More women on BBC – but most of us don’t notice!

MORE women are taking part in BBC shows than ever before – but it seems most of us have failed to notice.

An internal report says the 50:50 Project – which aims to have women making half of all contributions to BBC shows by next year – has already made big strides.

Flagship programmes including The Andrew Marr Show, The One Show and BBC Breakfast have achieved a balance, but a quarter of the 500 BBC teams taking part in the project are still too ‘maleheavy’, according to the report.

The initiative was launched following a survey last year which pointed out that two-thirds of all reporters, analysts and commentators were men.

A survey found that only a third of viewers had noticed more females on screen, says the report. But one in five said ‘women increased enjoyment’ and younger viewers were more likely to approve.

The BBC says it has been difficult to achieve an exact balance because of the need to cover staff holidays and because the worlds of politics and business are very male-dominated.

But Miranda Holt of BBC Live said: ‘Our team’s success in 50:50 has given us the satisfaction of seeing new voices – politicians, journalists and commentators – on all our live political programmes.’

Other media groups such as the Financial Times, ABC News and STV in Scotland are set to copy the BBC’s drive to monitor and promote gender balance.

Director general Lord Hall said: ‘I want the BBC to lead the way on equality and fairness and this project demonstrates what can be achieved.

‘Better representation is something the whole media industry needs... so I’m really pleased others are now following us.’