Working for Auntie Beeb – Talk by Jeannine Baker, Macquarie University, Sydney

Working for Auntie Beeb – Talk by Jeannine Baker, Deputy Director of the Centre for Media History, Macquarie University Sydney, and British Academy Visiting Fellow, University of Sussex.

This project analyses the position, working conditions, and national and professional identity of Australian women who worked at the BBC, within the context of the broadcaster’s role in defining Britishness and fostering imperial connections. It also examines gendered career paths in television and radio broadcasting, with an emphasis on women who worked in technical positions such as camera, editing and engineering. This research enables a comparison with women employed at the Australian Broadcasting Commission/Corporation – an institution that was directly modelled on the BBC, yet provided different opportunities for women. The project is carried out in collaboration with the BBC Connected Histories project team at the University of Sussex.