Progress report for
50:50 The Equality Project
Achievement at a glance
In April 2021, the third 50:50 Impact Report was launched. See full report here: https://www.bbc.com/5050/impact202150:50 The Equality Project supports the BBC and other organisations to create content that better reflects the world around us.
The Project began as a grassroots initiative in the BBC’s London newsroom in 2017. It now involves 670 BBC teams and more than 100 partner organisations in 26 countries – all working towards one goal: equal representation of women and men in content.
This report shows, for the first time, the BBC’s progress alongside our 50:50 partner organisations.
In March, teams were challenged to see how many could reach 50% women contributors. Within the BBC, the challenge included how many could consistently meet 50:50 from October 2020 to March 2021.
In a year that saw the coronavirus pandemic have a devastating impact on lives and industries globally, the data suggested that achieving gender balance remained a priority for the global 50:50 network.
At the BBC, 70% of datasets featured 50% women contributors in March, compared to 36% when they first started. Forty percent also proved consistency.
Across the global 50:50 network, 41 organisations took part in the challenge. Half of the datasets submitted featured at least 50% women. All are committed to continue improving women’s representation in their output.
In October 2020, the BBC announced 50:50 monitoring was expanding to include representation of ethnicity and disability. This supports the Corporation’s aim to reach 50% women, 20% black, Asian and minority ethnic, and 12% disabled representation on-screen, on-air and in lead roles across all genres.
Over 220 teams across the BBC have now committed to using 50:50 monitoring to increase their representation of ethnic minority and disabled contributors.
This report evidences how 50:50 is contributing to sustained culture change across the creative industries and beyond.
Beneficiaries
More than 650 teams across the BBC and over 100 partners in 26 countries are now committed to 50:50. Our full partners list can be found on the 50:50 website here: https://www.bbc.com/5050/partners/home
Actions
Our partners from across media, PR, academia, business and the legal sector are committed to creating media content that reflects our world. This is how we intend to continue our work together:50:50 in public broadcasters globally: We are working with public service broadcasters around the world to deliver diverse content for the countries and audiences we serve.
50:50 in journalism schools around the world: We are creating a global 50:50 academic network to inspire the next generation of journalists.
50:50 in the world’s leading companies: The world’s most high-profile businesses are significant content creators and media contributors. We are working with them to inspire a shift in how the business sector is reflected in the media.
Use 50:50’s success to inspire better representation of our diverse societies: From ethnicity to disability to socio-economic diversity, we will work with our global partners to use 50:50 to improve the portrayal of under-represented groups across the media.
50:50 Month will be held annually: We will continue to support and promote 50:50 and commit to holding a 50:50 Month every March and to detail our progress annually.