The TV industry is “too forgiving” of bullying because it cannot agree at what point an individual’s behaviour tips into unacceptability, Channel 4 director of programming Ian Katz has declared.
Speaking during a session exploring the Film & TV Charity’s Whole Picture Toolkit, Katz said the industry needs to define bullying behaviour more clearly.
“We haven’t quite got to a settled view about where the boundary between mercurial, auteur-ish behaviour and bullying is,” he said.
Admitting it is a “fine line to judge”, Katz said the industry still leans too far to the bullies’ side, adding: “We haven’t quite nailed where that behaviour is”.
BBC factual commissioning editor Emma Loach stated baldly: "We are still at the foothills of dealing with bullying and harassment as an industry.
“The younger generation coming into the industry know where that line is and they won’t accept it – and we have to jump to it.”
