By Dean Eastmond
Bournemouth University’s Dr Kate Murphy (Senior Lecturer in Radio Production) featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this Saturday talking about the 80th anniversary of a woman presenting on the radio.
Former actress, Sheila Borrett, applied for the role of Radio Announcer in 1933 and raised a lot of controversy as her job was seen as a typically male dominated position.
“She was very glamorous with that lovely fruity voice and it’s a shame she didn’t go down well…” said Dr Murphy, who has researched the history of women in radio and the BBC.
She added. “The majority of complaint letters came from women”.
With Sheila Borrett’s first broadcast airing on the 29th July 1933, Dr Murphy explained that even though “the BBC was seen as a modern organisation”, Borrett wasn’t as popular and successful as the BBC thought she would be.
Dr Murphy continued by explaining that “there was a huge outcry so the BBC panicked”.
However 90% of positive letters were written by women.
Women had been heard on radio before Borrett, but as experts in their fields of work as opposed to presenters and announcers. Names such as Virginia Woolf were mentioned during the interview as examples of people that had appeared as guests on BBC radio.
Kate also spoke about the subject on the BBC World Service.
Listen to the full interview on The Today Programme
Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.