More people working in UK media but concerns over ethnic diversity

New data shows that the number of people working in the TV and creative media industries has risen, but there are concerns about the small proportion of people in the sector from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities.

A report on the UK media sector from Creative Skillset, a government and industry-backed group, shows that the overall number of people working in the media and creative sectors increased from 188,150 in 2009 to 192,200 in 2013. The 2% increase outstrips the wider 1% increase in employment in the UK across the period.

The number of media professionals in England actually decreased while the numbers in in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland went up. By gender, women make up 36% of the media workforce, an increase of 16,000 and reversing a slump recorded in the 2006-2009 period.

Black, Asian and ethnic minority representation across the industries has fallen since the last Skillset Census. The proportion fell to 5.4% in 2013 compared with 6.7% at the time of the previous Census.

In London representation is 8.9% but the UK capital is, Skillset said, the least representative region when compared to the city’s overall working population, which is 28.8% black, Asian and ethnic minority.

However, UK terrestrial TV actually bucked the wider trend, reporting an increase in workers from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds with the total rising from 9% in 2009 to 10% in 2012.