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´óÏó´«Ã½ sees rise in female expert contributors

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´óÏó´«Ã½ Breakfast
Image caption,

´óÏó´«Ã½ Breakfast is hitting the target

In April last year, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ launched its 50:50 challenge, aiming for an equal number of male and female expert contributors on-air and online.

A year on, the results of last month's data have been revealed and show a big boost in female representation.

Nearly three-quarters of ´óÏó´«Ã½ news and current affairs/topical programmes had an equal number of male and female expert contributors.

Only 27% of 74 English language outlets involved had hit the target initially.

Since then, the number of teams signed up to the project across the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has topped 500 and 57% of those groups, including recent joiners, have reached the 50:50 mark.

´óÏó´«Ã½ director general Tony Hall said: "It's amazing to see such a remarkable change in just a year - you can see and hear it right across our programming.

"I want the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to lead the way on equality and fairness, and this project demonstrates what can be achieved."

Image caption,

The One Show reached its 50:50 target last month

More than 20 external media companies have also signed up to replicate the challenge, including the Financial Times and ABC News.

Some of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ programmes that hit the 50:50 target last month included the Andrew Marr Show, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Breakfast, The One Show, Politics Live and Radio 4's Saturday Live.

There has also been progress from teams such as Sportsday, shown on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News Channel.

It started with 20% female voices and in April reached 43%, more than doubling its female representation.

Contributors refers to all ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporters, commentators, spokespeople, analysts, academics and case studies featured across ´óÏó´«Ã½ content.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s 50:50 Project contributes towards the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commitment to reach 50% women on-screen, on-air and in lead roles across all departments by 2020.

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