How sexist is the media? The figures don’t lie…

This week the BBC Trust outlined new targets it must reach, in an overhaul of its governing structure; it’s about time, too.  This past year has been Auntie’s annus horribilis, from the lives wrecked by Savile to obscene senior management payoffs and the £100 million Digital Media Initiative collapse. There’s a lot to fix – Tony Hall has a clean up operation that even Channel 4’s grimebusters  Kim and Aggie would find too filthy.

One of the major Annual Review recommendations for the Director General is that he must improve and increase the representation of women on air. The Sound Women On Air report, released earlier this year, clearly outlines just how paltry female representation is. Men have cornered 80% of solo radio time; women just 20%. While male-female double heading gets 62% airtime, hearing two women present together is rare, with only 4% of airtime.

So is it lack of female talent, or something more sinister that is keeping women from the airwaves? I have worked as a broadcaster for 18 years and have witnessed some of the reasons why women are not made to feel entirely welcome in the industry. The shocking story of a female presenter who was sacked two weeks after giving birth doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  There’s sexual harassment, and it’s not unheard of for high achieving but average looking female colleagues to be overlooked for promotion in favour of younger, prettier women. Granted this sexism is not exclusive to the world of broadcasting, but with so few women in radio, perhaps the prejudice is felt more sharply.

This links in to the broader problem of endemic sexism; Emma Burnell’s LabourList article this week outlines how misogyny affects public life. And Stella Creasy has been publicly subjected to an onderous sexist comment while speaking eloquently about why we need an end to Page 3. End Violence Against Women has been campaigning hard to draw attention to sexism in the media, but who is writing, reporting, and  presenting these stories? With fairer female representation on air we can begin to tackle this.

A few glasses of wine and a mince pie always make colleagues more relaxed, and at a recent Christmas party, talk turned to how fed up women who work in the media are. Tales of bullying were rife, which is not surprising. A recent BECTU survey revealed the media industry is a bullying hotspot, with one in ten respondents witnessing sexually related harassment. And eight out of 10 women who reported bullying, harassment and discrimination – that’s a shocking 81% – said their gender was a factor. An anti-bullying hotline has been set up for those working in media and entertainment to report abuse at work; it’s just a shame the BBC isn’t taking this seriously. New union recommendations for bullying and harassment complaints have been rejected, and there is a looming threat of industrial action.

There are bright rays of hope. Yes, I high-fived my DAB radio when Mishal Husain joined the Today programme, But the shine wears off when it is revealed she is only the second full-time female presenter on the show in its 56-year history. Radio 2’s record is grim, with no full time female presenters from 6:30am to 7pm. And in local radio, only two women head the 33 breakfast shows across the nation.

Despite the new targets, I don’t feel the industry is doing enough to remedy the situation.  How, exactly, will the improvement and augementation take place? And will it be with full time presenters, or just more girly sidekicks? The industry should be engaging on a grander level, and take its cue from the Labour Party.  All women shortlists were brought in to recalibrate the dearth of female representation in Parliament; yet we still have only 147 female MPs out of a total of 650. Labour outshines the Tories and LibDems, but we have a long way to go before truly equal representation on the green benches.

Making wishy-washy recommendations like the BBC Annual Report may lead to a few more women on air, but it won’t change the behemoth as a whole. The causes need to be tackled, not just the end result.