Expert women’s voices are only heard on radio 22pc of the time, research has shown, and now an upcoming conference in Dublin aims to increase that percentage – across all media.
The Women On Air Inaugural Conference will not only discuss the representation of women in the media, but give both women and men working in the sector the opportunity to connect with women who are experts in their field and can contribute knowledge to TV, radio and newspaper reports.
“Women are under-represented on air in Ireland and indeed around the world,” Dr Jane Suiter of the School of Communications at Dublin City University said when the research findings were released.
“Women, who make up 51pc of the population, need to be part of these important conversations,” she added.
Suiter carried out the research with Dr Anne O’Brien of NUI Maynooth.
The conference, by networking group Women on Air, takes place in Dublin Castle on the morning of 12 May.
Pat Rabbitte, Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, will open the event, which will also feature prominent names from the word of media, including The Guardian and Guardian Films‘ Maggie O’Kane, The OpEd Project’s Katie Orenstein, RTÉ broadcasters Aine Lawlor and Audrey Carville, TV3 political editor Ursula Halligan, and journalists Una Mullally and Sam Smyth.
Silicon Republic’s own CEO, Ann O’Dea, will also be on hand to represent tech media.
#WOAexpert
In addition to working on the conference, Women on Air has also launched a social media campaign dubbed #WOAexpert on Twitter and YouTube that showcases women who are experts in their field.
Professional women from the legal, human resources, financial, education, investment and political arenas have already taken part and more are added each week.
Expert women – including those in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), of course – are eligible for this free video and photo shoot once they book their conference ticket and sign up to the mailing list.
Women Invent Tomorrow is Silicon Republic’s campaign to champion the role of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. It has been running since March 2013, and is kindly supported by Accenture Ireland, Intel, the Irish Research Council, ESB, Twitter, CoderDojo and Science Foundation Ireland. You can nominate inspiring women in the fields of STEM via email to womeninvent@siliconrepublic.com or on Twitter to @siliconrepublic.
Radio broadcaster image via Shutterstock
