CBeebies and Diversity

Some months ago CLD Chair Cllr Sarah Cheung Johnson started an online petition for CBeebies Bedtime Stories to finally feature a narrator from a Chinese, East and SE Asian background.

She wrote:

"East & South East Asian people are too often the "silent minority" in the UK. We are simultaneously present in every community but invisible in media, press and in TV & Radio programming. For East & South East Asian children growing up in a country that has seen a huge spike in COVID-related race hate directed at Chinese and other Asian people, it is time for the media to step up and start walking the walk in terms of diversity."

"It is a heart-breaking moment when my child turns around and tells me no one on TV looks like her. I want this to change. I want her to see East & South East Asian people represented on screen, starting with a bedtime story!"

Well more than 2225 people signed her petition and CBeebies have since fulfilled her wish for her children. Sarah reported recently:

"Last night both my kids got to watch a Cbeebies bedtime story read by Gok Wan who is of East and SE Asian background, read the book "My Mum is a Lioness".

…Many thanks for those that signed my petition - it's proof even a small act of change can make a difference and hopefully make children see they are represented in the media they consume.

Please do watch Gok read this story! The link to the episodes are here:

Gok Wan reads My Mum is a Lioness: https://www.bbc.co.uk/.../cbeebies-bedtime-stories-819...

Shauna Shim reads The Girls: https://www.bbc.co.uk/.../cbeebies-bedtime-stories-675..."