Carol Schwartz doesn’t mind calling out our major newspapers when it comes to gender diversity. She’s long campaigned against the lack of female voices featured in the press.
Indeed, if you take a flick through the Australian Financial Review on an average day you’ll find few female voices sharing relevant expertise on stories. You can usually count the number of women pictured on one hand.
A lack of female sources in the financial press could have some believing the proportion of women in leadership – particularly in the partnerships of our major accounting and legal firms – is even smaller than the percentages of such female representation that regularly hover around the late teens.
And often when women do appear in the major financial press, it’s to discuss ‘women’s issues’ or the challenges involved in being a working mother, rather than to share expert advice on financial, legal, technology, accounting or other business matters.
That’s why two years ago Schwartz launched Women for Media, a database of high-profile female experts and business leaders willing and able to share their expertise with journalists. It’s an excellent tool and one I’ve personally used regularly to directly contact relevant women, often while on a last-minute deadline.
Last night, Women for Media invited journalists from The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the AFR, ABC and other media outlets to meet some of the women featured on its database, including Catriona Noble, Christine Holgate and Audette Exel.
Initial introductions between journalists and potential industry sources are vital for breaking the ice and establishing trust between the two parties. The informal networking style event held at KPMG was designed to highlight the fact there are plenty of excellent female business sources available – they’re not even that hard to find, you just need to make the initial connection. And they’re available to share more than just views on ‘women in leadership’, flexible work, work/life balance or how they do or do not manage to ‘have it all’.
Amy Mullins, director of communications at the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia which runs the program, says the goal of such networking events is to simply see more women quoted in the press – offering business insights as opposed to insights on women’s issues alone. Ultimately, they hope to increase the visibility of female role models across different industries, especially those that have traditionally been male-dominated like investment banking, engineering and economics.
“Often women prioritise immediate business concerns rather than pursuing media connections but we know they thrive once connected. When you’ve made those connections and established a relationship, journalists will call again,” she told me.
Journalists will give priority to those sources they know and who will be readily available and easy to talk to. Women are available, but perhaps not currently as visible as the men. We can all play a part in changing that.