Connie St Louis

The retention of minority ethnic staff in the BBC, 2000-2010

This chapter argues that the focus on the recruitment of minority ethnic journalists into many media organisations has distracted from the fact that once they are employed, many are leaving. It reports on a research project on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) retention in the BBC, and argues that urgent change is needed to improve the retention of these journalists. The study found that media organisations were unwilling unless compelled by legislation to reveal their performance in BAME employee recruitment and retention; and that the figures available from in the BBC suggested poor retention. It puts forward a series of findings to inform the development of human relations policy and support effective retention strategies in major media organisations.

Keywords: transparency, minority employee retention, recruitment and retention, freedom of information