Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
Our agenda for creative diversity has a simple aim at its heart – to inspire action and measure its success. In the midst of all the recent uncertainties there’s opportunity to effect real change.
June SarpongDirector of Creative Diversity
In an age where technological advances have shaped the media, we can all appreciate the power of images. Those images that move people, promote ideas and provide windows into different worlds.
Images have shaped our history and our perception of it. Nineteenth century US abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a man who understood this. He believed imagery had the ability to bridge the real and the possible, offering us a vision of the world as it could be.
In his iconic 1818 'Pictures and Progress' essay, Douglass wrote: “To the eye and spirit, pictures are just what poetry and music are to the ear and heart…Man is the only picture-making animal in the world. He alone of all the inhabitants of earth has the capacity and passion for pictures.
“Reason is exalted and called Godlike, and sometimes accorded the highest place among human faculties; but grand and wonderful as is this attribute of our species, still more grand and wonderful are the resources and achievements of that power out of which come our pictures and other creations of art.”
Douglass argued that art and imagery provided a mechanism for societal self-refection, critique and progress.
Douglass did not just preach this ethos, he lived by it. His life was a challenge to the status quo - an improbable journey of a former slave who rose to be a trusted adviser to the US President Abraham Lincoln.
Douglass travelled the nation and became one of the most photographed men of his time. He used the power of his own image to challenge the prevailing world-view of his day - the 19th century where Black people were seen as inferior human beings.
His image was an artistic response to all those who questioned whether African Americans should be fully afforded the freedoms and rights of US citizens. Douglass argued that art and imagery provided a mechanism for societal self-refection, critique and progress.
The importance of image and creativity is as powerful today. The audio and visual imagery we produce reflects existing ideas and inspires new ones. If ideas and images are too abstract to use as a benchmark of the power of creativity then, we have the numbers.
The stakes are high for our creative industries but this doesn’t mean the challenge is insurmountable.
In the United Kingdom, the creative industries contributed £111.7bn to the British economy in 2018, the equivalent to £306m every day. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the UK government said the creative sector was growing more than five times faster than the rest of the national economy generating £13m an hour.
Our creative sector continues to secure the UK’s position as a global cultural superpower. Even so, there is more work to be done as the doorways into our creative industries have often been limited for diverse talent.
For underrepresented groups there have been narrow entry routes, lack of opportunities and recognition for those few that manage to squeeze themselves through the door. This has resulted in missed opportunities to showcase the full range of talent available in our sector. Ultimately, this can lead to losing market share through failing to connect with an increasingly diverse audience.
Once we simply accept that there is no monopoly on creativity we can actively seek the diversity that we need to thrive.
This is a challenge that the BBC is committed to meeting, both within our own ranks and with our partners, to foster greater inclusion throughout the wider creative sector. As a global public service broadcaster - committed to inform, educate and entertain - we understand our responsibility to share stories and experiences of communities our audiences may not necessarily come across.
It is why we are proud to be partnering with Dr Stacy Smith and her team at the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on the Belonging Blueprint. Dr Smith is the pioneer behind the Hollywood “Inclusion Rider” and our new approach is the next evolution of that rider. It aims to not only address the amount of diverse talent on a production but also the inclusive culture within the teams making that content.
Who and how we include diversity of thought will determine whether we continue to shape our world or whether we lose market share and ultimately relevance. This challenge applies not just to the BBC, but to content providers everywhere.
The real winners and future leaders in this sector will be those who not only seek diversity but insist on it.
Talent, innovation and technology are the key drivers of our industry. These drivers are not restricted to a limited segment of society. If we fail to seek out diverse talent then potential innovation is lost, along with our competitive advantage. However, if we grow and develop diverse talent we gain access to new ideas that will keep our industry growing, while reaching as wide an audience as possible.
To accelerate the process of change, the BBC’s Creative Diversity Unit is introducing RIVERS – Six Streams of Inclusion. These practical steps are aimed to help shift production norms and ultimately build a more diverse and inclusive creative industry.
The stakes are high for our creative industries but this doesn’t mean the challenge is insurmountable. Once we simply accept that there is no monopoly on creativity we can actively seek the diversity that we need to thrive. The real winners and future leaders in this sector will be those who not only seek diversity but insist on it.