Top British journalist quits over gender pay row
January 7, 2018
In a letter leaked on Sunday, Scottish journalist Carrie Gracie announced that she was resigning her post as the BBC's China editor because the UK broadcaster was "breaking equality law" with its "secretive and illegal pay culture."
Gracie has worked for the BBC since 1987, and rose through the ranks to become one the news outlet's most senior international editors.
In the letter, first obtained by Buzzfeed News, Gracie said she was leaving her post due to "a crisis of trust at the BBC."
"Salary disclosures the BBC was forced to make six months ago revealed not only unacceptably high pay for top presenters and managers but also an indefensible pay gap between men and women doing equal work."
Read more: Opinion: Gender equality at a snail's pace
Gracie went on to say that despite promises to rectify its unequal payment of men and women, she discovered that of the organization's four international editors — two male, two female — her male counterparts earned "at least 50% more than the two women."
Review revealed pay gaps
The letter comes after a months-long scandal over the pay differential between men and women at the British public broadcaster.
In July, a review of the BBC's finances revealed that two-thirds of its star journalists earning more than 150,000 pounds ($203,445) were male, prompting a wider review of the company's compensation practices.
In October, the BBC confirmed that men were on average paid 9 percent higher salaries for equal work.
In a searing open letter to Director General Tony Hall, dozens of the broadcaster's top female talents demanded a more concrete plan for equal pay rather than a promise to "sort" the issue by 2020.