Corrie wins race award

Maya's dramatic revenge attack on Dev in Coronation Street has led to the soap picking up a major race award.

11:59 29 June 2005

Maya's dramatic revenge attack on Dev in Coronation Street has led to the soap picking up a major race award.

At the Race in Media awards (RIMAs) last night, Corrie was named the TV soap that did most to challenging negative racial and ethnic stereotypes in Britain.

Mad Maya's frenzied burning of Dev's shops caught the eye of the judging panel at the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), winning it the gong ahead of rival EastEnders.

"[This year's winners] have all helped to challenge negative stereotypes and increase understanding about the many different communities that make up Britain," said CRE chief Trevor Phillips.

"After 13 years of trying to get the media to pay any attention at all to race issues, the quality of tonight's winners shows just how far we've come."

Mr Phillips paid particular tribute to reality TV at the awards, saying the format has "done more for racial and ethnic understanding than any other media creation in recent years".

He said shows such as Big Brother introduced the British public to people they would never normally meet - and in doing so challenged their perceptions of what those people were like.

Talking about The Apprentice star Saira Khan, he said: "Who would ever say Asian women are sweet, submissive and silent after watching her in action? So I think it's had a positive effect.

"And one other point, the man behind Big Brother, Pete Bazalgette, tells me that when they look at the voting, what they find is that young people particularly are not voting on racial lines."