You might think that in 2016 there had been a shift in the number of people of ethnic minorities working in the media and journalism.

There has been a growing number of Asians working in broadcasting but the number is still well below what it should be.

There has been much made by leading public figures of the lack of diversity on our screens. This is clearly still a major issue that must be tackled.

It is all very well putting an ethnic minority face on TV but the fact is the story line is still going to follow the tried and tested formulas revolving around religious extremism and arranged marriage. We have white writers penning scripts for white audiences.

The biggest embarrassment though is in print journalism itself. This, of course, has not been helped by the decline in the circulations of national and local newspapers.

Job losses have been a major feature of the industry. And I agree that the industry is not the best paid and one which continues to go through changes.

Yet, go back 15 years and there was no real effort back then either to change the make-up of newsrooms.

I would say most newsrooms have transgressed completely.

The media is quick to point out the hypocrisy of other organisations on a daily basis but it has failed miserably to look at itself.

Reasons given for this apparent lack of interest in journalism has been the idea that Asian parents want their sons and daughters to follow more lucrative careers.

This is an excuse I have heard from many writers.

But this, like many discussions on ethnic minorities is based on the middle-class perceptions of Asian cultures as they know it.

The fact of the matter is many newsrooms would rather they keep to the traditions that have helped to make journalism an ‘all-white’ industry.

They do it without even knowing it.

Take a look at the news pages of the some of the leading national newspapers.

They are full of what can only be described as ‘semi-racist stories.’ I use the term 'semi-racist' in that the aim is to instigate hatred subtly because that is what writers do best.

We like to insinuate things and the reader knows exactly what we mean but we can’t say it. Who would honestly want anyone sitting in conference and being told you must follow a set agenda against a minority group?

This is not the fault of the journalists who write the stories but the bosses who want to feed a particular narrative about a group of people - may that be of Muslims, Sikhs, Indians or refugees.

One of the saddest facts in modern British day journalism is that xenophobic stories are read far more than others. Even if they based on dubious links newspapers feed that fear.

This is actually common practice in the industry – finding stories that in some way degrade Muslims and asylum seekers.

Some time back I spoke to one organisation who said they had given up sending positive stories to the media.

“We used to do it a lot and then just gave-up. What was the point? No-one wanted to know. But as soon as some shopkeeper took down a Christmas banner all hell broke loose.”

I took a moment to scroll through the listed writers and journalists on the roll at newspapers across the country.

In 2016 some newspapers had no Asian journalists whilst others had a pitiful couple and none of these were in senior roles as such.

You will also find many news website have looked to include a wider range of writers from different backgrounds. Just look at Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post.

There have been strides made by some newspapers, such as the Guardian and the Independent in looking to change their workforce but on the whole it is still a sorry state of affairs.

It is all very well asking for equality in the police, the councils and in our public representatives but the industry is still very much stuck in the seventies.

This, I would say is the last bastion of segregation in the country. Newsrooms full of white middle-class elitists aiming to dictate to their audience their ideas of utopian Britain.

Of course journalists don’t like to be told that they are wrong. But the facts speak for themselves and I would actually like for someone to prove me wrong.