As the BBC closes in on a new director general, the possibility again arises that it could be a woman. The talk is of the former BBC One controller Jay Hunt, the former Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon or the former BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore.
At this point in the BBC’s history, almost everyone would applaud a woman at the top – but clearly the institution needs a lot more than a woman, however pioneering and accomplished, at the helm. We know from the excoriating report commissioned by the broadcaster itself that it has a grave problem with dwindling numbers of “older women” presenters. Trevor Phillips, 72, still shines at Sky, while David Aaronovitch, 71, is deservedly a fixture on Radio 4: they’re just older men, experienced journalists, doing their thing.
But women are different, it seems – especially after midlife, according to the report, with a “noticeable mismatch” at the BBC in the treatment of women over 60 in news, in content more broadly and in regional broadcasting (so pretty much everything).
This will come as zero surprise to female broadcasters who have been saying this for years, but who have been fobbed off by too-busy-to-care commissioners or have been urged to be content with a short slot on someone else’s presenting gig (usually a man’s). Worse, they will have been made to feel pushy or insistent for wanting a fair share of the limelight. Any new director general, male or female, needs to know how this plays out – and to figure out how to change it.
From the report, we see that the broadcaster has made progress with female presenters under 50, so something clearly happens to make them disappear thereafter. That process can seem inexorable. They move from being called “veteran” reporters to appearing less and less, and then just giving up on attempts to get the good-quality work they want. They move into a parallel world as opportunities dwindle and others are picked for roles they were not encouraged to apply for, filling openings they never knew existed.
There are women inside the organisation who have taken it to task – including in legal disputes, alleging unfair practices as they aged. But winning legal battles is not the same as changing a culture.
I can speak to the feeling of a largish group of broadcasters whom I call “inside-outers”: those connected to, but not directly employed by, the corporation. We have been around at the BBC but can speak independently. I started commentating from the wars in Yugoslavia and from Moscow when Boris Yeltsin was Russian president. I now present on the arts and ideas show Free Thinking, and appear as a Moral Maze panellist on Radio 4. That is a very agreeable situation, and broadcasters do worry about being seen as whingers, which can become a double bind. If we don’t raise an issue, we are judged to be content – not just for ourselves, but with the situation in general.
The new director general will need to be more keenly aware of the excuses that facilitate this disappearing of female presenters, whether staff or freelance. Here is some of the overfamiliar reasoning: “We need to refresh the coverage or range of voices, so this means ringing the changes.” This will be followed by the realisation that the programme’s solid bloke has survived the “refresh” because they are an authoritative kingpin, while the women have been refreshed out.
Another fob-off runs: “Your name will be at the table.” Never believe this. Clearly, a broadcaster can’t run a Britain’s Got Talent-style quest every time a vacancy opens, but when the circle of applicants is drawn tight and the process is opaque, who actually gets anywhere near the table and who is excluded on the grounds that they don’t fit is the point.
There’s also: “What’s the problem? You’re doing fine as it is – and anyway, there is a queue round the block to host Gardeners’ Question Time/Just a Minute/Whatever show you’re interested in.” Translated, it means: “I cannot be bothered with this conversation.”
No one would say the problem is exclusive to the BBC. Who can forget the “Last fuckable day” skit by Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patricia Arquette, highlighting the sell-by date on women getting sexy Hollywood roles. This is the less sexy equivalent. But we do expect more from a broadcaster that is also a thought leader.
In a 2017 article for the Guardian, I wrote: “The BBC’s intellectual spadework is still done mainly by men of a similar outlook and type. Director general Tony Hall should get on with changing that, but distortions will persist until broadcasters think more adventurously about what women are capable of.”
That was nine years ago now. How much opportunity and talent has been washed away since then? How much more in TV, in radio and now in podcasting will be squandered unless someone finally stops BBC women disappearing?
Incoming director general, whether you’re male or female: good luck. So many female broadcasters inside and outside the Beeb’s walls would be happy to hear from you.
Anne McElvoy is executive editor at Politico and host of Politics at Sam and Anne’s, as well as a BBC contributor
