A one-day conference organised by the Media Industries Research Centre (MIRC), University of Leeds, in conjunction with the MeCCSA Race Network and the ECREA Media Industries and Cultural Production Temporary Working Group.

*Race and the Cultural Industries* explores issues of ‘race’, the media and cultural production. Following Greg Dyke’s famous comment that the BBC is ‘hideously white’ there has been an increasing recognition of how non-whites are marginalised in the cultural industries – both in terms of participation and portrayal. Indeed, in recent years there have been numerous initiatives launched across the cultural sector that have made efforts to increase and encourage participation from minority communities. Yet tensions remain regarding social and cultural barriers to entry as well as critical issues to do with the representation of non-white groups.  The aim of the conference is to go beyond policy debates and think more critically about the cultural industries, and the post-colonial formations and cultural politics of ‘race’ in the West.

*Race and the Cultural Industries* is an interdisciplinary conference and will cover all sectors of the media, from news to entertainment, taken from the UK or more international contexts. It seeks to encourage participation from cultural practitioners as well as scholars in order to create a dialogue between research, policy and practice.