Newsnight had an all-female panel debate all-male panels

More ugly, old women please, on panels... if they're good.

So said Esther Ranzen on Newsnight as she, Isabel Hardman and Zoe Williams debated why so many panel discussions are male-dominated.

The lack of diversity was recently highlighted by the popular Tumblr, Congrats, you have an all-male panel!

Ranzen suggested some women felt uncomfortable with aggressive interviewers, adding: "I've been Paxman-ed I don't know whether you've been Paxman-ed. But he called me a clapped-out television presenter when I was trying to be an MP for Luton South. What I should have said to him is that isn’t the kind of conversation civilised people have."

The answer, according to the all-female panel, was not quotas but organisers stopping being "lazy".

"I think people have to interrogate - much more carefully - what their own motivation is," Williams said. "People who are booking have to say 'hang on a second, why is it that I don't think there's any female authority on this? Why is it that I assume if I'm looking for an economist, I'm looking for a man. Why is it that I assume David Starkey knows everything about politics whereas a female economist only knows about history. Why am I making these assumptions?'"

Watch the full debate below

More: Congrats, you have an all-male panel! reveals lack of diversity