BBC general director Tony Hall has answered the open letter sent by some female broadcasters over the issue of "gender pay gap." In his response, Hall announced that the move to end the gender pay disparities of the public broadcasters would be accelerated. He also promised that by the end of this year, there would be a "marked difference" in their salaries. The issue in the salary was brought up by a group of public broadcasters, which became highlight last week after the annual report of BBC salary was disclosed, wherein more than half of its highest-paid broadcaster were men.
Women are paid less compared to men
The open letter was signed by BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, news anchor Katty Kay and The One Show host Alex Jones. According to the Deadline, BBC has been known for years of having gender pay issues. These women hoped that he pubcaster “had to be pushed into transparency to do what is right.
The release of the salary report last week showed that the highest-paid journalists were men, topped by Radio Two DJ and Top Gear presenter Chris Evans earning at least 2.86 million per year. The salary of Chris Evans is said to be more than four times the salary of the highest-paid woman broadcaster of the channel, Claudia Winkleman which only earns between $586,444 to $650,000 per year.
Women who wrote the open letter said that the salary disclosure confirmed their suspicions that women are paid less at the BBC.
An immediate response to the open letter
The last week's disclosure of annual salary report of the BBC employees has confirmed and also revealed the issue of "Gender Pay Gap." Following the announcement, 42 female BBC on-air talents wrote an open letter last Sunday demanding to fix the "gender pay differences" immediately.
Toy Hall, immediately responded to that open letter saying "a solution for that matter is already under way. Hall promised that a change in salary would be implemented by the end of this year. "Ther would be a lot of appointments and consultations over the next few months so we can immediately solve the problem before autumn."
The salary disclosure has brought a harsh spotlight on the gap and Hall has admitted that an action must be executed to correct it.Tony Hall wrote a letter saying that BBC had been closing the issue on "gender pay inequality" over the last fours years."I am committed to close the gap by 2020, and if we can get there earlier, then we will," Harry wrote.
