11:42 pm PST 3/2/2021
in
Abid Rahman
Speaking on Australian television, Jenny Cooney said that “she always thought that diversity was no longer about skin color, but about nationalities and where people came from.”
The controversy over the lack of black representation at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the body that organizes the Golden Globe Awards, continues when an Australian member of the HFPA admitted that the organization did not see the lack of black journalists as a “problem” and that the body before it was not really “focused” on increasing the representation of black people.
In an interview on the Australian morning show Today australia, Jenny Cooney, a member of HFPA, was asked directly about the controversy and why, given the global discussion on the issue of black and minority representation last year, the organization had not sought to change the composition of its members before the Globo ceremony this year’s Gold Cup.
“I think that for HFPA, we always consider ourselves to be a culturally diverse group. I think 35% of our members are non-European, coming from all over North Africa, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Japan, ” Cooney said.
She added: “So, the fact that there was no black member was not really something that we focused on, because we were accepting and welcoming everyone who was in LA who wrote for foreign publications, that was just our criterion. . “
“The fact that there are no black members that we really don’t consider a problem, and now, of course, we realized that we should have been a lot more proactive about actually going out of our way to recruit and work with the media, journalists, the press foreign, everywhere, “she continued.
Cooney was then asked whether she personally did not realize that the lack of black members was a problem because she was white. She replied, “I am surrounded by people of all colors at HFPA. I always thought that diversity was more not about skin color, but about nationalities and where people come from.”
She added that, as journalists wrote for specifically foreign publications, she did not understand that “we had to go and find a black man. It seemed very strange.”
When asked what the HFPA was doing to address the lack of black representation, Cooney said the agency was having a “dialogue” with the Times Up and other organizations to fix the situation.
The hosts pressured Cooney again about why the HFPA failed to act despite Black Lives Matter protests last year, and she said COVID-19 caused body problems and also blamed the MPA’s door.
“Remember that all HFPA members must be evaluated first by the Motion Picture Association. It was a way of making sure that all of our members were legitimate journalists, and the MPAA did not have a black member in its national directory, “said Cooney.
The controversy erupted before the Golden Globes ceremony, when the Los Angeles Times reported that HFPA had no black journalists among its 87 strong members, and new reports have emerged that there have been no black members since 2002.
At Sunday’s Golden Globe, after taking pictures of presenters Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, as well as several presenters and winners, HFPA made a superficial recognition of the growing reaction to their lack of diversity.
“We recognize that we have our own work to do,” said Helen Hoehne, from Germany. “As in cinema and television, black representation is vital. We must have black journalists in our organization ”.
Former HFPA president Meher Tatna of India agreed. “We must ensure that everyone has a seat at our table.”
“It means creating an environment where diversity is the norm, not an exception,” agreed Turkish member Ali Sar, without offering further details on how or when the HFPA would do it.
See Cooney’s interview below.