The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has announced (21.12.2018) details of a new initiative under the Sound & Vision 3 Broadcasting Funding Scheme which aims to bring more women’s stories to Irish radio and television audiences.
Under Round 33 of the Broadcasting Funding Scheme, due to close in May 2019, the BAI is again calling for submissions in support of high quality programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience, and programmes to improve adult literacy. In this round, the BAI is putting a particular focus on projects across all genres which tell women’s stories, and will include an additional strategic criterion at assessment phase in order to encourage applications in this regard.
It is hoped that this initiative will provide an opportunity to widen the narrative, present new female characters, real or fictional to Irish audiences, and generally promote different stories and different voices.
Commenting on the initiative, Michael O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the BAI, said: “As outlined in our recently published Gender Action Plan, the BAI has a central role to play in promoting diversity and equality in the Irish audio-visual industry and facilitating media diversity in terms of content and those involved in its production. The Sound & Vision 3 Scheme has provided creative opportunities to address gender balance issues both on- and off- screen, and the results to date have been encouraging.
“In Round 30, the BAI introduced gender criterion which requires the strategic assessment phase to have regard to the level of women in a leadership/creative role within each application. Over the course of 2018, women were represented to a high level across applications in the context of these roles and this has resulted in more funding being awarded to projects that have women in a leadership/creative role. I am confident that the initiative announced today will further contribute to the BAI’s objectives in respect of gender equality.”
An updated guide for applicants and application form will be published in early 2019 and will be available on the BAI website.
The BAI gender action plan was published in April 2018 and can be found on the BAI website here.