3rd Women in Media Conference at the People’s History Museum

100 years after some women first won the right to vote in the UK, how far have we come? A great distance in many ways, but there’s still work to be done in order to achieve full gender equality and representation. Though this is the case in regard to almost every aspect of society, one of the key areas where the disparity is most visibly apparent is in the media. By the same token, the media is also one of the most powerful influences on society’s opinions, views and attitudes, and thus carries great potential as a tool in the feminist struggle going forwards.

As such, the third edition of the Women in Media conference, first setup in 2016 by a group of student journalists from the University of Manchester, signals an important event for anyone wishing to make a change within the industry, or who would like to gain a deeper understanding of the problems that women working within it currently face.

Held at the People’s History Museum and organised as part of Wonder Women 2018 with support from Amnesty International, Gorkana and Response Source, the two-day event will give student and non-student delegates the opportunity to ‘tool-up’ – you might say. To celebrate and learn from prominent and influential women across journalism, radio, TV, blogging, photography, music and PR.

Last year’s speakers included Tracy McVeigh from the Guardian, Fiona Jones from ITV and Shelley Alexander from BBC Sport. The programme of talks, panel sessions and workshops focused on topics such as ‘Political Reporting’, ‘Getting into Documentary Making’ and ‘Developing Ideas’, as well as ‘Feminist Campaigning in the 21st Century’ and ‘The Class Barrier: Why Media Needs More Working-Class Women’.

All profits go to local charity MASH (Manchester Action on Street Health).