21.8% gender pay gap in radio, TV and film reflects danger of ‘predominately male, middle-aged, white workforce’, says new study
A 21.8% gender pay gap in Australian broadcasting, and 80% of radio presenters being men, impacts the diversity of newsrooms and the proliferation of harmful stereotypes, a new University of South Australia study has found.
The analysis of the country’s radio, TV and film industries uncovered “entrenched gender and diversity imbalance” at the most senior levels, and warned of the dangers of a “predominately male, middle-aged, white workforce projecting their views on Australia”.
The gender imbalance in creative industries reinforces power imbalances and social and economic inequality, the study proposes
Yep, definitely a gender pay gap in radio when the male breakfast announcer at a regional commercial station gets around $45,000 a year plus 15% shift penalty for less than half the shift and 9.5% super while the female breakfast announcer at the ABC just up the road gets over $80,000 a year plus 15% shift penalty for the entire shift and 15.4% super …
The ABC have traditionally paid more than their commercial counterparts on regional areas. A simple look at the job ads will tell you that. Good luck with finding a female breakfast announcer at a regional station on $80k a year.
How much does the female breakfast announcer get at the regional commercial station?
So, a generation of female boomers freely chose to not pursue a career in media, and now that generation of men who worked their way to the top is “problem” that needs to be fixed? Surely the flood of Gen-X and Z’er females entering the industry will correct this naturally without social engineering and the destruction of genuine meritocracy.
Plus, the media’s views are hardly problematic to the woke agenda. Patriarchal tropes are long gone. Sounds like a whine about very little.
“Professor of cultural and creative industries”
Really?
Where can I get one of those?
Obviously to qualify for this doctorate I’d need to agree that white middle aged men are the problematic stereotype to which this “study” gallingly refers.
The other stereotype that comes to mind is the flimsy assertions that are passed off as legitimate research by post-modern anti-intellectual Marxists who created and dominate faux academic fields for purely political reasons.
Thanks for sharing this study @Mumbrella! Awareness and measurement alone makes an impact. Women over 45 are likely at the top of their game too. Let’s all work for some shifts.
I do also believe that there are biases between regional and metro areas too for all kinds of issues including marketing, despite audience sizes being similar at times. However, if we can get the gender issues sorted first the rest will start to flow.
Now is the time for all of us to shift from activism to ‘do-ism’ – Time to do stuff, not rant about the problems. We have the facts now – it isn’t a made up thing. Let’s make the processes that cause this accountable.