What a great triumph for feminism – three of the BBC’s ten highest-paid presenters are now women, compared with none last year. That, at any rate, is how the BBC has chosen this morning to cover the publication of its annual report. The story on the BBC website is headed: BBC Pay: Claudia Winkleman, Zoe Ball and Vanessa Feltz among top earners. We can all be proud of how our progressive-minded state broadcaster is taking a lead in the cause of equal pay.
How the BBC covered the story
Or maybe that’s not how most licence fee-payers will see it. The real story, buried deep within the BBC online report, is that the total pay of BBC on-air “talent”, as it likes to call its presenters, rose by £11m – or seven per cent – over the past year to £158.6 million.
The annual report contains a further detail which the BBC news operation does not seem fit to report at all – that the number of presenters being paid more than £150,000 rose from 63 to 75.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in