BBC Women Reporting the World

This book explores the changing experiences and roles of the BBC's female journalists. Featuring original interview content, the book focuses on the careers of female foreign correspondents, from Kate Adie to Shaimaa Khalil. It begins by examining the power structures and gender-based assumptions widespread in the BBC from its inception through to the 1970s and 1980s, when international reporting opportunities first opened up for women, and then charts the changes that took place between the 1980s to the 2020s, including the recent controversy surrounding pay inequality. Featuring insights and anecdotes from the women themselves, it will appeal to a broad range of readers interested in the BBC, news journalism and gender, while also informing evolving academic debates around public service broadcasting, international news flows, media practice and issues of gender, race, class and power in the media industry.

Colleen Murrell is Professor of Journalism at Dublin City University, Ireland. In her previous career she worked as a producer, reporter and news editor for a number of international broadcasters including the BBC, ITN, AP, TF1, CBC and ABC Australia. Murrell is the author of Foreign Correspondents and International Newsgathering: The Role of Fixers (2015) and tweets @ivorytowerjourn.