SOME LEADING MALE presenters at the BBC have agreed to take a pay cut after revelations over equal pay.
According to BBC News, Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Huw Edwards, Jon Sopel and Nicky Campbell have all agreed, either formally or in principle, to reduce their salaries.
The agreements come after BBC’s China editor Carrie Gracie resigned from her position in protest at unequal pay between male and female international editors.
In July 2017, the BBC published a list of its top earners, setting out the pay for staff earning more than £150,000, with two-third of stars raking in more than that being men.
BBC Radio 2′s Chris Evans topped the list, earning between £2.2 million and £2.25 million in 2016/17.
The highest-paid female, Claudia Winkleman, earned strikingly less – between £450,000 and £500,000.
John Humphrys, who presents BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, was shown to earn between £600,000 and £649,99 in 2016/17
Jeremy Vine, a Radio 2 presenter, earned between £700,000 and £749,999.
Nicky Campbell, the Radio 5 Live Breakfast presenter, earned between £400,000 and £449,999.
Huw Edwards raked in up to £599,999 and Jon Sopel took in up to £249,999.
The BBC said it is not yet known how much the reductions in salary will be.
The broadcaster’s media editor, Amol Rajan, said whilst competition in the entertainment industry has intensified, the opposite has happened in news.
“Many of those now taking pay cuts secured generous deals years ago,” Rajan said.
“That world has now disappeared – and these presenters now accept that a chunk of their salaries will have to disappear with it.”
Off-air controversy
Both Sopel and Humphrys caused controversy earlier this month when an off-air conversation about the pay gap issues was recorded and published.
During the exchange, both men reportedly joked about “handing over” pay to keep Gracie in the role, according to the BBC.
Humphrys has since defended his comments as a “jokey” exchange with an “old friend”.
The BBC has said it was “deeply unimpressed” by the exchange.
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