Publishers and other companies should be fined if they “fail to address substantial pay gender gaps” the National Union of Journalists has said.

The NUJ has called for reform of gender pay gap reporting as part of a range of proposals aimed at making journalism a “less exclusive” industry.

The union has also called for legislation that would require companies with 50 staff or more, rather than the current 250 minimum limit, to publish gender pay gaps and make all companies publish their plans to reduce the gap as part of the gender pay audit process.

It further wants to see annual gender pay gap reports include information on the part-time pay gap and pay gaps by ethnicity, disability and class.

According to the latest available figures, median hourly pay was 11.7pc lower for women at Reach plc, 9.8pc lower at Newsquest, 10.3pc lower at National World and 4.6pc lower at the Midland News Association.

In previous years the median rate was found to be higher for women than men at Newsquest, while the gap has decreased at both National World and Reach on recent showings.

NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley, pictured, said: “We need a media that reflects the society we live in.

“That is why the NUJ agrees that employers should publish their company’s data on the class pay gap and put in policies to encourage people from all backgrounds to be journalists and broadcasters.

“Likewise, employers need to follow suit in publishing gender pay gap figures with those for disabled and black and minority ethnic workers.

“Journalism has become an almost exclusively graduate and post-graduate profession – we need new routes to seek out talent from all quarters.”