According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women are paid 20% less than men globally. And journalism is no exception.
While some media houses claim they have adopted salary scales to prove their good will towards equal pay, access to promotions, bonuses, remuneration in kind are not usually made public.
On top ot this, motherhood is another factor that inevitably brings another wage penalty that will affect a woman's whole career.
Recent pay scandals at the BBC have shown that even public service broadcasters that must comply with public service mission and have endorsed solid policies to enhance gender equality in newsroom have failed to pay their staff equally. At least seven hundred women journalists received pay rises following a 2020 court ruling acknowledging that presenter Samira Ahmed was paid 6 times less than her male counterpart presenting a similar programme.
On International Equal Pay Day, the federation reminds world governments of the importance of adopting strong pay equality acts and calls on world media to adopt clear transparency principles on wages by following its 6 tips for equal pay.
- use transparent pay scales in newsrooms
- publicly advertise all jobs openings
- establish equal-opportunity policy
- conduct annual evaluation of all staff
- conduct an equal-pay audit at workplaces (average male and female pay) and publish the results
- make sure people going on maternity/paternity/parental leave return to the same job with the same working conditions and pay
IFJ Gender Council chair Maria Angeles Samperio said: "The gender pay gap represents a great social injustice in our profession. It is time for media to treat their workers equally, no matter their gender and origin. The IFJ's tips are a good starting point for this and we strongly encourage media to use them and work hand-in-hand with unions to develop strong transparency policies in their newsrooms".