BBC Pay ” If believing men and women should be treated equally is what feminism is about then count me in”

Many stories have been doing the rounds today about BBC Pay but one that caught attention has been the pay gap between men and women presenters/journalists in the organisation. Here are the stats very kindly displayed on the BBC Talkback Twitter account.

Two thirds of the top 96 earners at the BBC are men. Does more need to be done to promote gender equality at the BBC? #BBCpaypic.twitter.com/TMgwVo3I3z

— BBC Talkback (@BBCTalkback) July 19, 2017

I could go on about this but a lot of some good arguments about this have been put forward by the local Journalist, Amanda Ferguson who talks about the significance of todays announcement;

‪I never thought of myself in terms of labels. It was only when I became a journalist and people started telling me I was a feminist that I really considered it. If believing men and women should be treated equally is what feminism is about then count me in. Declaration of interest – I sometimes get paid by the BBC (for radio and TV commentary) but I do genuinely like it and think it’s a great organisation which encourages commercial broadcasters to raise standards.

However, I am disgusted by some of the “star” salaries I have seen today. Two thirds of the list is made up of men! I don’t believe Chris Evans is worth £2m of public money but the most troubling issue for me is the gender pay gap between men and women. The highest paid female is Claudia Winkleman on £450-£500K. It’s 2017. I am flabbergasted at the difference. So, as a woman, as a feminist, I make no apology for continuing to bang the drum and keep “going on” about feminist issues. And I won’t stop until we have full equality for all women, everywhere. If that means I’ll be all over this issue like a rash until my dying breath, which is likely, then so be it.

Similar comments have been made by Allison Morris

Can see why the BBC kept those salaries under wraps for so long, the gender pay gap is appalling #BBCPay

— Allison Morris (@AllisonMorris1) July 19, 2017

The BBC has committed to improving the pay gap by 2020 .

David McCann

David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs