Media Diversity With and Without a Policy: A Comparison of the BBC and Nigeria's DBS

Abstract

Discussions of media diversity have taken for granted the assumption that diversity is properly maintained only when there is a well articulated diversity policy with human and material resources to implement it. This article seeks to find out what it is like to manage diversity where there is not a diversity policy. To do this, it compares Nigeria's Delta Broadcasting Services (DBS) which does not have a diversity policy, with the BBC which had an elaborate policy with extensive resources for implementation. The study finds an inbuilt diversity consciousness among DBS staff whereas at the BBC diversity is driven by policy and even pressure. At both stations, fear of different kinds propels the determination to reflect diversity, and both stations face fairly similar problems in managing diversity, among which is the challenge of balancing diversity with competence in staff recruitment. The key lesson is that, depending on the context, diversity is not better achieved by official policies and targets, than without them.

Notes

The fieldwork for this paper began when the author was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Research in Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE), University of Oxford.

The author wishes to acknowledge the CRISE Director, Professor Frances Stewart, for motivation to embark on the BBC study, and to CRISE staff Nicola Shepard and Jo Boyce for assistance.

¹Most advocates of media pluralism echo some of Habermas's postulations, especially his (1984) theory of communicative action, which have been applied to the basic claims about communication, rationality and public sphere. Ideal communication, Habermas claims, is one “immunized against repression and inequality in a special way” (p. 25) and “oriented towards achieving consensus … a consensus that rests on inter-subjective recognition of criticisable validity claims” (p. 17). It is one in which “every subject with the competence to speak and act is allowed to take part” (Habermas, 1995, p. 89). These claims have attracted advocates and critics of media diversity alike.

²The interview with Ms. Callender was conducted as email exchanges; those with others were oral.

³Ezon, Okpe, Isoko-Ndokwa are some of the many ethnic groups in Delta State. The programs referred to are designed for them.

⁴The Federal Character Commission is a Federal Agency that sees to the equitable distribution of federal jobs and appointment across the various geo-political and ethnic categories in Nigeria. It deals only with federal appointments. See Mustapha (2007) for a comprehensive discussion of the achievements of and problems facing Nigeria's Federal Character Commission.

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Notes on contributors

Ayobami Ojebode

Ayobami Ojebode, (PhD, University of Ibadan, 2002) is a lecturer and coordinator of postgraduate programs in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. His research interests include political and cultural aspects of development communication, communication research, and media and diversity.