A top BBC editor found out male peers were earning 50 percent more. So she resigned.
‘Enough is enough’
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Carrie Grace.
Carrie Gracie, one of BBC’s most senior journalists, has accused the media organization of having a “secretive and illegal” pay structure that had her male peers making 50 percent more than her.
She resigned from her post as China editor last week but will continue working at the news outlet.
In an open letter published Sunday evening, Gracie accused the BBC of “breaking equality law.”
“The BBC belongs to you, the licence fee payer. I believe you have a right to know that it is breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure,” she wrote.
BBC reveals top earners
Last July, the BBC was forced to reveal the salaries of all employees earning a salary higher than £150,000. In fact, the vast majority of the BBC’s highest-paid employees were men.
The disclosures saw some of the BBC’s biggest stars, including Gracie, calling publicly for pay equity using the hashtag “#BBCWomen.” The BBC conducted an audit, only to determine there was no gap — a finding Gracie contests.
In her letter, Gracie said “up to 200 women” have made complaints since the BBC disclosed the pay details of its top earners.
Gracie takes action
The BBC has four international editors, two male and two female, Gracie said. Last summer, she learned that the two men earned 50 percent more than the two women.
Gracie asked for parity, but did not get it. So, she is leaving the China post and returning to the newsroom, where she “expects to be paid equally.”
“Enough is enough. The rise of China is one of the biggest stories of our time and one of the hardest to tell. I cannot do it justice while battling my bosses and a byzantine complaints process,” she wrote.
Journalists in Britain and China applauded her and expressed solidarity using the hashtag #IStandWithCarrie.
Gracie closed her letter by calling on all companies — not just the BBC — to pay women what they are worth.
“We are by no means the only workplace with hidden pay discrimination and the pressure for transparency is only growing. I hope rival news organisations will not use this letter as a stick with which to beat the BBC, but instead reflect on their own equality issues,” she wrote.
