In a class of their own

Research by a leading educational charity about the top 100 UK press and broadcasting journalists has found that 54 per cent of them attended private schools, compared to 49 per cent 20 years ago. The number who went to university has increased slightly, from 78 per cent to 81 per cent.

However, the proportion who are Oxbridge educated has fallen from 52 per cent to 45 per cent since 1986. Lee Eliot Major, news editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement, led the research carried out by the Sutton Trust. The survey raised several key questions about  representation, privilege, elitism and fairness in the media. For instance, does it matter that the print and broadcast industry is increasingly dominated by middleclass journalists?. Is the media industry less meritocratic, than many other professions?

Peter Cole, head of journalism at Sheffield University and former deputy editor of the Guardian said: 'The dangers of having a particular section of society, white, middleclass, often privately educated, so dominant, are that they see society from that vantage point. It is perhaps why we hear the expression ‘media classes’ these days. It is perhaps why we see such metropolitan bias in our national newspapers, why house prices are always a big story, why expensive restaurants in London are the ones usually reviewed.'

How do you change the current composition of the media and journalism so that it truly reflects the country as a whole?The-Latest wants to know your views.

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