Time to Change: When mental health meets Black and Minority Ethnic issues in the media

Mental health problem + Black or Minority Ethnic background = negative coverage in the media? News reports featuring people with this combination of background and experience can often be quite negative. Why is this? Does it increase the stigma? Do features in the media on mental health include a diverse enough range of voices? Time to Change, the anti-stigma campaign run by the UK’s two largest mental health charities, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, is holding an exclusive free event for print and broadcast journalists, and factual TV/radio producers in central London.

This event will help you understand the impact your work can have on Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people with mental health problems and their friends, families and employers too. There’ll be examples of good practice, and advice on how to uncover hidden stories. Issues that will be covered include why news reports about BME people with mental health issues tend to be negative and how we can change that, how newspaper stories, documentaries and TV news features on mental health affect different communities, why BME celebrity role models rarely speak out about mental health in the media, and how to find news stories and gain the trust of different communities.

An expert panel will include Nina Hossain from ITV News, Kunal Dutta from The Independent, Eddie Nestor from BBC London 94.9, and George Ruddock from The Voice. The panel will also be joined by a Time to Change media volunteer from a BME background with lived experience of mental health problems. They will give their view on how the media covers these issues and what it is like to share your personal story in the press. After the panel debate, there will be time for questions from the audience followed by a chance to network over drinks and sandwiches.

It takes place on Tuesday 14 October, at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP. Registartion opens at11.30am with the debate and Q&A at 12-1.30pm. More information about Time to Change can be found at www.time-to-change.org.uk