Entertainment
BBC and ITV vow to ban use of ‘Bame’ to describe ethnic minority groups after Sir Lenny Henry race report
ITV is among the broadcasters who have vowed to stop using Bame in their newsrooms (Picture: Getty Images)
Several broadcasters, including the BBC and ITV, have agreed to avoid using the controversial term Bame to describe ethnic minority groups.
The sweeping change comes after recommendations in an industry report published by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (LHC), which highlighted that Bame is used as a catch-all to describe all non-white groups but lacks nuance in distinguishing between them.
Bame, which stands for Black, Asian and minority ethnic, isn’t widely used outside of the UK but became even more prevalent in 2020 during the heightened conversations about racism in the British media.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and its parent company, Viacom CBS UK, have all agreed to avoid using the term in their editorial news content and corporate communications.
In addition, ITN, the producer of news programmes for Channel 4, Channel 5/ViacomCBS UK and ITV, has said it will move away from using the acronym in ‘newsrooms and corporate communications’.
The authors of the report from the LHC said: ‘We are very happy that British broadcasters are taking the issue of racial language seriously and were happy to undertake this piece of work.
Sir Lenny Henry’s centre for media diversity recommended the change in its report (Picture: Rex Features)
‘We believe that, while there can still be utility in the use of collective terms, the priority should always be to ensure clear and simple communication that is trusted by audiences.
‘We hope that our report will help broadcasters to achieve this, and, as language develops, they regularly revisit this and related issues.’
Miranda Wayland, BBC head of creative and workforce diversity and inclusion, said the company is ‘proud’ to have collaborated with the LHC.
‘Ensuring that the rich and complex lived experiences of individual ethnic groups are accurately reflected and truthfully portrayed on air and properly recognised in our workplace speaks to our ongoing commitment and investment in greater inclusion,’ she said.
Ade Rawcliffe, ITV group director of diversity and inclusion, weighed in: ‘We were delighted to work with the other broadcasters on this very interesting and useful piece of research from the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity.
BBC’s Miranda Wayland said the corporation is ‘commited’ to ‘investing in greater inclusion’ (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Language plays an important role in building trust and confidence in organisations.
‘We will use the findings to build on our internal race fluency training, which will help us to further embed an inclusive culture at ITV as we work to deliver the actions that we have committed to in our Diversity Acceleration Plan.’
Zaid Al-Qassab, Channel 4’s chief marketing officer and executive leader for inclusion and diversity, said the move to stop using ‘such vague terminology’ was welcomed.
‘At Channel 4 we began to move away from using the acronym last year and, in consultation with members of our employee rep group, The Collective, we’ve followed their recommendation to use the terminology “ethnically diverse”,’ Al-Qassab explained.
‘I’m sure this is an area which will continue to develop, we need to keep talking and looking for more inclusive language which acknowledges our uniqueness and experiences as individuals.’
More: Racism
In September, a survey of people aged 18-30 in the UK from diverse backgrounds revealed that the majority are uncomfortable with the term Bame.
The survey conducted by charity Blueprint for All found that 98% feel it is important for a shared language that unifies people from diverse heritages, however there is no shared word or expression that participants feel represents them all.
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