Black Collective Of Media In Sport (BCOMS), a UK-based network of sports journalists from African and Caribbean communities, have launched a good practice guide to address the under-representation of ethnic minorities in sports media.

The D Word guide, which covers all areas of diversity, offers the sports media ideas and action points to help tackle low levels of diversity across the industry.

It also highlights the black community’s experience in the sports media in 2014, where only one presenter and one editor were involved in the coverage of the major sports events across mainstream national television channels. In the written press no black football writer from the national press went to the Word Cup.

BCOMS are one of the only two members of the Fare network, founder and sports journalist, Leon Mann, said: “The black community continues to make a significant impact in sport on the field, track and in the ring, but away from the action the levels of diversity are poor. The same can be said for other groups who contributed to this guide.

“The sports media has got better at covering issues of under-representation, but it has needed to have a look at itself in the mirror for sometime. The situation as it is, is uncomfortable to say the least and must be addressed.”

The guide, compiled after the Football People Event Grant D Word conference, held in London last October, also underlines the fact that there has never been a black sports editor at a newspaper, nor a black sports columnist that has not been a professional athlete at the highest level.