Media gender pay gap 2024 | MPs accuse BBC of sweeping bad news under rug
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Wednesday 17 April.
The latest figures on gender pay in the media show men are paid on average 11% more than women in the 34 companies we track.
The gap has slightly narrowed compared with a year ago (when it stood at 12%) and most media companies reported an increase in the number of women in the most senior roles.
Charlotte Tobitt has produced a veritable festival of pay gap data, including graphs showing change over the last six years at leading media companies. The good news is that the trend is generally an improving one with some titles (such as the Telegraph and The Economist) making rapid progress towards more gender equality in the workforce.
We also have a report from the Public Accounts Committee which has expressed concerns about the BBC’s decision to slash its local radio output.
Local news publishers have also warned again about the threat they see from ramped up BBC local online coverage.
Publishers say they have seen evidence of the BBC lifting their stories hours later and trumping them in terms of visibility on Google. They fear beefed up BBC local news coverage will hamper their efforts to launch paywalls.
It's certainly true that local news publishers in the US (who do not have to contend with the BBC) have had far more success selling online subscriptions than their counterparts in the UK.
New from Press Gazette
More women in top roles as media industry gender pay gap slowly narrows
Bloomberg (21.7% women), Sun publisher News Group Newspapers (27.5%) and Mirror Group Newspapers (28%) are at the bottom of the table for percentage of women in their top pay band.
MPs accuse BBC of ‘sweeping bad news’ of local radio cuts ‘under the rug’
“We are concerned that the BBC is claiming benefits for Across the UK publicly when it is favourable for it to do so for activities that are not part of the programme, compared with dissociating other activities from the programme when they could be seen as a bad news story, such as cuts to local radio.”
News in brief
The BBC World Service has filed appeal to the UN after current and former BBC News Persian journalists were apparently convicted in absentia in Tehran for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic". It wants the UN to issue a statement condemning ongoing targeting. (BBC)
An NPR senior editor who wrote an unauthorised essay for The Free Press claiming the network had "lost America's trust", upsetting colleagues, has been suspended without pay for five days as a result. (NPR)
Gloucestershire news website SoGlos has appointed co-founder Michelle Fyrne as its first CEO. She teased "big plans around portfolio expansion, commercial growth, enhancing our relationship with our audience and developing proprietary tech". (SoGlos)
Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden says she was denied entry to Rwanda last month while travelling to cover the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. She believes it was due to her reporting on refugee issues and raised concerns about press freedom. (The Journal)
Previously on Press Gazette
Top 50 biggest news websites in the world: Newsweek doubles visits year-on-year in March
Major South African news site ‘shuts down’ for a day to alert readers to ‘crisis in journalism’
Ex-Reach editor-in-chief joins board of Westminster PR agency
Sun and Mail neck and neck in terms of UK audience reach – but one edges ahead
Newsguard downgrades credibility scores for New York Times, GB News and Daily Star
Latest podcast
Podcast 68: How to make news pay on Youtube with TLDR News
Founder of video news network TLDR News Jack Kelly explains how he funds an 11-strong editorial team providing serious news for younger viewers on Youtube.
The profitable publisher is funded mainly through the Youtube ad revenue split and direct-sold sponsorship – but also made a successful foray last year into print publishing.
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Entries are now OPEN for the Future of Media Awards 2024 (which celebrate the best journalism-based digital products). Check out the full list of categories here. Note: These awards are free to enter.