Partners News No 8 - August 2001

By Dave Percival

Opportunities in TV!?

Most of us who have had much contact with the media will acknowledge that working in this area has its challenges and TV in particular, as some of our partners discovered recently when they were approached by a company preparing a programme for Channel Four. Slave Nation was proposed as a programme looking at whether the hopes and dreams of the Sixties had been realised and was broadcast over three weekday evenings in August.

Behind the scenes, two of our partners Time for Families and Marriage Review agreed with some trepidation to let cameras onto one of their joint enrichment weekends. The presenter, Darcus Howe, turned out to have a very definite and personal agenda, which did not offer much lea-way for a very balanced view of the work carried out by these two charities. The programme generated some lively discussion on the Channel Four web site.

This experience cannot have generated much confidence amongst other organisations in working with TV, yet this media is increasingly influential in people’s lives. Sympathetic, and fair-minded presenters, producers or even script writers willing to tackle the issues seriously and fairly could do much to restore that confidence.

We have had some experience ourselves negotiating potential programmes, but little has come of these contacts, although day-time TV chat shows have proved most accessible. If any of our partners have had experience of working with TV, perhaps they could share their tips through the marriage workers forum.