•••Guardian 100•••

• What is the Guardian 100 and who are the panellists who created it?

The MediaGuardian 100 is the annual guide to the most domineering and powerful people in the media industry. Elected candidates are judged on three criterias: their cultural, economic and political power influence in the UK. The list consists of all sectors of the media, including broadcasting, publishing, new media, advertising, marketing and PR. The panellists which incorporated and created the Guardian 100 are experienced media watchers from the worlds of politics, journalism, advertising and the internet. These panellists are: Lord Waheed Alli, chairman of entertainment content company Chorion. Daisy McAndrew, the chief political correspondent for ITV News. Jamie Kantrowitz, senior vice-president of marketing and content for MySpace.com in Europe. Richard Park, an executive director of Chrysalis Radio parent Global Radio. Sarah Sands, a consultant editor of the Daily Mail. James Scroggs, vice-president, consumer business of SpinVox, the voice-to-screen messaging company. Janine Gibson, executive editor of Guardian Unlimited and editor-in-chief of MediaGuardian and finally Matt Wells, editor of MediaGuardian and presenter of the Media Talk podcast. One observation is that there is a near enough balance bertween the number of men and women in the panel.

• How many women are in the top 100?

There are all together 19 females in the Guadian top 100 and these are the first three in order of rank: Lesley Douglas, controller of the country's most popular radio station (BBC popular music). Jana Bennett, one of the big winners of director general Mark Thompson's reorganisation of the BBC.

● What companies do these women work for and in what roles?

9. Lesley Douglas

Job: controller, BBC Radio 2 and 6Music; controller, BBC popular music
Age: 44
Industry: broadcasting
Annual programming budget: £35.7m (Radio 2), £4.5m (6Music)
Audience: 13.25m (Radio 2), 477,000 (6Music)
Staff: 110
2006 ranking: 37

11. Jana Bennett

Job: director of vision, BBC
Age: 50
Industry: broadcasting
Annual programming budget: £1.4bn
Staff: 1,500
Salary: £433,000 (including benefits and other remuneration totalling £90,000)
2006 ranking: 8

18. Jenny Abramsky

Job: director, BBC audio and music
Age: 60
Industry: broadcasting
Annual programming budget: £236m
Staff: 1,681
Salary: £329,000 (including £13,000 benefits)
2006 ranking: 11

23. Rebekah Wade

Job: editor, the Sun
Age: 39
Industry: publishing
Circulation: 3,043,351 (May 2007)
2006 ranking: 12

29. Helen Boaden

Job: director, BBC news
Age: 51
Industry: broadcasting
Annual programming budget: £329m
Staff: 3,000
2006 ranking: 17

36. Sly Bailey

Job: chief executive, Trinity Mirror
Age: 45
Industry: publishing
Turnover: £1.03bn
Circulation: Daily Mirror 1.55m, Daily Record 404,131, Sunday Mirror 1.38m, People 729,715 (May 2007)
Staff: 10,211
Salary: £1.47m (including £755,000 bonus)
2006 ranking: 32

38. Lisa Opie

Job: managing director, content, Channel Five
Age: 47
Industry: broadcasting
Annual programming budget: £230m
Staff: 54
New entry

41. Marjorie Scardino

Job: chief executive, Pearson
Age: 60
Industry: publishing, new media
Turnover: £4.42bn
Staff: 34,000
Salary: £1.96m (including benefits, allowances and £1.07m annual incentive)
2006 ranking: 36

46. Carolyn McCall

Job: chief executive, Guardian Media Group
Age: 45
Industry: publishing, broadcasting, new media
Turnover: £700.3m
Staff: 7,200 (Guardian Media Group)
Salary: £495,000 (including £215,000 bonus)
2006 ranking: 94