C4 pledges gender equality in current affairs

Channel 4 has pledged that its current affairs and specialist factual documentaries are to be equally directed by men and women.

C4 is the first broadcaster to sign up to the We Are Doc Women campaign for gender equality, which the group launched after finding that men are three times more likely as women to direct a British documentary.

It joins indies including Middlechild, Mindhouse, Flicker Productions, Lambent Productions, Yeti Media, Goldstar Docs and ie ie Productions in committing to the pledge.

C4 head of news, current affairs, specialist factual and sport Louisa Compton said on Twitter that the WADW campaign is “a really important one for the TV industry...so am v pleased to announce that C4's current affairs dept is signed up to it - joining our team in specialist factual who already work towards this”.

Last week, WADW highlighted that Strictly Come Dancing multi-camera director Nikki Parsons was the only woman among the 12 directors nominated for this year’s Bafta TV Craft Awards.

C4 current affairs commission Rape: Who's On Trial? [main picture], directed by producer-directors Imogen Wynell-Mayow and Rachel Lob-Levyt, was among the winners at the RTS Awards this month.