The Following Full Text Is a Publisher's Version
PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/56380 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-28 and may be subject to change. Diversity Monitor 2005: Diversity as a quality aspect of television in the Netherlands JOYCE KOEMAN, ALLERD PEETERS, and LEEN D’HAENENS Abstract This article looks into the way in which public-service as well as commer- cial TV stations in the Netherlands assume their social responsibility towards a pluralist society. After all, television channels are expected to be ‘mirrors of society’; the key question is then how successful their programs are in conveying a well-balanced representation of all groups in society. By means of a quantitative analysis, the Diversity Monitor charts the (re)pre- sentation of different groups, with a particular focus on gender, age, and ethnicity. Apart from diversity, and as a subcomponent of the Quality Card (McKinsey, 2003), the Monitor also reviews innovation as an indicator of program quality. The results reveal a wide diversity of TV programs in the Netherlands, but diversity as such is no guarantee of a balanced (re)pre- sentation of society at large. Due to selection mechanisms on the side of the broadcaster and the public, what the viewer eventually gets is at the most a mirror of his or her own group. Keywords: social representation, public service broadcasting, cross-medial applications, (reflective) diversity Responsibility and quality of public broadcasting: Ideal and reality Many media researchers looking at media texts and into the portrayal of ethnic minorities are inspired by a variety of rhetorical and narrative methods as well as post-colonial and feminist theories.
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