The Aspen Institute UK, in partnership with the European Union Delegation to the UK, convened an expert panel at Europe House in London, for a conversation on female leadership in the media industry. This insightful discussion took place to mark International Women’s Day 2022.
The event featured five prominent women leaders in the media from across the UK and the EU. The conversation was moderated by Deborah Bonetti, the Director of the Foreign Press Association, and included panellists Stefanie Bolzen, UK and Ireland correspondent for WELT and WELT am Sonntag; Suzanne Franks, Professor of Journalism at City, University of London; Megha Mohan, Global gender and identity correspondent for BBC World Service; Alison Phillips, Deputy Editor-in-chief of the Daily Mirror, and Beth Rigby, Political Editor at Sky News.
The conversation focused on recent changes in the media industry’s culture and workforce, and the impact of these changes on women in the sector. The panellists celebrated the improvement of gender parity in the media industry in recent years, making it clear that further progress was needed to achieve true equality. The panel also engaged in critical debate on several important challenges faced by women in the media industry. The first key challenge: balancing professional and childcare commitments. The most popular option amongst the panellists to solving the balancing act of home and work life was the possibility of job sharing. Beth Rigby called for more open discussion about the challenge of childcare, to raise awareness of the ‘many different models’ of family arrangements that can help women balance commitments. Representation in the workplace was the next challenge addressed in the conversation. The number of women in editorial positions is still lower than men, however, representation of women on air had improved. The panellists emphasised the need to include not just more women, but people of colour, as well as other people of more diverse backgrounds. Interestingly, Beth Rigby described how Sky News had made efforts to diversify those seen on camera but could show much more improvement behind the camera.
The discussion then turned to the representation of female experts in interviews. Professor Franks cited her research showing the discrepancy to the number of female to male experts interviewed on media outlets and emphasised that a sense of imposter syndrome commonly prevents women experts from agreeing to speak on air. The panellists then discussed how women are held to a higher standard than men in order to prove themselves, and must then continue to prove themselves repeatedly to retain their reputation. Stefanie Bolzen emphasised that there is a self-confidence divide not only between men and women, but also between ‘those who have been to private schools in the UK and those who have not’. Alison Phillips suggested that women often hold themselves to higher standards than men, which can impede confidence. The issue of confidence only has solutions at a societal level, by reducing the pressure on girls and young women to be brilliant. Megha Mohan concurred, further stating that it was important not to ‘pigeon hole’ women into certain roles to allow them to thrive.
The seminar was a definitive success, and offered fascinating insight into the current media climate for women. Many thanks to all the panellists and moderator, and special thanks to the EU Delegation for collaboration on the event.