Survey by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity aims to research deaf people’s experience of working in media (BSL)

Posted on February 12, 2024 by



There is currently a survey available to fill in which is gathering records of the wide and varied experiences of those working in the UK television and film industry.  Answers from this survey are currently divided into categories including those taken from people with or without a disability, including deafness.

We all know that there are all kinds of different experiences within the entire spectrum of those working with a disability. Because of this, the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity is carrying out a survey to address this gap in existing data. The intention is to find out what is the experience really like for D/deaf people working in the media industry?

The Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (founded by the man himself!) is a newly established research centre at Birmingham City University, working to achieve accurate representation of all sections of society across contemporary UK media. It also brings together the expertise of established media professionals and academics.

Anyone with experience of working in Television and Film productions – within any kind of role  – whether that may be as a researcher or director or even a technician or make-up artist – can take part in the survey.

It will only take about 15 minutes to complete and there is also a BSL translation video to accompany this along with English subtitles.

There will also be an opportunity to take part in follow up interviews for further research, which is entirely voluntary. Any data collected will be anonymised and all identities will be protected.

 Led by Erika Jones and Dr Ellie Tomsett, this research will be completed in the form of a final report submitted to the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University. 

Following on from this, aspects of the final report will then be shared with the public and made publicly accessible in an article form via the online journal Representology.

Those conducting the survey hope to collect as many voices as possible in order to create the strongest report and they hope to use the findings in order to advocate for positive changes and better experiences in the media industry for all D/deaf people.

The link to the survey can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/STD5XyBtFu 

For more information on the Sir Lenny Henry Centre please see here: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/media/research/sir-lenny-henry-centre-for-media-diversity 

Enjoying our eggs? Support The Limping Chicken:

The Limping Chicken is the world's most popular Deaf blog, and is edited by Deaf  journalist,  screenwriter and director Charlie Swinbourne.

Our posts represent the opinions of blog authors, they do not represent the site's views or those of the site's editor. Posting a blog does not imply agreement with a blog's content. Read our disclaimer here and read our privacy policy here.

Find out how to write for us by clicking here, and how to follow us by clicking here.

The site exists thanks to our supporters. Check them out below:

Posted in: deaf news