UK broadcasters have committed to avoiding the use of the acronym BAME “wherever possible” following the publication of an industry report, provided by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre For Media Diversity.

The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have all welcomed the findings from the study which included interviews with academics, journalists and focus groups. The report found that the catch-all term was “used to hide failings in the representation of specific ethnic groups”. As a result, broadcasters will move away from using the term BAME in newsrooms and corporate communications in order to acknowledge the non-homogenous experience of people from different ethnic backgrounds.

Ahead, writer Namitha Aravind explains why she has never used the term.

What does BAME mean? Why we need to stop treating Black, Asian and minority ethnicities as one