The first “Woman on Air” conference April 2014
Panelists included MP Tessa Jowell, campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, Head of the BBC Academy Ann Morrison, Dame Carol Black, Penny Marshall and Krishnan Guru-Murthy. While the average figures for the ratio of men to women experts was 4.4 – 1 it was noted that on some editions of some programme there could be as many as six times as many men experts as women experts, and that programmes with heavy political agendas routinely featured many more male politicians than female politicians.
Ratio of male to female experts:
| Mar 2012 – Oct 2013 | Oct 2013 – Mar 2014 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sky News | 5.0 to 1 | 4.7 to 1 |
| ITV News at Ten | 5.0 to 1 | 4.0 to 1 |
| BBC1 News at Ten | 3.7 to 1 | 4.0 to 1 |
| BBC Radio 4 Today | 3.9 to 1 | 3.6 to 1 |
| Channel 4 News | – | 4.0 to 1 |
| Overall | 4.4 to 1 | 4.1 to 1 |
Women still vastly outnumbered by men on UK radio and TV news
“Two years after an industry campaign was launched to increase the number of women heard on television and radio, male experts still outnumber female experts on the main news programmes by a ratio of four to one” – Jane Martinson, The Guardian, April 2014
Women Experts – or the lack of them – on TV and radio news
“Despite broadcasters’ reporting strenuous efforts to improve the ratio, male experts outnumber female experts by 4-1 on TV and radio news programmes. The figure of 4-1 hasn’t changed in two years. So why is this? Is it a reflection of society? Do women in society have less important roles than men, to the ratio of 80/20? No, that’s not the reason. The evidence is that the ratio of authoritative or expert roles in society is much more 70 per cent to 30 per cent, with a growing proportion of women getting important jobs. So could it be that women are just considered less interesting and less important, by broadcasters? Now, there’s a thought”. – Professor Lis Howell, NUJ, April 2014