UK newsrooms, particularly at newspapers, have traditionally been hierarchical, with editorial control largely in the hands of departmental editors and editors-in-chief, with some instances of direct proprietorial interference in editorial positions. Representatives of the British press are also notably reticent to discuss newsroom decision-making, and ethnographic studies of UK newsrooms in recent years are rare. Reviews of governance and editorial policies in major UK newspapers by the Leveson Inquiry (2011-2012) found newsrooms to be generally hierarchical, with ultimate responsibility for editorial decisions in the hands of top editorial roles (Leveson Inquiry, 2012a, pp.99-156).
More recently, a survey of UK journalists across all sectors by the Reuters Institute found that over half of respondents reported “always” or “very often” participating in editorial and newsroom coordination (such as attending editorial meetings or assigning reporters). However, the level of participation varied significantly depending on the role and seniority of journalists: while 71 per cent of senior managers and 65 per cent of junior managers “always” or “very often” participated, only 27 percent of rank-and-file journalists and 16 per cent of freelance journalists felt the same. In contrast, 65 per cent of freelance journalists and 47 per cent of rank and file journalists reported that they “almost never” or “rarely” participated in editorial coordination (Thurman, Cornia & Kunert, 2016, p.28). This indicates that control over newsrooms continues to be concentrated more in editorial staff than in ordinary journalists.
The Guardian operates a staff ballot for the appointment of editors, with a vote in 2015 installing Katharine Viner as the editor-in-chief (Guardian, 2015). This is, however, an unusual case and editors are traditionally appointed by proprietors, as with the recent appointment of a new editor at the Daily Mail (Waterson, 2018).
There has been a significant increase in the number of women appointed to senior editorial and management positions in UK news organizations. In addition to Katharine Viner’s appointment at the Guardian in 2015, women now edit several UK national newspapers: the Sunday Times and the Sun appointed women editors in 2020; Roula Khalaf became editor of the Financial Times in 2019; and Alison Phillips began editing the Daily Mirror in 2018. In broadcasting, Fran Unsworth became Director of News and Current Affairs at the BBC in 2018, and Louisa Compton was appointed Head of News and Current Affairs and Sport at Channel 4 in March 2020 (succeeding Dorothy Byrne). The BBC has internal targets for women in leadership roles (the 2020 target is 50 per cent; as of March 2019 the figure was 43.8 per cent) (BBC, 2019a, p.81). Sky, owner of Sky News, operates a Women in Leadership programme, encompassing sponsorship and training, with an aim of 50 per cent of leadership roles to be filled with women and a current balance of 39 per cent. Specific figures for Sky News are not included (Sky, n.d.).
