Introduction

This report outlines the gender pay position at Journal Media Limited, an online media and publishing company with 59 employees as of June 2025.

Workforce Composition

‍

Engineering, product and senior sports editorial roles remain male-dominated, while news, commercial and creative functions are balanced.

Gender Pay Metrics

Hourly Pay Gap

• Mean: 6.73%‍
• Median: 24.0%

Bonus Gap

• Mean: 21.43%
• ‍Median: 11.15%

Bonus Receipt

BIK Receipt

Part-time / Temporary

Insufficient numbers for meaningful analysis

Pay Quartiles

Understanding the Gender Pay Gap at Journal Media

Several structural factors influence the gender pay gaps reported for 2025:

‍

Differences in Role Distribution

• Engineering roles, which typically command higher salary ranges due to market demand, are predominantly held by men.
  
• Senior roles in sport are also male-dominated.
  
• In contrast, more balanced representation exists in news, commercial, and creative teams, where pay bands vary significantly depending on level and tenure.

‍

Across Journal Media, gender pay outcomes are broadly balanced at lower and middle pay bands. However, a gender pay gap emerges at the upper quartile of pay. Women represent 38% of employees in the upper pay quartile, while men account for 62%. This imbalance is further reflected at the highest salary band, of which 75% are held by men and 25% by women.

‍

Our gender pay gap is primarily attributable to the distribution of men and women across different levels of seniority. The concentration of men in the most senior and highest-paid roles has a disproportionate impact on the overall reported figures.  (Please note that due to the relatively small size of the organisation, and the limited number of roles within the upper pay quartile, changes to individual positions can have a material impact on reported percentages. Nonetheless, the data provides a meaningful insight into gender representation at senior levels.)

‍

Bonus and BIK Participation

• The bonus pay gap (mean 21.43%, median 11.15%) reflects the concentration of men in roles with greater access to performance-related or market-driven bonus structures, particularly within engineering and commercial leadership.
  
• Benefit-in-kind (BIK) receipt is consistent across genders (96.43% of women, 93.55% of men), indicating strong parity in access to non-salary benefits.

‍

Pay Quartiles

The quartile data shows:

‍

• The upper quartile (senior and specialist roles) is 62% male, reflecting the concentration of men in engineering/product and senior sports editorial positions.
  
• The upper middle quartile is more female-represented at 60%, linked to the strong presence of women in mid-senior news, and commercial functions.
  
• The lower middle and lower quartiles are relatively balanced, indicating good gender representation across early-career roles.
  
  

These patterns demonstrate that our gender pay gap is primarily driven by the distribution of genders across different functions and seniority levels.

What We Are Doing

Journal Media is committed to improving gender balance at senior levels over time. Actions include reviewing progression pathways, supporting internal development and promotion opportunities, and ensuring that recruitment and succession planning processes promote gender balance and fairness. We have delivered on the below actions:

‍

• Introducing structured salary bands and publishing them internally.
  
• Supporting Career Development and Progression.
  
• Improving Transparency Around Pay and Bonus Structures.
• Supporting Flexible and Inclusive Working Practices.
  
• Building an Inclusive Culture.

Declaration

We confirm this report is accurate and compliant.

‍Signed: Sinead Casey, Head of People, Journal Media