Globes Organisation Promises Big Change

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group of foreign film journalists responsible for the Golden Globes awards, has issued a statement this weekend promising “transformational change”.

The organization has come under heavy fire in recent weeks for a lack of diversity and for ethical issues surrounding the Golden Globes. In addition NBC, which broadcasts the Globes, has been under pressure to push the HFPA to take more significant steps.

A recent L.A. Times article called into question many of the organization’s practices from attending lavish junkets and paying members substantial amounts to serve on committees, to allegations of serious ethical issues.

According to the post, the group will hire an independent diversity and equity expert who will consult on membership policies. They also claim to be “improving our efforts to create transparency into our operations, voting, processes, eligibility and membership.”

The organization wrote that it would be increasing support for internship, mentorship and scholarship programs for Black and other underrepresented students interested in international journalism.

They will also be mandating annual anti-racism and unconscious bias education and sexual harassment training for every member of the HFPA.

A third-party, independent law firm will also be engaged to create a method for members, partners, vendors and artists to report violations of ethical standards or code violations with “clear and serious consequences” for those who commit the violation.

The statement says: “These are the initial steps we will take over the next 60 days and we will carry out further actions based on recommendations that come from these initial reviews and assessments.”

The Time’s Up Organization tweeted a statement in the wake of this saying: “So NBCUniversal, Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA just declared that they have a plan to fix problems they’ve ignored for decades. We’re not so sure” and added that they need to see “specific details, timetables for change, and firm commitments”.

Viewership for this year’s Golden Globes took a huge year-over-year drop for last week’s virtual ceremony – losing nearly 70% of its audience from last year.

Source: The Los Angeles Times