“Sofagate” put some fizz into our often soporific morning television last week. It was all change on the settee – superficially at least – as the female presenters, among them Holly Willoughby on This Morning and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain, both on ITV1, swapped places with their male co-presenters. “Do you prefer Piers Morgan on the left or the right – or totally out of sight?” asked one tweet.

In broadcasting terms, the seating plan is not about viewers’ preferences, but about who is the boss. The “camera left” position denotes seniority because of the way we read – from left to right. When Dan Walker, 38, a rookie on the sofa, recently joined Louise Minchin, 47, a veteran of 10 years of BBC Breakfast, she rightly complained that he was in her place, a place she had earned on merit. The BBC’s lame excuse for seating Walker on the left was that because he is so much taller than Minchin it is more pleasing to the viewer’s eye.

Anne Diamond, writing in the Daily Mail, soon peeled away that varnish. Thirty years ago, on her first appearance co-presenting a news programme, she said the floor manager ordered her to change her jacket because it clashed with the male presenter’s shirt. “Remember,” Diamond was told, “he’s the anchor, and you’re just the screen wife.” Have things got any better since then?

“In some ways I think we’ve gone backwards,” says Claire Annesley, professor of politics at the University of Sussex, who specialises in gender equality and political representation. “Women engaged in serious politics and holding senior positions on screen are even more policed now about what they look like and how they are expected to behave. At the same time, the robust male way of battering politicians in interviews prevails, yet we do have examples – Mishal Husain, for instance on Radio 4’s Today – that show how, given the opportunity, women can hold authority to account in their own way, and prove just as effective at eliciting information.”

Sexism in television is more subtle now – not least because the law allows penalties to be exacted – but prejudice persists and a bias holds sway. Talent is there in abundance – such as Katya Adler, Martha Kearney, Lyse Doucet, Kirsty Wark, Lindsey Hilsum and Cathy Newman on Channel 4 News (Newman last week reported ignoring the demand of one producer to straighten her naturally curly hair to get ahead) – but very few, like Kay Burley, hold the television fort alone.

Women are not only rarely trusted alone as anchors in current affairs and news programmes, they are also often given the “soft” subjects – kittens, cooking and kiddies – and that itself signals a clear message. In all its forms, the media shape and set the agenda. Diversity on screen and in print matters because that’s how to reflect the audience and its priorities. So how is that we have yet to see a female equivalent of David Dimbleby, who is still broadcasting in his late 70s? And why is Sunday morning viewing – that often dictates much of the political coverage for the week ahead – just wall-to wall white males?

Andrew Marr, Nicky Campbell, Andrew Neil and Dermot Murnaghan, across the channels, are soon to be joined by Robert Peston, launching his new series, Peston on Sunday, on ITV1 in the spring. Grace Wyndham Goldie worked at the BBC for more than 40 years from its television birth in 1936. She shaped many of its formats for major current affairs series, including Tonight, Panorama and That Was The Week That Was. Among her “team” of “big beast” presenters were the late Richard Dimbleby, Cliff Michelmore (who died last week) and David Frost. Women were considered homemakers and therefore had no place in serious current affairs. But what’s the justification today?

“That male breadwinner model is still deeply rooted in society’s psyche,” says Dr Eva Neitzert of the Women’s Budget Group, a network of over 300 leading feminist policy analysts and academics. “Male jobs are still seen as ‘proper’ jobs and more important.”

Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, says: “The idea of the male [TV] anchor in sole charge perpetuates a society that doesn’t exist any more. It’s an unhealthy reflection of the state of our politics. The audience sees who is in the hot seat and knows that doesn’t reflect the talent in our country. It contributes to the democratic deficit that is widening between Westminster politics and the people.”

In 2012, a study conducted in 18 countries, including the UK, found that equal representation of women in the media provided positive role models for other women, helped to gain the confidence of women as sources of stories and potential interviewees, and attracted a female audience. Common sense says it also has to affect what goes on the agenda.

On Thursday, for instance, the Women’s Budget Group issued a press release that pointed out that if George Osborne had invested 2% of GDP in care, he could have created twice as many jobs as the same investment in construction. Meanwhile, £2bn in cuts will come from public sector pensions, disproportionately impacting on women, who are the majority of public sector employees. Neither issue has been much discussed. It takes a critical mass of women in the newsroom and on screen, not just a handful, before agendas are radically altered.

Professor Jean Seaton, the official historian of the BBC, says the corporation is doing more than most, but the lack of women as senior anchors has an impact.

“Women have been huge beneficiaries of the welfare state,” she says. “The public investment in universities, childcare, care and in public sector employment have all helped women to progress, but now that’s under severe threat.” Why should a woman “man up” to compete with Peston or Marr, Seaton asks. “If a woman does that, she loses some of the very capabilities that we need.”

One argument for not giving women the alpha anchor post is that they lack “gravitas”. In an interview for the Sunday Times recently, Peston discussed his wardrobe, his hair, his vanity, his arrogance and his delivery. He added: “Every now and then, I think I should get a grown-up job.” A woman giving a similar interview would be classed as lightweight, witless and immature.

Three years ago, the Labour party’s commission on older women established that across BBC television and radio, Sky, ITN and Channel 5, there were just 26 women aged over 50 working as regular presenters, out of a total of 481.

Thirty years ago, in Denmark, I watched a female equivalent to Marr or Peston ably handle a debate between three male politicians. She was in her 30s, had a stud in her nose and multi-coloured hair. What mattered was not her age, gender, looks, colour of skin or (hippy) outfit, but the fact that she could do her job. In our television menopoly, how far are we away from that? And how much are we missing as a result?

Big beasts...

Richard Dimbleby War correspondent in second world war; 1950s anchor of BBC flagship current affairs programme Panorama, commentator at Royal weddings and state funerals. Died 1965.

Cliff Michelmore Anchor of BBC nightly current affairs show Tonight from 1957 to 1965 and covered major breaking stories such as the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Broadcasting into his eighties. Died last week.

Robin Day Presenter of Panorama 1966-2000 and BBC’s Question Time 1979-89. Known as “The Grand Inquisitor” for abrasive interviewing style. Fronted election programmes and BBC’s Newsnight.

John Freeman Presenter of Panorama in the 1960s and Face to Face from 1959. Labour politician and diplomat. Chairman of London Weekend Television 1972-84.

David Frost Hosted BBC’s That Was the Week That Was in the 1960s; Breakfast with Frost on the BBC 1993-2005; Frost Over the World for Al-Jazeera England 2006-12.

Jeremy Paxman Presented BBC’s Newsnight for 25 years until his departure in 2014 – known for his abrasive interviewing style.

Andrew Marr Former editor of the Independent, has presented what is now called The Andrew Marr show on BBC Sunday mornings since 2005.

Kay Burley Sky News anchor and presenter since 1988.

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