In an Attempt to Stop Being a Massive Sausage-Fest, BBC Launches 'Expert Woman Database'
LatestIn response to criticism that it relies far too heavily on male sources, the BBC has taken the famed “binder full of women” technology into the 21st century by launching a database — and an accompanying YouTube channel — of female experts on a variety of topics, with the goal of increasing the female presence on radio and television.
Studies have shown that male experts are four times more likely to get radio or TV airtime than females, but BBC’s lack of female representation is particularly extreme — a 2011 report in The Guardian that 83.5% of the reporters and guests on Radio 4’s flagship news program Today were men. The new database strives to bridge this gap, noting that the problem is two-pronged: not only do editors and journalists lack access to female experts, but also female experts are less likely to volunteer for opportunities to share their knowledge, as Gail Collins of The New York Times told Poynter.