Women in the Media panel

I facilitated a panel on ‘Women in the Australian Media’ at the Centre for Media History’s Gender, Labour and Media Workshop at Macquarie University. The panel included veteran photographer Lorrie Graham, the first female Editor of the SMH Amanda Wilson, and journalist, author and commentator on women in work- Catherine Fox.

They each shared their personal experiences of working in the media, all with disappointing accounts of sexism. The broader discussion about the income disparities between men and women, and the lack of women in senior leadership roles, highlighted that we still have a way to go.

However we also talked about the unique perspective women can offer in storytelling, and how important these voices are in contributing to a more diverse media.

But what I enjoyed the most was hearing that despite the challenges, Lorrie, Amanda and Catherine have all had incredibly exciting careers that continue to this day. It was a really inspiring chat and I was thankful to be a part of it.

Lorrie Graham, Amanda Wilson and Catherine Fox

Tips on blending documentary and fiction

This video featuring Mira Burt-Wintonick, producer of CBC’s WireTap program (RIP), has some great ideas on how to tell audio stories that blend elements of documentary and fiction. There are some great lessons in creative adaptability, and her approach really embraces the possibilities of sound.

You can read and hear more in this article and the video is here..

Audiocraft 2016 is coming!

I’m super excited to be working on a new project Audiocraft, a conference for Australian radiomakers and podcasters that’s happening on March 5th.

Audiocraft will be a day for producers to come together and talk, listen and learn about making great stories with sound. We have a stellar line up of presenters who’ll be leading workshops and panel discussions on narrative techniques, podcasting, sound design and collaborative storytelling.

It’s about building a stronger community of content makers and talking about all the nerdy stuff, and I can’t wait!

Audiocraft is an idea that’s been brewing for a while. When I went to the Third Coast International Audio Festival in 2014 I was blown away by being in a room of 500 radio folk who shared the same passion for telling stories with sound. I also realised that we don’t have anything like it in Australia, so something had to be done.

Over the last months I’ve been working with a group of absolute legends to make it happen. Here’s a few us being geeks and paying tribute to our trail blazing heroes at Third Coast.

The response to Audiocraft so far has been amazing. We sold out of our tickets 2 months before the conference date and so many people have come forward to offer their support. I think there’s a real desire for people to come together in this way. It’s an exciting time to be making audio, but it can also be a lonely gig, and there are a lot of big questions about the future of podcasting and radio broadcast that haven’t really been answered. So hopefully we can talk through some of these issues, build some great networks, and inspire creative collaborations!