Female BBC presenters attack salary review
Many of the BBC’S most famous female television and radio personalities attacked the corporation yesterday for failing to close the gender pay gap quickly enough. As Lord Hall, the BBC’S director-general, delivered a keynote speech vowing to go “further, faster” to end the disparity between gender pay, female presenters complained the changes were taking too long. The BBC boss had hoped his decision to launch three separate salary reviews would quell the dismay caused by a report revealing how top earners were mainly white and male.
MANY of the BBC’S top female presenters attacked the corporation yesterday for failing to close the gender pay gap quickly enough.
As Lord Hall, the BBC’S director-general, vowed to go “further, faster” to end the disparity, female presenters complained it was taking too long.
After the corporation had endured months of criticism as well as threats of legal action, Lord Hall blamed “structural and societal” problems within the organisation for the differences in pay.
But even in the run-up to his announcement, presenters including Mishal Husain, Kirsty Wark, Jane Hill, Jane Garvey, Jo Coburn, Joanna Gosling and Victoria Derbyshire tweeted a statement from BBC Women demanding “equal pay and fair pay … now”.
“The director-general must be in no doubt about how serious an issue equal and fair pay is for women across the organisation. The BBC should be the standard bearer for this,” the statement reads. “We await the swift release of meaningful data that we can trust and for solutions that will rectify injustices to be put in place before the end of the year. We need full transparency.
“Our aim is to change things for women in broadcasting now, and to encourage and reassure young women coming into the industry, whatever their role. We will be monitoring developments to ensure real change happens, and quickly.”
Garvey, the Woman’s Hour host, drew up the statement early yesterday after The Daily Telegraph revealed details of Lord Hall’s planned audit. She then tweeted: “If I’ve learnt anything: women need to get together, stick together, speak up for each other. Or nothing will change.” In his speech to BBC staff, Lord Hall announced a gender pay review. Eversheds, the BBC’S lawyers, and PWC, its accountants, will carry out an independent equal salary review. Finally, the BBC will conduct a review of its approach to “on-air talent”, including presenters, journalists and editors.
“Our gap is primarily about the different balance of men and women at different levels,” said Lord Hall. “It’s based on the whole picture across the organisation, and the causes tend to be structural, and societal.”
While the first two reviews will last about six weeks, the analysis of the “onair talent” salaries is expected to take considerably longer.
Samira Ahmed, a Radio 4 presenter, tweeted a call for equal pay, adding “Now, stop the boys’ club privilege”.
Clare Balding said: “Interesting announcements. Much work to be done. Thanks to all (including some men).”
‘We await the swift release of meaningful data … and for solutions that will rectify injustices to be put in place’
Lord Hall, director-general of the BBC, evidently does not believe in doing things by halves. In response to the summer controversy over the pay of the Corporation’s highest earners, he has announced three separate reviews. These will cover the gap in salary levels between men and women doing similar jobs; an audit covering other aspects of equal pay; and a review of pay and diversity among on-air stars.
Since one of the reviews concerns the entire staff of the BBC and another will focus on on-air “talent”, the replication might be justified. But there will be a suspicion that the Corporation is using process to confuse the issue. In an address to staff, Lord Hall was adamant that he intended to bring about change and address the principal concerns of staff.
When the salaries of high earners being awarded above £150,000 a year were published in July, female presenters were furious to discover that many of their male counterparts were far better paid. But the group that Lord Hall most needs to placate is not the BBC’S staff but the TV licence-fee payers, many of whom were less bothered about the gender gap than the pay levels themselves. Salaries of more than £100,000 are common at executive level and by no means confined to on-air presenters.
The aim of publishing this information – something the BBC strongly resisted – was not to enable aggrieved employees to leverage a rise but to control the overall pay bill. If Lord Hall’s trio of reviews leads to a fall in total pay, as high salaries are brought down, rather than lower ones increased, then the exercise in transparency will have worked. We have our doubts, but wait to see.