Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond

Lenny Henry & Marcus Ryder

Softcover | 11.1 x 1.3 x 17.8 cm | 192 pp

Faber & Faber | 2021 | 9780571365128

Sir Lenny Henry rang up the Office for National Statistics to confirm something he'd been thinking about for a long time. They told him that only 29.5% of the United Kingdom's population is made up of white, heterosexual, able-bodied men; so, he wonders, why do they still make up the vast majority of people we see in our media?

Joining forces with the former Chair of the Royal Television Society's Diversity Committee Marcus Ryder, he draws on decades of experience to reveal why recent efforts to diversify media have been thus far ineffective, and why they are simply not enough. With wit, humour and unflinching gravitas they analyse the flaws of current diversity initiatives, point out the structural and financial imbalances working against the cause, and provide clear solutions to get the media industry back on track.

Access All Areas is an urgent, actionable manifesto that will dramatically shift the debate around diversity and the media.