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Information Rights
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bbc.co.uk/privacy
Esther Okusaga
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
21 April 2021
Dear Esther Okusaga,
Freedom of Information request – RFI20210499
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 22nd March 2021 seeking the following information
under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000:
1. Percentage of Black Journalists in all your newsrooms, this being national, local and regional.
This is in relation to the total workforce in news, including: Broadcast journalists, Senior broadcast
journalists, Editors, Correspondents and Assistant Editors. I would like this dating back to
September 2020 till now (March 2021), or the latest figures you have available.
2. Percentage of Black Journalists in senior roles, across national, local and regional news. Such
as Correspondents, Editors and Assistant Editors. I would also like this dating back to September
2020 till now (March 2021), or the latest figures you have available.
3. Percentage of reporters from BAME backgrounds including local, national and international
reporters in your newsrooms from September 2020-now (March 2021) or the latest figures you
have available.
4. Please provide any written documents stating your policy on diversity within the newsrooms,
and the present ethnic make-up of your newsrooms.
I would like the percentages to be rounded up to the nearest whole number.
In order to respond in full to your request we would have to disaggregate all our News &
Current Affairs and Nations data by ethnicity, job title, sub-division and location as well as
separating it out by national, local and regional newsrooms. We estimate that to carry out this
search would take BBC Staff more than two and a half days. Under section 12 of the Act, we
are allowed to refuse to handle the request if it would exceed the appropriate limit. The
appropriate limit has been set by the Regulations (SI 2004/3244) as being £450 (equivalent to
two and a half days work, at an hourly rate of £25).
The BBC does however disclose on an annual basis the diversity of its workforce in the BBC
Equality Information Report. News related data including ethnicity is aggregated for both
News & Current Affairs and Nations and Regions but does separate out seniors. This can be
found in the following location (p222)
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/annualreport/2019-20.pdf
In response to your final question there are no written policies regarding diversity that are
specific to BBC newsrooms, however, the BBC does have a Diversity & Inclusion Plan which
sets out ambitious plans detailing how the BBC will create the most inclusive and diverse
workforce in the media sector. You can find the document here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/diversity/plan
As set out in section 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, our subsidiaries (including BBC Studioworks Limited,
UKTV, BBC Global News Ltd and BBC Studios Ltd), as well as the charities BBC Media Action
and BBC Children in Need, are not subject to the Act. As such, information relating to these
entities is not considered in the above response.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact
us at the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your
reference number. A request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of
receiving the BBC’s response to your original request.
If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113
or see https://ico.org.uk/. Yours sincerely,
BBC HR
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