OPEN

It was good to see Zena Martin profiled in this
week’s PR Week with her innovative (for the UK) diversity
communications agency, Acknowledge Communications.

Zena is a friend of mine and part of the late-90s Text 100 diaspora
that has spread so far and wide in the UK tech PR sector (you know who
you are).

In case you’re wondering what diversity communications is (you heathen), the Acknowledge website spells it out for you as helping "successfully and respectfully engage your (primarily) ethnic minority, gay and lesbian and senior diverse customers, employees and audiences".

I really admire what she’s doing, both for the values she is upholding and for combining them with a a great business vision.

Also impressive is her calling out of the UK PR industry in the article for its lack of diversity. She says that the presence of ethnic minorities at a senior level in the PR industry is "almost non-existent".

What do you think? Is the UK PR industry a closed shop for ethnic minorities? If so why? Are some PR companies institutionally racist or are there other explanations?

PR Week reports as follows:

While it is crucial that PR represents its customer base, few ethnic
minorities consider it as a career. ‘I don’t think companies are trying
hard enough,’ she says. ‘They have to be creative and committed. Get
the recruits younger – create internship programmes, encourage them to
take PR courses. Show them the benefits of a career in PR.’

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technorati tags: UK, PR, diversity