The Gender Pay Gap in the South African Media Sector

This chapter examines gender pay disparity globally and in South Africa to investigate whether increased transparency on behalf of media and communications companies in gender pay reporting could prompt positive gains in closing the gender pay gap in the sector. The issue of gender pay inequity in the media sector is contextualised by assessing international examples, including contestations over gender pay at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and within the communications technology industry. Lessons are drawn from instances where media and communications companies began to close the gender pay gap among employees after having initiated the practice of transparent gender pay reporting. Reid concludes by examining the gender pay gap in the media sector in South Africa and assesses the gender pay reporting mechanisms currently existent in the country, finding these to be inadequate to address gender pay disparity in the local media sector.

Citation: Reid, J. 2022. The Gender Pay Gap in the South African Media Sector, in Women Journalists in South Africa. Democracy in the Age of Social Media, edited by Glenda Daniels and Kate Skinner, Palgrave Macmillan: London. ISBN 978-3-031-12695-6

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