The cost of the annual BBC colour TV licence fee will increase by 2% to £145.50 per household from 1 April.

Next month’s licence fee increase was brought into effect by an order laid before the House of Commons today, which will also see the cost of a black and white TV licence increase by £1 to £49.

This is the fourth year of a six-year licence fee deal between the BBC and the government, which runs to the end of March 2013.

The future of the annual licence fee increase is more uncertain than at any time in the BBC’s almost 90-year history, with both Labour and the Conservatives talking about the corporation potentially having to get by with less money.

Last year the Tories took the unusual step of forcing a Commons vote on the annual licence fee increase, arguing that it should be frozen at £139.50.

However, this move was defeated by 334 votes to 156 with the backing of Labour and Lib Dem MPs.

The current six-year licence fee deal, negotiated in 2006, allowed for a 3% annual increase for the first three years, then two years with a 2% boost. The level of the licence fee for the final year, up to the end of March 2013, has yet to be set.

¢ To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

¢ If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”.

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

Every Malaysian can give input on NEM

KUALA LUMPUR: Every Malaysian will be given the opportunity to look at what is being proposed for the New Economic Model (NEM) and provide their input.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said no race should worry about their interest being sidelined.

He added that whatever decisions made by the Government would be within the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

Muhyiddin also gave an assurance that the interests of all the races would be taken care of while non-governmental groups representing the respective races as well as economic and social organisations would be consulted.

I want to assure you that every Malaysian will have vested interest in the New Economic Model (NEM). The Prime Minister is very aware of that. We are aware of that.

Every Malaysian, not just the Malays, want to have a say. I think they will be given the opportunity to look at whats being proposed in the NEM, he told reporters after the launch of the 1 Komuniti 1 Koperasi project at Paya Jaras Hilir near here yesterday.

He was asked to comment on a statement by the Malay Consultative Council, which expressed its concern and urged the Government to ensure the proposed NEM be within the framework of Article 153 of the Constitution to preserve the rights of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak.

Asked whether the launch of the proposed NEM would be held by the end of the month or postponed to June when the 10th Malaysia Plan would be unveiled, he said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would give sufficient time to the various vested groups to submit their views on this.

Asked about MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat hinting that he would defend his post, Muhyiddin said he would leave it to the party to decide.

On the fact that no representative from the Barisan Nasional component parties turned up at the MCA annual general assembly on Sunday, he said it was obvious that the MCA was left to resolve its own problem.

On Pakatan Rakyat claiming that they had emerged stronger two years after the 12th general election, Muhyiddin said the rakyat could observe disputes in the Opposition coalition with several lawmakers leaving disillusioned.

Two weeks ago I sat at the Royal Television Society’s Journalism Awards hoping to win an award. The great and the good from British current affairs were there but it was hardly the Oscars. There was no red carpet and no paparazzi . Probably only readers of the back pages of Media Guardian pay it any attention.

As one of the few black people at an awards ceremony not serving food, the same thoughts kept running through my mind. They range from “Why aren’t there more black and Asian people at the ceremony?” to “Were black and Asian people overlooked in the winners and nominees?” I suppose the bigger question underlying all this, of course, is “Are the television and film awards ceremonies racist?”

But, hand on heart, when I looked at the list of nominees and winners at the RTS ceremony I couldn’t see any glaring omissions - programmes or people who were not nominated that should have been. Tamanna Rahman, an extremely talented Muslim reporter who exposed racism for Panorama, won Young Journalist of the Year, and even though Krishnan Guru-Murthy was pipped at the post for Presenter of the Year everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before he wins an RTS to go along with his Emma (Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy award). The reality is it is very difficult, if not impossible, to make an accusation of racism stick about the RTS awards - or almost any other British media award for that matter.

But for me that misses the point. We often think that when it comes to awards all that matters are the nominees, the winners and the big glittering ceremony. However, we all know award winners who have struggled for work after being “recognised”. One black producer I can think of, who has more than his fair share of glassware, regularly calls me up looking for work, complaining that no one will employ him. David Upshal, another award-winning black producer, put it best when he recently posted on a Facebook page: “Plenty of award winners return to a life of anonymity and plenty of the most influential people in TV have never won an award”. The fact is the most important part of an awards ceremony occurs not when everyone is in their rented tuxedos, but in the months running up to the tearful speeches.

Most awards are decided by small groups of industry figures watching, and then discussing, the best of that year’s output. This is a chance to meet and “feel out” fellow insiders. During the course of the discussions you see whether you are on the same “wavelength”, whether you share the same vision, and most importantly whether you have similar editorial judgments. Meetings with your peers, networking and seeing what makes other people tick are worth so much more than a strangely shaped piece of glassware. It is the contacts made in these small groups that decide who gets the next job, who is the executive producer on the next “landmark” series and who sits on the next media quango. They are a major factor in the lifeblood of many a television career.

The fact is that far too few black and Asian people are involved in these backroom networking sessions and I struggle to answer why that is. Do awards bodies need to make more of an effort to attract a diverse membership? I suspect so. But I have also seen the efforts made by both Bafta and the RTS to widen their membership base. Often nothing is excluding black and Asian people except an annual subscription fee to one or other organisation. It is not uncommon for my white colleagues to be members of at least one television organisation “ that definitely isn’t the case when it comes to my black friends in television.

As a senior black producer at the BBC, I often think that we all need to be less preoccupied with shiny baubles and the awards themselves and more interested in how the television industry works. There is still racism, and there are still glass ceilings for ethnic minority people working in television but the award ceremonies are not the problem “ not engaging with them and understanding how the television industry works is.

The bottom line is, if you want to get ahead, join a committee, whatever your racial make up. Bafta, RTS and all the other award bodies can definitely help your career but you don’t need to win an award, or even be nominated, to get that next promotion.

Marcus Ryder iseditor, current affairs, BBC Scotland