Select Committee on Communications WOMEN IN NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS BROADCASTING Evidence Volume Contents Eve Ahmad – written evidence ................................................................................................................ 3 Astute Radio – written evidence............................................................................................................. 5 BBC – written evidence .......................................................................................................................... 18 BBC, ITN and Sky – oral evidence (QQ 19-31) ................................................................................ 26 BBC - supplementary written evidence ............................................................................................... 44 BBC Trust – oral evidence (QQ 32-41) .............................................................................................. 46 Dr Cynthia Carter – written evidence ................................................................................................ 60 Channel 4 – written evidence ................................................................................................................ 68 Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd – written evidence ................................................................................ 74 Creative Diversity Network – written evidence ............................................................................... 80 Creative Skillset – written evidence ..................................................................................................... 81 Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HMG, Government Equalities Office – oral evidence (QQ 60-68) ............................................................................................................................... 88 Dr Josephine Dolan and Estella Tincknell – written evidence........................................................ 98 HMG, Government Equalities Office – written evidence .............................................................. 108 HMG, Government Equalities Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport – oral evidence (QQ 60-68) ............................................................................................................................. 119 Professor Suzanne Franks and Professor Karen Ross – oral evidence (QQ 1-9) ................... 120 Olenka Frenkiel – written evidence ................................................................................................... 134 Laura Frey – written evidence ............................................................................................................. 138 Janet Graves – written evidence ......................................................................................................... 141 ITN – written evidence ......................................................................................................................... 143 ITN, BBC and Sky – oral evidence (19-31) ....................................................................................... 157 ITV Plc – written evidence ................................................................................................................... 158 Liz Leonard – written evidence ........................................................................................................... 169 Penny Marshall, Cathy Newman and Miriam O’Reilly – oral evidence (QQ 42-59) ............... 171 National Union of Journalists – written evidence ........................................................................... 190 National Union of Journalists, Women in Film and Television and Women in Journalism – oral evidence (QQ 10-18) .................................................................................................................... 201 Cathy Newman, Penny Marshall and Miriam O’Reilly – oral evidence (QQ 42-59) ............... 215 Ofcom – written evidence .................................................................................................................... 216 Ofcom – supplementary written evidence ....................................................................................... 224 Deirdre O’Neill - written evidence .................................................................................................... 225 Miriam O’Reilly, Penny Marshall and Cathy Newman – oral evidence (QQ 42-59) ............... 229 Professor Karen Ross and Professor Suzanne Franks – oral evidence (QQ 1-9) ................... 230 Sky – written evidence .......................................................................................................................... 231 Sky, BBC and ITN – oral evidence (QQ 19-31) .............................................................................. 237 Sound Women – written evidence ..................................................................................................... 238 Estella Tincknell and Dr Josephine Dolan – written evidence...................................................... 244 Women in Film and Television, National Union of Journalists, and Women in Journalism – oral evidence (QQ 10-18) .................................................................................................................... 245 Women in Journalism, National Union of Journalists and Women in Film and Television – oral evidence (QQ 10-18) .................................................................................................................... 246 2 Eve Ahmad – written evidence Eve Ahmad – written evidence 1. From 1986, I had an interesting and varied career in the BBC, mainly in radio, until I resigned in 1992 when my daughter was born and my line manager denied me permission to work part time. 2. After that, I was a freelancer in a journalistic capacity for the BBC - until 1998, when I became a single parent and found the night shifts incompatible with my parenting duties. My last role was as a World Service announcer at Bush House. 3. I then began to trade as a freelance print journalist from home, because it fitted in with being a mother. However, I still presented for BBC local radio on an ad hoc basis. 4. That stint ended four years ago. I resigned myself to not working in radio or television and carried on in print journalism. 5. This year, at the age of 54, I could not put aside my enthusiasm for radio any longer. I remained as passionate as ever about the medium. 6. I believed I had much to offer in a broadcast journalist capacity - as a woman, aged 50+, with a mixed race background, and who grew up in a Muslim household – which listeners could relate to. I am intelligent, well informed and something of a ‘news hound’. I have a good CV with a great deal of experience, particularly at the BBC. 7. This summer, I worked unpaid for a local radio station to get my skills up to speed. As a newsreader in that environment, one must write well, have legal know-how, a good voice, operate technical equipment, and act as news editor too. 8. After a while, I was reading the news at the station but still needed a couple more days of unpaid on-the-job training before I could confidently run the news desk solo. In other words, I was 75-80% ready. 9. At that stage, the station told me I was taking too long and the shadow shifts came to an end. Since then, I have done three shifts for a commercial station (Premier) and that is all. 10. In my opinion, older women like me are all but invisible in broadcast media. The BBC local radio station where I did my stint recently was all white and overwhelmingly young. In terms of talent, all but two of the dozen or so presenters were male. 11. News and current affairs in television and radio should be equally representative of men and women. People want to listen to people like them, who’ve had some of the same experiences they’ve had. Meanwhile, most radio presenters appear to be geeky, techy and male. It’s a particular type that, historically, has dominated the airwaves. 3 Eve Ahmad – written evidence 12. I have sent my CV and voice demo to all the radio stations I can feasibly travel to (news reading shifts typically start at 5am for a 6am broadcast) and the reply has been resounding silence. Admittedly, my skills are slightly rusty while the market place is swamped with fully trained young journalism graduates. Nevertheless, I cannot help wondering if it’s actually my lack of youth and gender that are stalling my return to live broadcasting. 13. David Holdsworth, the head of BBC local radio, last year made a commitment to encourage more women to consider careers within BBC local radio. I am a woman who is eager for such a career, but was let go. 14. According to The Press Gazette – Tony Hall, the director-general, set a target for 50% of local breakfast shows to be presented or co-presented by women by the end of this year. There are now 17 female presenters in situ. However, only five of the shows feature women presenting on their own. It will be interesting to see if Lord Hall’s gender target will be met. 15. Meanwhile, David Holdsworth says he wants the future sound of local radio to also take into account age, ethnicity, disability and social class. I am aged 50+ and of mixed heritage, but was let go. 16. The gender imbalance is anachronistic. The situation has moved on much too slowly since the 80s, when I first worked in BBC radio. 17. I exemplify a familiar story: women who leave broadcasting when they become parents, often due to unsociable