BBC Women Reporting the World

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 new 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.

Each chapter profiles a different correspondent, featuring their insights, stories and reporting experiences. They all faced challenges to achieve their goals, however they also brought their passion, expertise and determination to bear on carving out their desired careers.

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 (Johnson) is a professor of journalism at Dublin City University and a former producer, reporter and news editor for media companies including the BBC, ITN, and AP. She grew up in London and Brussels and for 20+ years lived in Melbourne. As a journalist she worked in the field across the Middle East, Europe and in Washington and was a news editor in charge of daily coverage on many of the big global stories. In Australia she worked as a presenter and reporter for SBS World News and Radio Australia. Her PhD and first book were on the topic of fixers and their role in newsgathering. She is the chair of the editorial committee of The Conversation.UK, a publication for which she writes regularly.

Caroline Wyatt reported on global affairs for more than two decades, working as a foreign correspondent and reporting on defence and conflict in places including Kosovo, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq and the wider Middle East. She began her BBC career as a news and current affairs trainee in 1991, becoming BBC Germany Correspondent, BBC Moscow Correspondent and later the BBC Paris Correspondent. She was BBC Defence Correspondent from 2007 – 2014, and BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent from 2014. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2015. In 2016, Caroline moved from global reporting to radio presenting and documentary-making. She presents Radio 4’s Saturday PM programme.