BBC Expert Women database and YouTube channel launched

Acting BBC Director-General Tim Davie today announced the launch of a vital new resource for programme makers looking for female specialist contributors: the BBC Expert Women database and YouTube channel.

Published: 18 March 2013

The database contains details of the 60 women who have so far received training via BBC Academy Expert Women Days, a series of free events designed to address the lack of on-air female representation in certain subject areas. It also includes details of a further 120 women who showed promise in their applications.

The BBC Expert Women YouTube channel features videos of successful Expert Women trainees presenting to camera on one of their specialist subjects. Originally filmed as audition tapes for one of the events, the short clips have now been compiled into an easily accessible database of female experts that is sorted into their broad subject areas.

Tim Davie launched the database and channel on 18 March at the third Expert Women’s Day event to be held at the BBC Academy’s headquarters in London.

Here, 60 women who had previously taken part in events in January and March had been invited back for an intensive day of advanced training designed to improve their on-air skills and teach them how to pitch ideas for programmes and features.

Keynote speakers on the day, which was supported by BBC Diversity and Creative Skillset, included historian and broadcaster Lucy Worsley and BBC Two Controller Janice Hadlow. High profile commissioners and producers were also on hand to experience the newly-trained pitching prowess of the expert women, and stayed for networking drinks.

The BBC Academy and BBC North are also currently on the hunt for further female experts to take part in Expert Women’s Day North – a free training event taking place at MediaCityUK in Salford on 1 May 2013.

The day is the culmination of a season of BBC North events designed to support the development of on-air talent and will help boost the representation of women in the media in particular areas of specialty. Aimed at women who want to take part in television and radio programmes that are made in the North of England, it follows on from the Expert Women’s Day events held by the BBC Academy in London.

In line with previous days, it will offer an introduction to the media, including practical experiences in front of a camera and in a radio studio, as well as masterclasses with industry professionals and experienced programme makers.

The team are looking for women experts in the following subject areas: sport; politics, economics and business; Islam; science; gadgets and consumer tech; crime and security. Further information and application details are on the BBC Academy website.

Many of the original 30 women trained by the BBC Academy in January have since appeared as contributors on or been commissioned by radio and TV programmes.

They include:

  • Natalie Starkey, space scientist and cosmochemist, who appeared on a BBC Breakfast piece about the asteroid fly-by that was filmed in her lab. This also went out on Newsround, BBC World Service and Radio 4. She has subsequently appeared on the BBC News Channel, Horizon and Sky News, and has been interviewed by The Guardian and the Huffington Post
  • Charlotte Connelly, a curator at the Science Museum appeared on Radio 4’s Last Word discussing the impact of Tingye Li’s work on lasers. She also appeared BBC Two’s The Genius Of Invention as an in-studio expert guest discussing the development of the electric telegraph, and on BBC Radio Humberside as a contributor to the live Saturday morning show
  • Elizabeth Pearson, astrophysicist, appeared on the BBC News Channel discussing the meteor incident in Russia, and also featured on Radio 5 live and BBC Two. Following this she was asked to appear in the Channel 4 documentary Meteor Strike: Fireball From Space
  • Alcohol and addiction expert Sally Marlow was commissioned by the Today programme to produce a report on alcohol addiction, which was then subsequently rebroadcast on the BBC World Service
  • Gemma Allen, historian, has featured on Radio 4’s Woman's Hour. Deborah Hallett, business expert, has appeared on Today and CNN; Tina Miller, a sociologist, has appeared on Woman’s Hour; Alison Baily, a political analyst, appeared on BBC Radio Oxford and Katherine Woolf, a lecturer in medical Education, appeared on BBC World News show GMT

Notes for Editors

The BBC Academy's Expert Women training days aim to address a proven lack of female experts and contributors appearing on-air across UK broadcasting. The events originated as a collaboration between the BBC Academy and Broadcast Magazine. They have had support from BBC Diversity, BBC North, Creative Skillset, Channel 4, Sky, ITV and the wider broadcast industry.

Please note: the videos on the Expert Women YouTube channel are presented for information only and were not created by or endorsed by the BBC.

The BBC Academy is the BBC’s centre for training. It houses the Colleges of Journalism, Production, Leadership and the Centre of Technology. As well as training BBC staff, it also has a remit under the terms of the BBC's Charter Agreement to train the wider industry. The BBC Academy aims to share as much of its training as possible with the wider UK broadcasting industry for free. It also offers some of courses on a commercial basis, both within the UK and abroad.

JIW

Tagged: