Photos by Emma Brasier
“If you feel like your curiosity is being contained by the box that you put yourself in, or you’re being put in, it’s time to break the box.”
Director and actor Rachel Griffiths AM set the challenge for the delegates at this year’s sellout Women in Media National Conference.
And the rest of the program didn’t disappoint.
In a day of conversations that examined and explored key issues, opportunities and challenges facing the media industry and the work of ensuring equal access to thriving media careers, a powerful series of speakers from across the media industry discussed crucial issues of gender, media, and society.
ABC’s 7.30 host, Sarah Ferguson opened the conference with the 'Media and Men’s Violence Against Women' panel. Our Watch’s Moo Baulch OAM screenwriter, director and actress Leah Purcell AM and Federal Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth MP engaged in a tough, and often moving, discussion about the critical need for change in how we address domestic violence.
Just like we stereotype what victim survivors look like, we stereotype what men look like and this is doing harm as well.
Moo Baulch OAM
Rachel Griffiths AM shared insights into the many roles and strong, complex characters she’s portrayed throughout her career with Under Investigation presenter and 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes. Rachel challenged media women to break stereotypes and shared insights into the evolving landscape of storytelling and representation in media.
“If you feel like your curiosity is being contained by the box that you put yourself in, or you’re being put in, it’s time to break the box.”
Rachel Griffiths AM
For the third year in a row, the 2024 Women in Media’s Industry Insights Report found the majority of women working in media are dissatisfied or unsure of their career satisfaction. Women in Media’s Petra Buchanan described the findings and the opportunities for shifting the dial on gender equality.
Navigating online visibility amid rising risks led the discussion with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, ABC’s Music and Pop Culture Reporter Mawunyo Gbogbo, internet sensation Lucinda Price (aka Froomes) and moderated by Comissioning Editor of ABC News Digital and Women in Media Board Director Danielle Cronin in the ‘Life Online: Risks and Rewards’ panel.
In a media landscape where truth and audience trust are increasingly challenged, Federal Court judge, the Hon. Justice Michael Lee joined Women in Media Patron Ita Buttrose AC OBE for an exclusive interview exploring our industry, society, and the rule of law.
Justice Lee is recognised for having overseen the unenviable task of untangling the "omnishambles" behind one of Australia’s most famous gender-political defamation trials.
Some of the media’s most senior women discussed where the industry is heading, strategies for growth, retaining consumers in a cost-of-living crisis, evolving technologies, and creating positive workplace cultures. Bridget Fair, CEO of Free TV and Women in Media director talked with leading radio company ARN Media board member Belinda Rowe, Beverley McGarvey, President of Network 10 and Head of Streaming and Regional Lead for Paramount ANZ, and newly appointed CEO of Mamamia Natalie Harvey shared their unique insights.
Research shows the average person will change careers up to seven times over 45 working years! Zara Siedler, founder of The Daily Aus; Anisha Khopkar, who set up her own business McAuliffe & Khopkar; columnist and author Jane Caro AM, who says she pivots so much she’s dizzy; and Megan Brownlow, head of Houston Consulting and Deputy Chair of Screen Australia shared advice on thriving in a fast-evolving media landscape.
“I decided not to be strategic and just be myself.”
Jane Caro AM
If we can see it, we can be it. Screen leaders Bernadine Lim, Senior Commissioning Editor of Factual at SBS; Karina Holden, producer of Love on the Spectrum and Employable Me; and SBS World News anchor Janice Petersen explained how they’re creating stories that reflect the real Australia and connect with more audiences.
How to Say No. One syllable. Two letters. Yet so hard to say. Dee Madigan of Campaign Edge looked at positive ways to push back in our demanding media careers with strategist and creative director Kiranpreet Kaur Dhillon, ABC news and current affairs producer Ghada Ali, and psychologist Shuktika Bose.
“We’re so proud of this extraordinary industry-leading event. Once again, the Women in Media Australia National Conference brought media women together, to inspire and learn from each other and share skills expertise and encouragement, whether they are just starting out in their careers, or have established themselves over decades as leaders laying pathways and opening doors for all the women in the industry coming after them,” says Kym Middleton, General Manager of Women in Media.
