Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity

An independent new body working to achieve accurate representation of all sections of society across contemporary UK media.

The Sir Lenny Henry Centre was established in 2020 with a mission to improve the diversity of representation and employment across contemporary British media.

Uniquely, the Centre brings together the expertise of media professionals and academic researchers to develop an evidence-based approach, one that supports different media sectors to become more inclusive and representative of the diverse audiences they serve.

By identifying the interventions that work (and those that don’t) the Centre aims to bring about real and lasting change where people from all backgrounds can participate in, and contribute to, the stories that make sense of who we are as a country. 

In our first 4 years we have already made quite an impact.

Our research into the term ‘BAME’ (rhyming with ‘name’) made a critical intervention in current debates and resulted in the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 committing to the recommendations.

Our report into the impact of Channel 4’s Black2Front day led to their Chief Content Officer citing our recommendations when bringing in a new set of off-screen diversity targets for all productions.

So far we have produced over 16 pieces of original research.

Read about them, and our collaborative journal Representology, below.

Professor Diane Kemp and Dr Panayiota Tsatsou

About the Centre

Discover the Centre's areas of activity, upcoming events and more.
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Meet the team

Find out more about the Centre's staff, advisory group and partners.
Media timeline

Research

Browse our original and commissioned research into media diversity.

Reprezentology journal lead image

Representology Journal

Sharing research and best practice to make UK media more representative of all sections of society.
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Media and keynotes

Showcasing the work of our team campaigning for media diversity in the industry.
Centre news

Centre news

News and updates from the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity.

Comment

Leading experts, researchers and collaborators share their insights and opinion in our comment section. These are personal views, and do not reflect the view of Birmingham City University or the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity.

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