Journalist discovers she’s not being paid, and male opponent is, during live debate about misogyny

A debate about free speech and misogyny took a surprising turn on Wednesday when its participants made an almost comically ironic discovery.

Journalist Moya Lothian-McLean and GB Newscontributor Connor Tomlinson were debating the role and responsibilities of broadcast media when they clashed over the topic of sexism.

The pair were invited by Sky News to discuss censorship and gender inequality in the wake of Laurence Fox’s stomach-churning rant about Ava Evans.

As the exchange grew increasingly heated, Lothian-McLean said she was “tired” of living in a “patriarchal society” where women “endemically suffer” from economic, health and general inequality.

Interrupting, Tomlinson said witheringly: “I’m sorry you’re so exhausted to be paid to go on air,” to which Lothian-McLean responded that she hadn’t received a penny.

“I'm not being paid for this interview,” she confirmed. “I came on because I wanted to talk about the problem of misogyny and the degradation of women in public life.”

Moya Lothian-Mclean vs. Connor Tomlinsonwww.youtube.com

Their argument went on, before it occurred to Lothian-McLean, who is a contributing editor at Novara Media, that whilst she hadn’t accepted a fee for her participation in the debate, maybe her opponent had.

“Are you getting paid for this? I'm not getting paid for this. Are you getting paid for this?” she asked.

Tellingly, the question went unanswered.

However, Lothinan-McLean addressed the issue on X/Twitter hours after the spicy dispute.

“I've just clocked - the man who was arguing society isn't structurally unequal for women was getting paid to appear in a 'debate' about misogyny and I wasn't…,” she wrote.

In a series of follow-up tweets, she confirmed that she “[does] get paid for some media appearances” but doesn’t ask for fees “for what are supposed to be 10-minute interviews.”

She then wrote: “Oscillated about making this public but it's an illustrative coda to yesterday's Sky interview. [I] Will be making a £200 donation to [charity Beyond Equality].

“Sky's usual payment for interviews - and what I was initially offered - is £75,” she continued. “But it transpired Connor was being paid £200.”

She went on: “Sky have apologised to me for this, and what happened last night. However, this isn't really about me – just like the Laurence Fox comments weren't really about Ava. This is what happens when we're cogs in a functioning machine of misogyny, working on autopilot!”

Ending her thread, she added: “Also the idea I would be nervous to publicise this sort of pay gap because it might cause issues with future work... well! That's economic inequality in a nutshell!”

Beyond Equality is a charity which, in the words of Lothian-McLean, “runs educational programmes educating young men on rejecting patriarchal culture in favour of a positive masculinity.”

We can’t think of a more fitting cause.

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Sky News told indy100: “Sky News has a standard contributors fee for these type [sic] of broadcast appearances, with contributors taking part receiving the same amount."

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.