2023: Gender Inequality in the Media Industry: Women in Media Face Unequal Pay and Opportunities

Executive Summary

Women working in the media industry are currently experiencing gender inequality compared to male workers concerning work opportunities and unequal pay. According to the Women In Media Insight Report 2023, women's top three reasons to leave their media careers are “lack of opportunities, remuneration, and disengagement” (Women In Media Insight Report, 2023, p. 13). This issue affects not only women currently working in the industry but also women wanting to work in and study media.

This report discusses recommendations to prevent gender inequalities in the media industry in the future. By conducting regular gender pay audits in media corporations, the gender pay gap will decrease, and employers will be held accountable for not ensuring their workplace has gender equality. Following and making amendments to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 will ensure that all media companies adhere to providing gender equality. Finally, a system of establishing pay based on experience should be established to ensure that the media industry does not continue to discriminate against gender. 

Introduction

Gender inequality in the media industry has been an ongoing issue. The industry’s above-average gender pay gap of 16% has women concerned about the progression towards equality (Wotton, 2022). It discourages women from entering media, increasing the gender imbalance and entrenching a heavily male-dominated industry.

The Women In Media Insight Reports demonstrate gender inequality in the media industry. The report found that 85% of women surveyed believe that gender pay audits need to be addressed, the “industry’s commitment to gender equality [was] somewhat weak”, and the lack of opportunities women in the media face is a key driver in the dissatisfaction with their careers (Women In Media Insight Report, 2023, p. 14, 18, 19).

The gender inequity in media reflects poorly on the industry and society. By paying women less money or providing them less opportunities for a job they are qualified for, the media industry is reinforcing that women are less valued in society. It demonstrates that if women are less valued than men in a work environment, they are also less valued in other aspects of life. This inequality provides society with the idea that media is not progressing towards equality, but instead, it is regressing to a place where men are deemed more valuable and important than women.

 History of the Gender Pay Gap

Throughout history, women have fought the systematic disadvantages they face in industries. Although the disadvantages have decreased, the fight for gender equality continues. The attempt to receive equal pay and opportunities has been an ongoing process with subtle successes, involving active participation in protests and supporting the idea that equal pay should become law (Equal Pay for Women, 2022).

A critical moment in time for Australian workplace gender equality came in 1969 when the “established… general female award minimum wage [was] at 85% of the male minimum wage” (Equal Pay for Women, 2022).  Protests resulted in women receiving equal pay for ‘male standard’ work, where it can be established that workloads are identical. However, all other women in industries that were not recognised for doing ‘the exact same’ work as men still received the standardised female minimum wage. This decision was reviewed in 1972, revealing that only a small percentage of the female working population benefited from equal pay. After review, women who worked similarly and had equal value to men in the workplace could receive the same rate as their male co-workers (Equal Pay for Women, 2022). But again, this rule had limitations and did not apply to all women in the workforce. The rule only applied to the 40% of female workers whose jobs were classed as equally valuable as male jobs in society’s eyes (Equal Pay for Women, 2022).

While the gender pay gap has reduced over time, it is still an issue that governments and industry bodies must address. In the past, action was not taken towards closing the gap without women taking a stand and participating in protests. Women must continue to work hard to achieve a pay rate equal to men and demonstrate to society that it does not reflect well on governments or businesses for women to be paid less than men anymore.

Industry Bodies and Legislation Involved

The Australian non-profit organisation ‘Women in Media’ has been working towards gender equality in the media industry since 2005. They aim to “contribute to career advancement and recognition” and provide “access to resources through mentoring, industry programs and events” (About Us, n.d.). They also award eligible women with scholarship funds to help grow their skills and knowledge in the industry. For the past two years, the organisation has created in-depth reports that create awareness of gender inequalities in media and “highlight issues that women feel [need] to be immediately addressed by employers” (Women in Media Insight Report, 2023, p. 28). The data from these reports is collected from surveys conducted across Australia, and many of the results support the claims of inequality. This organisation has driven the progression of gender equality in the media industry. It encourages women to become confident in their rights to equal pay and opportunities and gives them access to relevant information about the speed of progress.

The ‘Workplace Gender Equality Agency’ also assists in creating awareness of gender equality in media as it presents findings on the gender pay gap in all industries. It is a government initiative that “calculates the national gender pay gap using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Average Weekly Earnings” (Gender Pay Gap Data, n.d.). The agency is under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The latest statistics on the website include “22.3% of CEOs in Australia are women” and “only 1 in 4 organisations have a gender-balanced leadership team” (WGEA Scorecard, 2023).

The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was created to prevent workplace gender inequality. Some objectives of the act include “to promote and improve gender equality… including equal remuneration between women and men… in the workplace” and “to promote… the elimination of discrimination [based on] gender” (Workplace Gender Equality Act, 2012). This act holds employers accountable for the gender inequality they may cause and ensures there are legal obligations to those who do not follow the act. However, there are limits to this act that present ‘loopholes’ for employers. The legislation only applies to employers if they have “100 or more employees in Australia” (Workplace Gender Equality Act, 2012). This presents a challenge when attempting to get small businesses to adhere to gender equality and ignores the many smaller digital media outlets that have arisen in recent years.

Case Studies of Gender Inequality in the Media Industry

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson is a radio co-host on the Kyle and Jackie O’ Breakfast Show who received unequal pay in her media field. She has worked in radio since 1993 on various networks and shows (Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, n.d.). Although her radio experience is diverse, Henderson became a victim of the gender pay gap and received a significantly smaller salary than her male co-host, Kyle Sandilands. When the ‘Kyle and Jackie O Show’ commenced in 1999, Henderson’s salary was $80,000, less than half of Sandilands’ annual rate of $258,000 (Madigan, 2022). Allegedly, Sandilands’ was unaware of the inequality in pay, and once he became aware, he attempted to fight for Henderson to receive an equal pay rate. Sandilands’ offered to give up part of his salary to compensate for his co-host. Eventually, Henderson’s salary was raised to be equal to Sandilands’ (Madigan, 2022).

Although Sandilands’ actions addressed the gender pay gap issue, the media focused solely on his contribution rather than the issue itself. An article in ‘News.com’ neglected Henderson’s struggle with gender inequality. Instead, it addressed how Sandilands’ reacted to the issue. The article portrayed him as a ‘feminist hero’, and the gender inequality Henderson faced was largely ignored. This media case illustrates how men can be centred around female gender inequality in work environments. Women continue to work towards achieving equality with little recognition, but when men fight for gender equality, the issue is deemed more relevant in the media.

Lisa Wilkinson’s experience on the Channel Nine show ‘Today’ shone a light on gender inequality. Wilkinson co-hosted the show for ten years alongside Karl Stefanovic, who began hosting two years prior (Meade, 2017). According to an article in ‘The Guardian’, Wilkinson earned $1.1 million in 2017, while Stefanovic earned $2 million (Meade, 2017). Wilkinson demanded that she receive $2.3 million as compensation for her lesser salary, and Channel Nine instead offered her $1.8 million. Once her request was denied, she resigned and joined the Channel Ten news network. However, Channel Nine reported to the media that Wilkinson was working for multiple news networks, resulting in her lesser pay compared to Stefanovic, who worked exclusively for Channel Nine (Meade, 2017).

Wilkinson did not confirm nor deny the allegations of her working for multiple news networks or if the pay gap was why she left Channel Nine. However, the gender pay inequity she experienced with the ‘Today’ show demonstrates how significant the gender pay gap is in the media industry. Wilkinson has worked as a journalist for four decades in various media, including television, radio, and publishing. She has more real-world experience than Stefanovic, who has only worked in media for 25 years (Meet the Team, n.d.). This demonstrates that her lower salary was not due to less experience or knowledge. Wilkinson’s significant pay gap was unnecessary and unacceptable in her high-level position and reinforces that the media industry does not take action to close the gender pay gap unless pressured to do so.

 Recommendations

Several key measures could help ensure greater gender equity. Gender pay audits, amending and abiding by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, and having more women in senior management for support will assist in creating equality and help women feel valued as employees.

Gender pay audits are a process conducted to “analyse any gender pay gaps… [and] attempt to identify the reasons behind these gaps” (Gender Pay Gap Reporting Equal Pay Audits, 2023). The main goal of gender pay audits is to find inequities in gender by performing assessments that include determining “the proportion of women and men in different positions [and] an analysis of the job evaluation” (Gender Pay Gap Reporting Equal Pay Audits, 2023). These assessments benefit the media industry as they determine weaknesses in gender equality and hold organisations accountable for permitting unequal pay. Participating in these assessments also demonstrates to female workers that inequalities are being actively investigated, helping women feel more valued in the workplace.

By amending the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, all media organisations will be legally obligated to prevent gender inequality. The act does not cater to small businesses with less than one hundred employees, allowing those businesses to have gender pay gaps and fewer opportunities for women. Gender inequalities must be recognised in all businesses rather than just large media news corporations, and the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 should reflect this. 

Having more women in managerial positions will decrease power imbalance and create extra support for female employees. Having female managers and CEOs break the standard inequalities of pay and opportunities will help ensure there is no inequality in gender. Assuming they have experienced it themselves, women will be more likely to work towards equality in the workplace rather than just ignoring it. This will also support female employees when they experience gender inequality; they may receive more empathy towards their situation compared to if they were to talk to a male boss.

 Conclusion

The media industry has made progress towards gender equality, but solutions must be in place that prevent employers from continuing to participate. Gender pay audits will ensure employers are held accountable for underpaying female employees. Changing the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to ensure that it includes small business employers will prevent gender inequalities from escaping the eyes of the law. By hiring females in managerial positions, the media industry will take a proactive approach to preventing gender inequality.

Gender inequality in media is ultimately a reflection of society.  Because the media is an influential industry, its reflection holds more weight to demonstrate equality in gender, ethnicity, and class. It is absurd that women still face inequity in pay and opportunities as they makeup fifty per cent of the population and should be expected to receive equal pay to men. The value assigned in a capitalist system is largely monetary in under-valuing women. It has flowed on the impacts of how women are generally perceived. Continuing to participate in gender inequality in the media industry will present further issues with devaluing women in society.

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