News

In July ITV launched a series of short films offering black people a platform to share stories of racism and their vision of changes they believe should happen.

Aiming to promote understanding and discussion around a cause of profound importance, in order to contribute towards inspiring long term change, ITV featured a range of people discussing their experiences of racism, including MPs Helen Grant and David Lammy, founder of Operation Black Vote Lord Simon Woolley, ITV News journalist Charlene White, Emmerdale actor Jay Kontzle and other colleagues from across ITV.

The text and audio based short films, devised by ITV Creative, ran across ITV and STV’s promotional airtime, social feeds, as well as a dedicated campaign site at itv.com/blackvoices.

The website houses all of the different contributors’ stories as they reflect on their feelings within the current climate and their hopes for the future. It also contains links to organisations such as The Runnymede Trust (The UK’s leading think tank on race) and 1000 Black Voices.

In July ITV also announced our Diversity Acceleration Plan which pledges to create more opportunities across underrepresented groups to deliver measurable change across all levels and parts of ITV.

Both initiatives are part of our wider Social Purpose strategy and Inclusion goals to increase diversity on and off screen by 2022.

At ITV, we have been reflecting on our role in creating a more socially conscious and fairer society. We have a platform to speak to millions of people every day, and we feel it’s important to allow others a chance to speak. Black Voices are intended to shed light on what some black people have had to endure over the years, and still endure even today, in the hope that we can accelerate change in diversity and inclusion. Rufus Radcliffe, Board Sponsor for ITV Embrace and Chief Marketing Officer & Director of Direct to Consumer at ITV