review etc., and I am pleased that 
the Secretary of State has variously adopted some of our views on paper. 

I believe that the BBC belongs to me, just as does my rental car or rented 
home but I share it with every other licence fee payer. I remain engaged 
with it because I still passionately believe that the BBC and other PSB’s 
have the potential to play a leading role in developing a truly multicultural 
society in Britain, despite of our recent gross set back, racial profiling etc. 
I want to ensure that I get good value for the rent or licence fee I pay and 
reduce the gross wastage of BBC expenditure both in their infrastructure 
and personnel. I also want the corporate structure to be fully transparent 
and independently accountable. 

Over the years it has been disappointing that the BBC has missed many 
boats in respect of diversity and is likely to miss out again if it fails to meet 
the challenge of yet another vulnerable group, namely the Kids Media 
affecting our entire future generation of all races. Therefore, for the 
purpose of this specific consultation, just as one loves ones own disabled 
or sick child, we all love our beleaguered domestic BBC and want it to 
succeed in all aspects covered by its Charter and the law. 

Consultation questions: 


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1. The BBC fails 
to represent all its licence fee payers within the 
mainstream. Its quality of news and research suffer greatly because 
of its race for ratings against other commercial media. The 
management seem biased sometimes very blatantly against race and 
age groups. It generally faces greater hazards which money alone 
cannot solve. It requires an overhaul and a cultural change to meet 
its charter commitments to citizens and the civil society. Mark 
Thompson seems to have begun to implement to some extent, 
following on from where the dynamic Greg Dyke left unfinished. It 
has the potential to become the best in the world and we as citizens 
will continue as long as is possible to participate in building and 
sustaining its future within our civil society in this fast changing 
digital and competitive world. It is absolutely disgraceful that 
despite the current BBC Charter and the Communication Act’s 
requirement for transparency, coupled with Court orders and 
Freedom of Information Act, the BBC remains highly secretive. This 
lack of transparency concealing the truth of Greg Dyke’s departure, 
Malcolm Balen’s report etc., is quite unacceptable. The failure of 
action over the recent issue of premium phone-ins is yet another 
breach of contract that undermines public confidence of this 
institution. The licence fee payers and the public are entitled to 
accurate information and I urge the Trust to act decisively on this 
matter, if it too wishes to sustain its public faith. 
2. In promoting education and learning for domestic consumption, the 
BBC has done a reasonably good job in the past. It has to improve or 
amend its priorities by including a global aspect and encouragement 
of learning from other cultures or nations achievements. It must 
learn and project how the UK has benefited and continues to do so 
from the worlds greatest civilisations, in science, mathematics, 
music etc. True colonial history taught, such as British massacres or 
post war holocausts in Africa, India and elsewhere in the Empire. It 
must recognise the African and Asian contributions to the European 
wars, a vital aspect still missing from some school history lessons. 
Generations need to understand the truth behind Britain’s current 
prosperity, its trading and cultural links with fascist regimes, 
apartheid, slave trade etc., before it reconciles with the future. 

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3. On 
the question of sustaining creativity because of the BBC’s 
arrogant attitude it has consistently failed to highlight the vast talent 
that exists within the minority communities. Consequently, many 
have emigrated to gain success elsewhere. With regard to 
entertainment, audiences have departed to other media channels and 
are unlikely to return. There is still a scope for the BBC to attract 
new audiences through creating modern entertainment and give an 
opportunity for the wider community of all ages to also enjoy rather 
than shutting them off from it. It is a fallacy to assume that certain 
age or racial groups will not appreciate its out put. 
4. The domestic BBC has done an appalling job in representing UK 
communities. It expects the marginalised communities or such 
victims of blatant illegal apartheid to approach their ivory towers 
with a begging bowl rather than a two way bridge building. This is 
largely due to the fact that BBC staffs are ill-equipped and most 
certainly do not represent or reflect local communities to be able to 
begin developing links. The employment system appears to be based 
on the old boy network, hence some people simply cannot get in. 
Meanwhile, bosses rather recite the same slogan ‘difficult to reach 
communities’ and do nothing, rather than go out and try to welcome 
them. BBC vox pops or interviews are also conspicuous by their 
absence. My group and I have tried to introduce people over the 
years; yet our databases lack updating or links broken and people 
move on. The situation is quite dire. One feels that as the BBC lives 
on unearned income from its licence fees, it does not seem to have 
the incentive as does the ITV and others dependent on advertising 
revenue. The trust has a massive clean up job. This ought to include 
specific criteria of recruitment, promotion and retention of staff who 
can demonstrate abilities in those fields of communication. Clearly, 
the BBC must reflect other small or minority religions and to some 
extent it tries to do so. However in supporting indigenous languages 
it must be careful not to contradict the current government policy of 
Britishness and the Queens English. Indigenous languages of other 
UK citizens, such as Chinese, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Somali, 
Kiswahili etc., could be equally as relevant as Gaelic, Welsh, Irish, 
or Ulster Scots, if BBC were to celebrate all cultures and 
communities of the nation equally. 

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In bringing UK to the world and the world to the UK, the World Service of 
the BBC, funded directly by the exchequer, is 2nd to none other. My group 
and I have been advising the domestic BBC for many years to emulate it into 
the regions but so far there is not much evidence of that happening. 
Therefore, what I have said in question 4 is equally applicable here. It is 
rather difficult for a regional audience to appreciate global issues without 
being exposed or educating them to it in the first place. The BBC appears to 
reflect what the narrowly focused regional audience wants such as 
insignificant stories of the birth of a sweet white rabbit or yellow duckling 
and so on at the expense of others. It does not want to take the risk of 
explaining issues holistically by encouraging the audience into the global 
village. This could be on the currently highly biased issues of Asylum 
seekers, Immigration, Drugs or Gambling addictions, 
wars/colonialism/illegal occupations of sovereign states, loss of single British 
lives exclusively irrespective of many others,. In all this the BBC slavishly 
follow DCMS, government or politicians views rather than its own dialogue 
with the public or independent research. It would take some considerable 
time for the trust to address this endemic problem of ignorant journalists 
within the institution. 

5. 
Emerging communications: This may be a new area for us but it seems 
clear that the government has passed their responsibility to help the 
vulnerable people of the UK on to the license fee payers. This is 
clearly an unfair burden on the BBC and I would urge the Trust to 
fight hard in support of BBC Management. Nevertheless, the Digital 
take up figures within minority communities have always been much 
higher, for obvious reasons, than the average population. 
Finally, I thank you for the opportunity to respond. 

Yours sincerely 

Anver Jeevanjee 
Founder & President 
Cultural Diversity Advisory Group to the Media 


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Public consultation by the BBC Trust 

PLEASE PRINT AND SIGN THIS DECLARATION IF YOU ARE 
SENDING A HARD COPY OF YOUR RESPONSE. IF YOU ARE 
SENDING AN ELECTRONIC RESPONSE, PLEASE COPY THIS 
STATEMENT INTO THE RESPONSE AND COMPLETE IT. 

What do you want the BBC Trust to keep confidential? : Nothing 

Name: Anver Jeevanjee 

Position/job title: Founder & President 

Organisation: Cultural Diversity Advisory Group to the Media 

Address: 132 Bellemoor Road, SOUTHAMPTON. SO15 7RA 

Other contact details (telephone, email) Tel: 02380 773435 
Email: anver.jeevanjee@virgin.net 

DECLARATION (Open & Transparent) 
I confirm that the information I have submitted is a formal 
consultation response. It can be published in full on the BBC Trust 
website, unless otherwise specified, and I authorise the BBC Trust to 
make use of the information in this response to meet its legal 
requirements. If I have sent my response by email, the BBC can 
disregard any standard e-mail text about not disclosing email contents 
and attachments. 

Name Signed (if hard copy) 
……………………………………………………………………………… 


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