Gender Imbalance Continues to be an issue at 2FM in 2021

 

In July 2013 Darragh McManus in his Radio Column in the Irish Independent[1] wrote, when it was announced that Louise McSharry would temporarily replace Ryan Tubridy on 2 FM,

‘It’s a big deal because Louise McSharry as you will have gathered from the name, is female. And 2FM is almost entirely a female free zone. Out of the roughly 20 shows in a normal week three are hosted by females (one co-hosting with a man). None are anywhere near primetime.’

He added,

‘The fact that taxpayers fund 2FM – and half are women- seems to make it worse’.

2013

Half those taxpayers by inference are therefore men and are entitled to equal representation on the 2FM airwaves, gender equality. The issue now is the under representation of the male voice as presenters/DJs on the national pop channel and reverse inequality. As of March 25^th 2021, this was the line up on 2FM,

6am             Doireann Garrihy

9am             Jennifer Zamperelli

12 Noon      Tracy Clifford

3pm             Jenny Greene

6pm             Game on Presented by Marie Crowe (with Ruby Walsh & Donnacha O’Callaghan)

7pm             Tara Stewart

10pm           Dan Hegarty

News          Jan O’Connell

But how far has equality come and now surpassed itself on the national airwaves. By 2014, a Women on the Air conference claimed only 25% of voices on Irish airwaves were female. Jenny Greene at the time said,

‘a woman should only be allowed on the air if she is good enough’.

 Fellow broadcaster Alison Curtis who works as the national commercial station Today FM said,

‘I don’t think you should put somebody on based on their gender, we need to divide the talent equally but put the best on the air’.[2]

In 2017, the journal.ie in an article titled ‘'You won't hear a woman's voice, and it's not acceptable': What are Irish radio stations doing about gender balance?

They reported,

‘Fierce discussion has been taking place about gender balance in Irish radio, after it emerged this month that two of the country’s most high-profile stations, Today FM and Newstalk (part of the Communicorp stable), do not have any women on air during peak listening times of 7am – 7pm.’

In 2018, The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) asked the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to monitor the Irish airwaves for gender balance on a yearly basis but the emphasis seemed to only focus on gender balance as it affected women not male broadcasters.

As of March 2021, from 6am to Midnight, only 11% of on air voices as male, a different gender imbalance. It may absolutely be the case that only the best should be heard on air, those most popular with listeners.  This has to be balanced with the JNLR figures in November 2020 which saw 2FM lose listeners and Newstalk becoming the second most listened to station Nationwide[3].

 

Much has been made of gender equality in the workplace over the past decade and major strides have been made in numerous male dominated industries. There has been an improved balance with the Irish radio industry but just as the campaign to gain greater acceptance of female recognition and opportunities, the same must now be applied to the gender imbalance against the males in the industry. Gender disparity in favour of female presenters is not gender equality. The gender equality that RTE DG Dee Forbes said she would address[4] when she was appointed in April 2016 has yet to find a balance.

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[1] Page 89 Irish Independent 27^th July 2013

[2] Interview with Woman’s Way Magazine

[3] https://radiotoday.ie/2020/11/a-boost-for-newstalk-in-the-latest-jnlr-results/

[4] Sunday Independent April 3^rd 2016