The number of women reporters on the BBC’s flagship 10pm news broadcast is down. How so? Pernicious bloke-ism by the programme’s editor, Craig Oliver?
Well, if you only pursued a strategy of putting on air the BBC’s editors — its best journalists — you would pack your running order with:
- Nick Robinson, Politics
- Robert Peston, Business
- Mark Easton, Home Affairs
- Justin Webb, North America
- Jeremy Bowen, Middle East
- Mark Mardell, Europe
- John Simpson, World Affairs
- Mihir Bose, Sport
Room for a different chromosome? Ah yes…
- Stephanie Flanders, Economics
Who is to blame for this sexual disbalance? After all, Oliver didn’t make those appointments. It must be the management: Helen Boaden, Director of News? Maybe for reporting it’s Fran Unsworth, Head of Newsgathering?
Just kidding. The BBC has an impressive tranche of female executives. But news organizations don’t make life easy for women journalists who want to have kids and stay working. Look at the number of female reporters who took redundo (buy-outs) at the BBC recently.
So is this really about sexism? I don’t think so.
Read between the lines. Oliver wants the top team on the 10. That’s more male than female (blame legacy appointments). With the new, leaner Beeb newsgathering régime that puts pressure on assigners. The result is conflict.
In political organizations, warfare manifests itself not in bloody frontal assaults but in tactical flanking manoeuvres like the one against Oliver and his programme. And what was it Henry Kissinger used to say of universities…
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Without sounding too much like one of those daft BBC Have Your Say commenters, I wonder what the reaction would be if the imbalance was in favour of women?
Sexism? Or a triumph for the females?
Yep,I’m sure that news organisations make life difficult for women reporters Adrian but are they any different to any other organisation in that respect.
You make a good point.You put your best people forward,it is not the BBC news’ fault that at the present time they all happen to be men
Peter Horrocks has very kindly said that one of the “senior sources” in this story was in fact him. See this post on my blog:
http://nickreynoldsatwork.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/i-hate-senior-sources/
NB I work for the BBC but the views expressed on my personal blog are my own.
@Dave Not much likelihood of that…see below
@Nigel Take a look at this study of why there are so few women consultants in the NHS…
@Nick Thanks for the heads up on your blog. Surprised to see PH put his name to this: “Because of the intensive nature of TV news, there are fewer senior female correspondents…” See NHS study above. An argument for a little Norwegian-style encouragement?
To re-cap my argument above:
1. Women get a rough deal out of the news business.
2. Anonymous complaints that an editor only uses the people that the selection system has placed at the front of the queue are missing the point.
@Nigel Oops. The study url…