BBC 'got it wrong on women'
The BBC director-general, Mark Thompson, has admitted the broadcaster does not have enough older female newsreaders and presenters. He said the corporation had a case to answer over the lack of older women in key news and current affairs presenting roles.
He acknowledged that the landmark age-discrimination employment tribunal brought by ex-Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly, 54, had been an important wake-up"call for the BBC.
In recent years, the BBC has come under criticism for perceived ageism and sexism in its handling of senior female presenters including O'Reilly, newsreader Moira Stuart and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips.
In an article for the Daily Mail, Thompson writes that there are too few women among the BBC's most senior on-air specialist journalists, particluarly those who conducted the big political interviews.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/09/bbc-policy-women-mark-thompson
