Media Diversity Australia (MDA) held its inaugural industry roundtable in Sydney on the 14th of July, bringing together Australia’s media leadership and the Federal communications minister to commit to a path to industry-wide improvement around diversity, equity and inclusion.
The meeting, which was held at SBS, brought together the CEOs, managing directors and other senior representatives from MDA member organisations AAP, the ABC, Private Media Group, News Corp Australia, Nine, SBS, Seven, Ten, The Daily Aus, The Conversation Group and The Guardian, alongside the minister for communications Michelle Rowland.
Some notable attendees included Nine’s CEO Mike Sneesby, Ten’s Executive vice president, chief content officer and head of Paramount, Beverley McGarvey, Seven’s chief people and culture officer Lucinda Gemmell, ABC’s chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, SBS’s news director Mandi Wicks and News Corp Australia’s Group Executive, Corporate Affairs, Campbell Reid.
The roundtable provided a platform for an honest and robust initial discussion around barriers to equity and inclusion and opportunities for industry collaboration. The group also started initial discussions around talent pipeline and debated the merits of uniform measurement and tracking of progress across all parts of the industry to ensure greater accountability as an industry.
The event included an address by Minister Rowland who reiterated her support for MDA’s mission.
Mariam Veiszadeh, CEO of Media Diversity Australia commented on the importance of the roundtable providing a launchpad for shifting the dial on industry-wide change.
“For the first time, we have brought together our members for an authentic and frank conversation about what needs to be done to make real inroads in diversity, inclusion and equity. As individual media organisations, each member has the power to have a meaningful impact, but as a collective, this group’s ability to move the dial cannot be underestimated.
“The pace of industry-wide change is slow and inconsistent. This roundtable was a call to action to the industry – together we have started the journey towards agreeing to collective commitments.”
Isabel Lo, chair and founder of Media Diversity Australia reflected on the significance of the
roundtable.
“MDA was proud to be facilitating a conversation with industry heads about what we can be doing as a collective to improve representation in mainstream media that truly reflects Australia, one that supports and empowers journalists from all walks of life so that they can report on vital issues in the public interest.”
