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National Conference: first speakers revealed

EQUIP. ELEVATE. EMPOWER is the theme of the third national conference and Women in Media is excited to reveal the first three speakers who epitomise those three words.

Rachel Berger

Rachel Berger is one of Australia’s most highly regarded, adept and adaptive comedic talents working variously as a comedian, broadcaster, novelist, columnist, agitator and television entertainer.

She’s taken four solo shows to the Edinburgh Festival and her dynamic presence and engagingly sharp observations have made her an extremely popular performer both live and on television, across Australia and overseas.

Berger’s high public profile has done much to establish the position of women in comedy providing a distinctive voice for women’s opinions and viewpoints.

She’s also a woman of remarkably diversified talents. In addition to playing the xylophone and carving avocado pips into small Buddhas, she’s recently stopped feeling guilty. There are no cows too sacred for this Berger.

Jenny Brockie

Jenny Brockie is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected journalists and broadcasters. Her media career of more than 40 years spans digital, television, radio and print. Brockie currently hosts the multi-award winning program Insight on SBS TV.

Prior to her work at SBS, she spent more than two decades at the ABC in a variety of roles including television documentary producer/director, morning radio presenter, television interviewer and national and international reporter.

She started her career as a cadet reporter in ABC television and radio news in 1977, moving to daily television current affairs in 1979. She joined the Four Corners reporting team in 1983.

In 1985-86, Brockie took a year’s maternity leave, briefly returning to Four Corners as a reporter, before she was recruited to help establish a Documentary Department at the ABC in 1987. It was there – as Producer/Director – that she made the ground-breaking documentaries Cop It Sweet about Sydney’s Redfern police, and So Help Me God about Campbelltown local court south-west of Sydney.

In 1994, Brockie took up an offer to present the Morning Show on ABC Radio Sydney, then 2BL. After two years, she returned to television to produce her own interview series Speaking Personally, before making two further television documentary series for the ABC – Our Street about three different streets in Australia and Bad Behaviour about criminal motivation.

In 2001, she left the ABC to present the weekly current affairs show Insight on SBS television.

Brockie has won a swag of awards for her work including a Gold Walkley, three other Walkley Awards (two for documentaries and one for Interviewing), a Logie, two Australian Film Institute Awards, and a Human Rights Award. She has also won eight United Nations Association Media Peace Awards for her work on Insight.

Shelly Horton

Shelly Horton’s high school guidance counsellor said she was too opinionated and talked too much, so she should tone it down. Rather than take his advice, she turned it into a job description and became a journalist.

Now Horton’s opinion can be heard nationally a number of times each week with regular segments on Channel Nine’s Today, Today Extra, 3pm News and Weekend Today. She’s also the lifestyle presenter for 9Honey.com.au and co-host of Talking Married – a chat show dissecting Married At First Sight.

Her career highlights include 11 years reporting for ABC Radio and TV, eight years as a presenter on Channel Seven, six years as a journalist at Fairfax and five years as the South Pacific correspondent for Entertainment Tonight USA.

As if that’s not enough, she is a sought-after MC and also runs her own presentation and media training company, called ShellShocked Media. She teaches people how to shine on camera and how to build their confidence. Basically, she helps people find their inner Beyoncé.

The 2019 Women in Media National Conference will be held at Bond University on September 13 and 14.

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