Laurier student-led clubs host Women and Media panel for International Women's Day

Wilfrid Laurier University student-led clubs came together to celebrate International Women’s Day in a unique way.

The Laurier Social Justice Club and Women Leading Politics Association held a panel discussion at the university Sunday, inviting accomplished women from the media industry to share insights and experiences on the challenges and achievements faced by women in media-related occupations.

“We were seeing so many things being spread online that are false or just inaccurate," said Leia Felice, co-president of Laurier Social Justice Club."And we really wanted to be the change throughout the world to just provide people with credible factual information about things that are going on everywhere, locally, and anywhere else in the world. And it's so important because it’s almost like we don't have voices and women's voices are often toned down or dismissed.”

Two of the panellists represented were from CTV News Kitchener.

"Take it with a grain of salt when you're taking in any information online, and remember to always go back and verify that information instead of spreading it," said CTV's Tegan Versolatto. "You need to contextualize everything and critically think about everything that you're consuming online."

Panellists emphasized the importance of self-confidence, resilience, and embracing change in navigating the often challenging landscape of media-related occupations.

"If you're focusing on media training, have one or two areas where you know something, you've done some background reading, whether it's women in gender studies, whether it's geography or environmental studies, etc. if you have an area of study, it can come in handy," said Dr. Hillary Pimlott, professor of Communication Studies at Laurier. "These sorts of things will help make you prepared for that digital world."

Organizers say the event sparked meaningful conversations and reflections on the achievements and challenges faced by women in the media industry, reaffirming the importance of continued support and empowerment.

"We wanted to focus it more on women who are professionals in the media industry, it is a male-dominated industry, and so having a panel with those who have experience in the media, they could talk about their accomplishments, their struggles or achievements and kind of give insights to those who are curious and want to go to the extreme,” said Amanda Farina, co-president of Laurier Social Justice Club.

The clubs aim to host similar events like this in the future to continue fostering conversations surrounding gender issues and gender equality in communities and workplaces.

"To have a group of women who are successful in their careers saying, 'you could do it, you could do anything', it's something that definitely I will take away with and I will take this forward for my future endeavours,” said Farina.

“For us, it’s so important to continue having these discussions surrounding women’s rights and gender equality because we often still see women facing harassment on the streets, in our community, on campus and in the workplace," said Felice. "So hopefully by sharing these messages today, we can make just a bit of a difference.”