Almost one in three of the 100 most influential people in media this year are women – up by more than half on last year – but men still dominate the most powerful positions in the industry. Power lists are invariably criticised for being too male, pale and stale and the MediaGuardian 100 has proved no exception. The increasing influence of technology companies, often headed by men, has done little to reverse the trend. Yet this year, several women from Taylor Swift to regulator Sharon White and a new global editor-in-chief at the Guardian, Katharine Viner, have helped redress that balance. When it comes to ethnic diversity, the situation is far worse with less than 10% of the top 100 from BAME backgrounds. Trevor Phillips, a former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and judge both this year and in 2001, said the media industry, particularly in the UK, still tended to see white men as the obvious choice for leaders. “The leadership cadre still consists of people of a particular colour or background,” he said. Researchers at Webber Phillips found that of the 55 people who sit on the key broadcasting boards just two, at Ofcom and the BBC, were not white, just 3.6%. The situation is not much better on the most important print media boards. While board-level positions are still overwhelmingly held by white men, more women than ever before wield influence over the industry. Women are increasingly taking control of their own careers with ramifications for others, particularly in the music business. Singer Taylor Swift is the highest ranking woman for the second year running after our judges cited the fact that she “singlehandedly” took on Apple and convinced the technology giant that artists should be paid for their music. More than one newspaper and broadcast executive called for Taylor Swifts for their own industries. Swift is joined in the top 10 by the woman responsible for regulating the British media industry at an important juncture. White. Sharon White, the highest new entry among the women on the list, must tackle the long-running review of the Premier League’s TV rights auction, plus, potentially, more regulation of the BBC. Among the big US technology companies, the most powerful is YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, while the most influential woman in British newspapers is the recently-returned Rebekah Brooks and in television is BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore. The youngest female new entry is 27-year-old Adele whose latest album, 25, has broken records and who made a stand against how much streaming services Spotify and Apple Music pay artists by withholding 25 from them. Overall, the MediaGuardian 100 reflect other research on diversity. Prof Lis Howell, the head of broadcasting at City University’s department of journalism, recently measured how the gender balance of experts on TV news has changed since her last study in 2014 and found that male experts still outnumber female experts on the main TV news bulletins by more than three to one. However, there has been some progress, particularly on Radio 4’s flagship Today programme, which has halved the ratio of men to women over the last five years. Interestingly in the BBC’s Woman’s Hour most powerful top 10 influencers, six women were from the media, including most of those on our list such as Viner, MediaCom CEO Karen Blackett and Caitlyn Jenner, while just two made the corporation’s 100 Women series – Chilean magazine editor Paula Escobar, comedian Megan Grano and Moldovan camera woman Alina Gracheva. When it comes to ethnic diversity American companies do far better than British ones. US tech giants are still largely dominated by white men despite the appointment of men such as Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. . Of the top 10 BAME representatives, five hail from the US while three – Lenny Henry, Amol Rajan and Sharon White – are British. The issue of diversity has been put on the British media industry’s agenda by Henry who made a rallying call last year to boost the low number of black people in the television industries so his campaign may bear fruit in years to come.
Almost one in three of the 100 most influential people in media this year are women , up by over half on last year . However , women still hold the most powerful positions in the industry according to the MediaGuardian 100 list . The increasing influence of technology companies , often headed by men , has done little to reverse the trend . Less than 10 per cent of the top 100 people are from BAME backgrounds . Researchers at Morgan Phillips found that of the 55 people who sit on the key broadcasting boards just two ( 3.6 per cent ) , at Ofcom and the BBC , were not white . When it comes to ethnic diversity American companies do far better than British ones . However , US tech companies are still largely dominated by white men .