Progress report for
50:50 The Equality Project
Achievement at a glance
For the first time, the BBC and its 50:50 partner organisations published their gender data together.In March, teams were challenged to see how many could reach 50% women contributors.
At the BBC, 70% of datasets featured 50% women contributors in March, compared to 36% when they first started.
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.
Next Steps
The 50:50 network is committed to creating content that reflects our world. To do this we continue to grow the coalition. This will be across the global and a range of sectors, including public broadcasters, journalism schools and the world’s leading companies. We will continue to support and promote 50:50 and commit to holding a 50:50 Challenge every March and to detail our progress annually. See more on our commitments at: https://www.bbc.com/5050/aboutus/commitmentBeneficiaries
Audiences and consumers
Actions
Audiences are at the heart of everything we do. The aim of 50:50 The Equality Project is to increase representation so the media better reflects the audience it serves.In February 2021, BBC Audiences conducted a survey of 2,180 BBC online users. These services include BBC websites, iPlayer and BBC Sounds. The responses underline the increasing value of fair representation in BBC output.
Respondents were asked if they had noticed a change in the balance of men and women in BBC online content over the last two years. Of those who did, 62% felt there had been a shift towards more women. Three percent thought the number of men had increased.
Among 16 to 34 year-olds, 44% said they enjoy BBC online content more as a result of seeing and hearing from more women. In the same age group, 57%* of female audiences agreed.
Meanwhile, 58% of women aged 16 to 34 said they visit BBC websites and online services more often because of greater female representation. This is a 12 percentage point increase on the previous year’s survey.
For further detail and methodology see: https://www.bbc.com/5050/impact2021/audiences