inbrief... news


A MILLION PAY FOR FT The Financial Times has reached a paying readership of one million. The paper says the number has been achieved a year ahead of schedule. The FT introduced a paywall in 2002. Digital subscriptions now account for more than three-quarters of the FT’s circulation and some 70 per cent of FT readers are outside the UK.


BUZZFEED’S GIBSON GOES TO NEW ROLE Janine Gibson, who left her role as Buzzfeed UK editor-in-chief in January, has been appointed an assistant editor at the FT. She joined this month in the newly created role of special projects editor. She will report to editor Lionel Barber and work with news editor Matt Garrahan.


NEW STATESMAN’S LEWIS TO LEAVE New Statesman associate editor Helen Lewis is leaving the weekly news magazine to join the Atlantic. Lewis has been at the title for eight years and recently took time out to write a book on feminism. She joins the Atlantic as a staff writer in July.


BROOKER ENDS HIS RUN OF 60 YEARS Sunday Telegraph columnist Christopher Booker has left following 60 years at the Sunday and daily title. Booker, the first Private Eye editor, started at the Daily Telegraph in 1959 reviewing jazz and then became jazz critic at The Sunday Telegraph. In 1972, he started a column in Saturday’s Telegraph before moving the Sunday title in 1990.


STEVEN SWINFORD GOES TO THE TIMES Steven Swinford, the Telegraph’s deputy political editor, is to move to The Times. He will replace The Times’ deputy political editor Sam Coates, who joins Sky News this summer. Swinford has been in his current role since 2015 and has also worked at the Sunday Times.


06 | theJournalist


‘Salutary moment’ as BBC faces major investigation into equal pay


THE EQUALITY and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has launched an investigation into equal pay at the BBC following complaints from female employees. The commission said it had been in


discussions with the BBC about staff pay for the past year and suspected that some women at the organisation had not received equal pay for equal work. It said: “Having


reviewed all the information received to date, we have therefore used our powers under the Equality Act to open an investigation which will relate to the BBC’s historic policy and pay practices. “The investigation will examine formal and


informal pay grievances raised with the BBC by staff to determine if there has been unlawful pay discrimination and whether grievances have been adequately resolved.” Rebecca Hilsenrath, EHRC chief executive,


said: “Paying men and women the same salary for the same job has been a legal requirement for almost 50 years. Every organisation should know we are fully


committed to ensuring employers comply with equal pay law.” The NUJ has dealt with more than 200 equal pay cases at the BBC, including that of Carrie Gracie, who received an apology from the corporation after quitting her job as China editor over her pay. Michelle Stanistreet said:


“This is a salutary moment for the BBC – putting its enquiries on to a statutory footing is a major step for the EHRC, particularly in light of


the intense engagement with the corporation there has been during the past year. “The EHRC’s starting point for this


investigation – a suspicion that ‘some women at the organisation have not received equal pay for equal work’ – is, in the NUJ’s view, a fact. It is quite clear from the NUJ’s involvement – whether in the informal process, grievances or appeals, and potential tribunal claims – that pay inequity has been a reality at the corporation and that women have lost out in pay, pensions contributions and other terms and conditions. “The BBC is our public service broadcaster and has a responsibility to lead the way on this vital issue.”


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BBC JOURNALISTS have warned that a planned merger of two key radio current affairs programmes – the World Service’s Newshour and Radio 4’s The World Tonight – will damage news coverage and undermine the distinctive voices of the programmes. The merger would result in the loss of six production jobs. The plan is to have one production team and one presenter for both


Newshour, which is on air between 8pm to 9.59pm, and The World Tonight, which is broadcast for 45 minutes at 10pm. Journalists on the programmes said: “This is madness, unless the idea really


is to throw The World Tonight under the bus. It would also do great damage to Newshour. The idea that one team can make two good and different evening news programmes with one presenter back to back is extraordinarily ill conceived and impractical.”


WILL HAYWARD, a reporter for Media Wales, won the two top honours at the 2019 Journalists’ Charity Wales Media Awards. He won Newspaper


Journalist of the Year as well as overall Journalist of the Year for his varied portfolio of work. The judges said he displayed all the attributes of a top


newspaper journalist. They said Hayward


showed forensic-style research, a personality that refused to give up despite being told time and time


The EHRC’s starting point – a suspicion that ‘some women at the BBC have not received equal pay for equal work’ –– is, in the NUJ’s view, a fact


Michelle Stanistreet NUJ general secretary


Alarm over radio programmes’ merger


Hayward wins at Welsh Media Awards


again there was ‘nothing to see here’, and a writing style that was immediate, sharp and witty, drawing the reader in from start to end.


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