Justine McCarthy in conversation with Women on Air
Please join us for a very special Women On Air event with Justine McCarthy in conversation with Women on Air at The Marker Hotel on Thursday, May 2nd.
Women on Air are delighted to announce an evening at The Marker Hotel, Dublin with acclaimed columnist and journalist Justine McCarthy.
Spanning four decades, Justine McCarthy has had a ringside seat on events, big and small, devastating and hilarious, that have helped shape the Irish nation. In that time, she has become a fearless commentator, a strong advocate for women, a trusted ear to the vulnerable, an influential national voice and a proud Irish woman. For the first time, she has committed a collection of her journalism to a book “An Eye On Ireland”.
In conversation with Women on Air, she will take us through her first tentative steps in journalism to the stories that have stayed with her. To quote Miriam Lord ‘for those of us around from the beginning, the collection jolts like jump leads to the complacent heart. For many who were not, dive into these columns from an Ireland of not so long ago. It’s an eye opener.’
Guests are also invited to join us for a drinks reception at The Marker Hotel following the event, where you will have the opportunity to network with former Women On Air participants, producers, media contacts and like-minded individuals.
When: Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 at 19:00 – 21:00 Where: The Marker Hotel, Grand Canal Quay, Docklands, Dublin Tickets: Free – Please register your attendance for the event here Questions? Reach out to [email protected]
Please join us for a very special Women On Air event with guest speaker Sonya Lennon at The Marker Hotel on Tuesday 21st February
Sonya Lennon in conversation with Roisín Duffy
Women on Air are delighted to announce an evening at The Marker Hotel, Dublin with broadcaster, designer and social entrepreneur Sonya Lennon. Throughout the evening Sonya will draw on her successful and varied career to date. An engaging and powerful speaker, Sonya will cover a range of topics from leadership, personal empowerment, diversity and inclusion and the gender pay gap, an area that she is especially passionate about. An experienced speaker, Sonya is an advocate for workplace equality and has spoken on the topic at both a national and global level.
Attendees will have the unique opportunity to hear Sonya speak about how she brought the global not for profit initiative Dress for Success (now WorkEqual) to Ireland in 2018, and how she co-founded LIFT – Leading Ireland’s Future Together, which aims to improve the level of personal leadership in Ireland by 2028.
Guests are also invited to join us for canapés and a glass of wine at The Marker Hotel following the event, where you will have the opportunity to network with former Women On Air participants, producers, media contacts and like-minded individuals.
Minister Catherine Martin encourages women to sign up and asks media outlets to do their part by involving more women guests.
Women on Air is today launching a new database for media of women who are ready, willing, and able to contribute to broadcast media opportunities.
Women on Air is a not-for-profit organisation with the goal of driving greater gender balance on the airwaves in Ireland. Founded 10 years ago with key funding provided by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, as well support from other organisations, it provides media training and mentoring for women and advocates for greater gender equality on Irish broadcast media.
The new Women on Air media database has been created in compliance with GDPR, and with a view to providing media with greater visibility and access to women from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise who can provide commentary and insights on TV and radio programmes, and on podcasts. Early sign ups include former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, pharmacist and former TD Kate O’Connell, and designer Sonya Lennon.
In order to join the database, women should have some demonstrated experience in broadcast media. Women who don’t yet have experience but who want to broadcast, are encouraged to register for an upcoming Women on Air media training session.
In a video message to mark the online launch, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD, said;
“Gender equality in all walks of life is something I feel very strongly about, and that is why I value the work of Women on Air. We are making progress in Ireland but there are still many areas where women are unfortunately the minority including in politics, and unfortunately on our airwaves. If you are a member of the broadcast media, please do your part and invite more women to take part in your programmes so that together we can achieve gender balance on our airwaves.”
Minister Martin encouraged women to either sign up to the media database, or to register to take part in one of the Women on Air’s training sessions;
“I am one of the many women who have been through the {Women on Air media training} process and I found it hugely beneficial.”
Chair of the Women on Air Board, Roisin Duffy said;
“The new Women on Air database has been designed as a resource for media, to ensure that they have visibility of and access to as wide a range of women commentators as possible, so that we can continue to work to address what is an ongoing lack of gender balance across a lot of our broadcast media in Ireland. Coverage on Covid-19 is just the latest example that we can point to where unfortunately women’s voices have again been in the minority. There is no doubt that the direction of public policy is influenced by commentary and debate on broadcast media and therefore if women’s voices are absent or in the minority, this has a serious impact on wider society.
So, this year on Nollaig na mBan, we are asking women to register on the new media database, or if they don’t feel ready to speak with media just yet to register for one of our upcoming trainings”
Commenting on the launch, CEO of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Michael O’Keeffe said;
“As a key funder of Women on Air, the BAI is delighted to welcome the launch of this database. The BAI is committed to promoting gender equality in the Irish audio-visual sector, as reflected in our Gender Action Plan. The visibility afforded by this database supports this aim, demonstrating the breadth of female talent and experience available in broadcast media as well as acting as a digital resource for media training. We congratulate all involved in its development and wish it every success.“
To sign up to the media database or to register an interest in media training, please click here.
About Women on Air
Women on Air has provided training and mentoring to more than 70 women since it was established in 2010.
In a submission as part of the BAI’s public consultation on its upcoming Strategy Statement 2021 – 2023, Women on Air called for gender quotes to be established on broadcast media, where it is possible to require them. And for an initial ratio of 40-60 to be set down, with the aim of achieving 50/50 within a given timeframe.
In its submission to the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality in 2020 Women on Air also proposed that organisations in receipt of State funding should be required to set and meet targets on gender equality. (In 2017, BBC’s Outside Source committed to an on-air gender equality and it increased the per centage of women on air from 39% to 52% in 6 months. In turn, its viewership increased by 25%. The BBC adopted it across the organisation, and other media organisations have since followed suit.)
Submission to be considered at this weekend’s Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality
The Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality reconvenes this weekend and amongst the submissions the citizens will consider as part of its deliberations on the subject of ‘Women in Leadership’ is one from Women on Air.
Women on Air is a not for profit organisation with the mission of achieving greater gender balance on broadcast media in Ireland and it is marking its 10-year anniversary this week.*
In its submission to the Citizens’ Assembly, Women on Air is calling for the introduction of measurement and reporting of gender balance on publicly funded media, and for funding allocations to be linked to agreed targets being met.
All policy decisions relating to broadcasting and gender equality must include a commitment to achieving gender equality on our airwaves, it says in its submission.
“Women are the majority in Irish society and yet they are consistently underrepresented on our airwaves. Public policy is influenced, and indeed often changed, by views expressed on broadcast media. That is why we believe gender equality on the airwaves is essential for a fair and functioning democracy. Women consume media and pay for publicly funded media just as men do; they are entitled to hear their concerns, their views and most importantly their voices on the airwaves in Ireland. Equally, seeing is believing – if women hear more of their own gender on the airwaves, it will encourage more to follow suit.”
In its submission it also points to progress made in this area by the BBC; in 2017 its ‘Outside Source’ programme committed to an on air gender equality and it increased the percentage of women on air from 39% to 52% in 6 months. Its viewership increased by 25% and, consequently, the BBC adopted it across the organisation.
*Since it was established in October 2010, and with support from the BAI, Women on Air has run seminars, events and informal training workshops to help give women the skills and confidence to go on radio and television. It has trained more than 70 women including spokespersons from Waking the Feminists, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA); women on both sides of the 8th Amendment Referendum; and women involved in science, charities, direct provision, minority groups, law, business and finance.
Please join us for ‘An Evening with Ingrid Miley’, a special Women On Air event around the theme of Women in the Workplace, on Wednesday 15 May.
Join us for an evening with speaker Ingrid Miley, Industry and Employment Correspondent for RTÉ News. We’ll learn about Ingrid’s personal journey as a woman in news and journalism and the obstacles she’s faced along the way, as well as her thoughts on the “glass ceiling” and the gender pay gap.
Attendees will have the unique opportunity to hear about the insight and clarity that Ingrid has brought to some of the most complex industrial relations issues Ireland has faced, including major strikes and reporting on negotiations in public sector pay and reform.
Guests will also have the opportunity to network with former Women On Air participants, producers, media contacts and like-minded individuals.
When: Wednesday 15 May 2019, 19:00 – 21:00 Where: The Spencer Hotel, Excise Walk, IFSC, Dublin 1, Ireland Tickets: €8.00 Tickets can be purchased here.
