Belgian Media Diversity Stagnates, CSA Report Finds

Invited as a political guest on LN24 on Tuesday, Karim Ibourki, the president of the CSA, provided details on this document which notes little evolution in terms of equality and diversity in the audiovisual media. In ten years, the only evolution observed concerns the presence of women on screen, represented at 39% in 2021, an increase of 9.94. But it should be known that women "do not always take on an equivalent role to that of men," explains Karim Ibourki.

Regarding diversity, there is also "a concern". "We have a relatively monochrome television, with rather elderly men and of a higher socio-professional category. A trend that has changed little in a decade," regrets the president of the CSA, who also mentions the case of minorities represented in the "Justice" and "Banditry" themes of the 2021 Barometer. "It’s a bit of a caricature. When there are trials of the attacks and there is a foreign component shown on television, that’s what we’re going to remember," he details.

According to the document, people with disabilities rarely appear on television. "In our society, there are about 6 to 7% of people suffering from a disability and they represent less than 1% of the people who appear on television. Moreover, they are only interviewed about their disability," informs the president of the CSA, underlining the case of the elderly, also very little represented. "There is a form of youthism that has set in. When we show women on television, they are rather young," specifies Karim Ibourki.

"Our fear is that all the people disconnected from television and radio, because we are not addressing them, will end up on platforms and social networks. In the long run, they may no longer be able to watch a medium that does not represent them," warns the president of the CSA, who calls on the leaders to take their responsibilities. "We are putting these studies in the public domain so that there is a dialogue with all the publishers. [...] Of course, there are stronger frameworks at the public level, but at the private level, it is part of the strategic survival issues to be addressed," he concluded.