Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow takes voluntary 25% 'gender pay cut'

Broadcaster thought to be one of highest-paid newsreaders in Britain

Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow has taken a voluntary 25 per cent cut to his salary in an effort to close the organisation’s gender pay gap, the broadcaster has said.

Snow, thought to be one of the highest-paid newsreaders in Britain, took the “gender pay cut” after companies, including Channel 4, were forced to publish the average pay of male and female employees.

“I’ve taken a gender pay cut,” Snow, who had a reported salary of £1m, told the Daily Mail. “I did it as a cooperative gesture. I took the cut over two months ago, 25 per cent.

“Alas, contractually, I am not able to disclose my salary then or now.”

Channel 4 had previously said it was “unacceptable” that the channel had a gender pay gap of 28.6 per cent.

Earlier this year, ITN, which makes daily news programmes for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, revealed it had a 19.6 per cent gender pay gap.

Jon Snow accepted a cut in his salary as a ‘cooperative gesture’ (Getty)

Cathy Newman, who co-hosts Channel 4 News, tweeted: “ITN has 19.6 per cent gender pay gap and staggering 77 per cent bonus gap.

“Shows just how pervasive inequality is. I’m very fortunate to be fairly paid but I will continue speaking out for the many colleagues who aren’t.”

It compares with a report on BBC staff which found the equivalent gender pay gap was 10.7 per cent.

The gender pay gap has been in the headlines since the salaries of top BBC talent were revealed.

Radio 2’s Chris Evans topped the list on more than £2m, while the highest paid woman was Claudia Winkleman on between £450,000 and £499,999.

The Today Programme host John Humphrys volunteered to slash his salary, which has been cut from £600,000-£650,000 to around £250,000-£300,000.

He previously told the Press Association: “The BBC is in a very, very different position from what it was all those years ago when I was, like many other people in the BBC, having money pretty much thrust upon us, because there was loads of money in the BBC ... There was no shortage of cash.”

The gender pay gap refers to the difference in average pay between the sexes across an entire organisation, but is often confused with the issue of equal pay, which is when women are paid less for doing the same job.

Channel 4 declined to comment.

Additional reporting by PA