Almost three times as many male as female experts featured on the UK’s flagship TV and radio news programmes in March as the media focused on the political handling of the coronavirus outbreak across Britain.
Research focused on the makeup of experts appearing on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC News At Ten, ITV News at Ten, Kay Burley’s breakfast show on Sky News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News found an imbalance of 2.7 men for every female expert.
The imbalance represents a three-year high, according to data gathered by the Expert Women project (EWP) from City, University of London.
Lis Howell, professor emeritus of journalism at the university and director of the EWP, said: “In a time of uncertainty and speculation in March, nearly three times as many expert men as women were interviewed."
“Those men were mostly politicians or advisers put forward by the government. Editors have expressed frustration with this. It probably reflects the fact that the cabinet has a ratio of five men to one woman at the most senior level.”
The EWP, which has been running for five years, said the ratio of male experts was up more than 20 compared with February, during which an average of 1.9 male experts appeared on the news programmes for every female expert.
The biggest imbalance in March’s snapshot data was found on the Today programme. It recorded a ratio of 11.5 to one in favour male experts, a result described as a “blip”, largely owing to coverage of the budget.
Sarah Sands, editor of the Today programme, said: “Achieving a diverse range of guests is very important for Today and across the BBC we have actively been working to ensure more gender balance on air.”
Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News were the only programmes not to increase the proportion of male experts appearing between February and March.
The report noted that as the government lockdown loomed in March amid speculation about strategies, most news programmes used more politicians and government spokesmen. This is a heavily male-dominated group, which significantly skewed the imbalance in expert appearances.
The report said: “Editors were searching for speakers to discuss political strategy. “They had no choice but to interview more political men.” It found male appearances were five times that of females among political and government experts.
When politicians and government appointees and spokesman were excluded from the March figures to focus on “establishment figures”, such as academics and representatives of key organisations, the ratio of male to female experts dropped to an average of 1.7 to 1.
Howell said after the lockdown came into force, the levels of male expert dominance on programmes overall reduced by about 20% in April, back to average overall levels the EWP would expect of around 2.1 to 1.
The report said this was because news programmes began to balance their coverage of government policy with reports on the practical impact of the virus, such as the NHS and care homes, enabling higher levels of female representation and experts.
Howell said: “After lockdown in April, editors made a determined and challenging effort to shift the news agenda to healthcare, and the ratio of expert women to men went up noticeably and was much fairer to women.
“Interestingly, once the daily briefings started, although they were very male dominated, they were contained, leaving editors more freedom to follow the healthcare story. As a result, far more women experts appeared on air, from hospitals, care homes and charities. Editors made huge logistical efforts to move the story into hospitals and care homes.”
There may be a second surge this month in the imbalance of male expert dominance appearing in the news programmes when the news focus shifts back to the government.
Howell said: “The tendency to showcase male politicians may recur in May when there is uncertainty about new lockdown rules and a fragile economy. Government spokespeople and various advisers could come to the forefront again.”
