NAMIC Broadening

NAMIC would like to expand its scope, perhaps doing diversity research about diversity in programming and looking at on-camera content. Research would also delve into diversity employment practices on the creative side of the business, looking at producers, directors and writers, evp Kathy Johnson says. Not that NAMIC’s focus on diversity in the more traditional side of cable should be ignored. In fact, with mergers and consolidation, it’s possible certain diversity measurements will have declined since NAMIC’s last survey in ’02. The ’99 survey found people of color in 5% of cable’s sr management jobs; it was 7% in the ’02 survey. This year’s survey will have a twist; it will include benchmarks, allowing cable to compare its diversity effort against other industries. NAMIC plans a corporate roundtable for Diversity Week in Sept that will feature cable officials and execs from outside cable discussing the results of the diversity survey. The outside officials will come from companies named in Diversity Inc magazine’s "Diversity Inc Top 50." NAMIC is partnering with Diversity Inc on the survey; the results will be reported in aggregate, so individual cable companies will not be named. Previously the survey was concerned almost exclusively with the number of people of color in sr management ranks; now it goes beyond numbers and asks some 60 questions, including queries about board composition, mentoring programs, recruitment programs, CEO support of diversity, philanthropic support of diversity, management compensation tied to diversity, diversity as part of corporate culture and diversity training. The survey is due back July 16.