Dear to my heart, and i think a lot of women on stage and probably to a lot in the audience representation. , the media landscape is in constant flux. Theres new platforms, more competition and, of course, more opportunity for women to tell their stories and create content and to rise up in the ranks of the companies, some which we have here, women at high levels. And yet there is this persistent , documented gender gap that exists in the number of women who report and produce the news and the number of women who direct films and have speaking parts in tv and film. And so we are here today with women who are breaking new ground in this area. Joining me is susan goldberg, the executive editor of National Geographic magazine, editorinchief of National Geographic magazine, and editorial director of National Geographic partners. We have Jeanine Liburd who is the social impact and Key Communications officer at bet network. Lapis, who with her platform combines Digital Content and life events to drive gender equality in the workplace. And last but not least, shawna thomas, who is working for a Company Called quibi. Pronounced correctly, thank you. Do not know it now, you will know it soon. Its a short form video platform and shawna is the content executive editor. So please join me in giving this panel a round of applause. [applause] susan i would love to quickly hear from each of you before we dive in a little more of deeply. I thought this would be a good place to start. I read about the global globes nominations last night and again we sort of made a couple steps for as it did in 201819 with women representation in film, but the golden globe nominations, you have no females, directors being nominated. Female directors being nominated. Films centered on men, sort of getting a lot of the attention. Love start with you jeanine. , what is the biggest single contributor right now to the gender gap in media and what is the single biggest thing we need to do to fix it . Jeanine lets start off with a super easy question. Susan sorry. [laughter] and im so glad you through a softball. Jeanine the funny thing is as you were just going through that, the first person who came to my mind, shes getting an honor later today is deborah who has granted in this business for so long and done so many Amazing Things and has her golden globe for harriet. When i think of women like her who have been in this business for so long, i think part of that one solution is that the studios have to really make a concerted effort to have a diverse number of stories that are led by women of color, women in general and really open up the aperture for what youre they are looking for. And it has to be mandated. The opportunity to do what is okay, we know what that gets us. So there really needs to be an appetite. And at the end of the day, as we all know its a Smart Business , decision. When you look at, im a big census 2020 person, a big focus on it. When we get those numbers from the 2020 census and we really understand how the multicultural world is changing, the media landscape cannot television will not survive if it does not quickly adapt to understanding how you serve a multicultural audience. Movies are the same thing. Gets upagine when quibi and running, same thing in terms of shortterm content. Truly, it is understanding what the audience will look like, the content that they will purchase. Thats also a critical piece of the mix. And then realizing youre going to get the best content once you embrace amazing creators and directors. Susan quickly. I think it is a lot to do with who is taking the pictures in the first place. Who was behind the camera. At National Geographic we just did a count of this. The last two out of 130 assignments for digital and print platforms we had 70 men and about 60 women. We are not 100 there, but this is enormous progress and it has been a huge focus for our company. Our diversity numbers are not where they should be but were getting the gender numbers closer to where they need to be. Picking up on something that both of you said how important , is that to changing the equation . Actually tracking and Holding People to it . I feel like that has been a theme of my tenure as welcoming cannot just hope it happens, you need to be super prescriptive, right . Shelley you know, i think that you cant treasure what you cant measure. We have been talking about unconscious bias for so long, i am so sick of talking about it. If you are using the word unconscious, you are conscious. I mean, not complicated. So i think having measurement its just really important , because we cant hide behind the excuses and we cant hide behind pledges and petitions. It actually holds us accountable for change. And you know, you cannot keep pointing the finger at everybody elses responsibility. Its your responsibility, its mine, its yours, its ours. Individually, if we each take responsibility and accountability for change, thats how change happens. And so i think that the numbers are incredibly important to show us a, consciously, how far off we are. And we can decide how far we want to go. And after that, it is a choice. And we talked about it being good for business. We do not know the numbers, but diversity is good for business. Susan on your website you said it was not just good for the sake of good, it is actually good for the bottom line. Shelley we know the bottom line. We can add 4 trillion to the gdp by 2025. 20 trillion to the global gdp by 2025. It is not a nice thing to have, it is a business imperative. And you are also getting different stories with ever more women behind that camera. You are getting different content. Shawna that is the same thing i was going to say, especially from a news perspective youre going to have a team that thinks about stories differently. Youre going to have a team that looks for different places to find stories that means youre , going to have a more representative newscast or short form News Conference every single day. Quibi in april. [laughter] and that will make your product more vibrant and people will want to consume it. Thats number one and number two is that it is conscious. We cant pretend like we are in some type p automatically this is going to happen for everyone. We literally have to pick and choose and make decisions like we will think about actual women or people of color for this position. We will make sure we are interviewing everybody. It doesnt mean the amount is mean a man is not going to get the job, that means we have to consciously think about this. Youn i want to hear from and your experience in journalism, and then id love to go to susan. What do you think the new system is getting wrong right now . And she comes from nbc, big legacy. Obviously a news organizations, then on to vice and now at a new start up, right . I want to hear some specifics. What are we doing wrong . Shawna i said a version of this before, but i think especially in the news business, and in print and television news, part of the issue is the pipeline to get into the business is limited by how much money you already have. So the joke i always make is that i worked at nbc news for 10 years, it took until about seven before i was a white house producer, and then i brought my mother to the White House Christmas party. At the Christmas Party my mom , gets to meet barack obama and she stops asking me when am i its very clear, im going to work in news. m going to work in media. This came up because she grew up southern, poor and black. And this didnt seem like the thing someone could get to. I grew up solidly middleclass. This is not a poverty story on my part. But in certain communities, these jobs dont seem like real jobs. And so that sort of stops the process. And then you add to it that at the beginning of any career, people are making 15, 20, 25,000 a year to work in smalltown, yuma, arizona market 182 to then move up to 72, to then move up to market 50. The barrier to entry in these jobs means that a lot of people get cold at the very beginning. Youre starting with less diversity in general. And then at that point, whoever is able to rise and stay in the gig, i think its imperative upon us who have stayed in it to keep pulling people up as much as we can. But a big part of the problem is that entry level is really hard to commit to. Carrie susan, as the National Geographic in november published its First Magazine entirely written and photographed by women, and one, i would love to hear how that came about and had a man came in your position. Susan no. [laughter] [applause] susan in National Geographic, obviously an old brand. Weve been around 131 years. Im the first woman editor in the magazine and the first editorial director who is female as well. It only took 125 years for that to happen. [laughter] so thats good. Right direction. Well, this really came about because were on the cusp of the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in the united states. 2020 is the 100year anniversary. We are having an incredible moment with women demanding their rights and getting a lot of rights. So we thought it was a great time not just to do the special issue of the magazine looking at the state of women around the world, but also a photographic book that uses the National Geographic archives and looks at the depiction of women over 130 years and how that depiction has changed. And its amazing. You see this narrative arc of change of how, you know, women starting out in the most traditional roles or as beautiful objects, up to the warriors that many women are today, literally in armies and militaries. And its a powerful representation of of change. Carrie what was the most surprising thing that you saw when you saw a product produced entirely by women seen through their eyes, the female gaze . Whats the big takeaway . Susan i dont think its a female gaze. Thats why who is taking the puck chures really matters. We had some men editing the story and working quite etly behind the scenes. But it was all females. Writers, photographers and illustrators. I guess i would have to say it felt like a more inclusive process in some ways. And i sensed this pride that i didnt really expect on the part of the participants to be part of this effort, this first time effort. And it just made me really happy. Carrie jeaneen, youve been deliberate about making sure these women have these premier roles. I would love to hear from you. When did it matter that you were there . And what did you have to push past to get there . Jeannine wow. Every now and then we have these pinchme moments. I was were talking remembering getting the National Geographic. I was so in my head. Wait. What was the question . Really nice have this moment. Carrie so ia couple of things. B. E. T. In skwlan be 40 which is amazing. And as weve been doing this work kind of just looking at, well, what does 40 years mean . And you know, ive been there for a little over 10 of those 40s. At viacom for 20. Thinking of what does that mean and whats been the impact and as we look back at all of these people behind the scenes, pretty much everybody that you look at has been hired by b. E. T. One of duvernays first acting gig was a Short Documentary that she did for b. E. T. It might be 11 years ago. For me, those are those moments when you really understand that a lot of it is around access and platform. And i worked in its always surreal to be here in d. C. I worked in the white house around the clinton beginning of clinton two and the clinton one. And one of the things that i learned of being on the policy side was how important it was to get media focused on whatever the issue of the day was. Actually sometimes more important getting media focused than whatever the policy was, and thats what push med to be in this business. On, think as ive moved ive been amazed that its 2020 and im the only colored woman in the room when do you know who watches us . Black women. Do you know who shops the most . Black women. It keeps me moving, understanding the power. And letting people know what that power is and they can particularly in this world, you say something, companies are listening. They have to be responsive. We have we have broken open the door and really helping people realmize what their power is dch realize what their power. Carrie those moments when youre not being listened to and you have the numbers and you have the argument on your side, like what do you do . Jeannine the ally word is one that we must stay focused on. In some of my closest alleys my career have been really smart white men who get it, who took time to have a conversation, took time to get to know me. I think so much of it is relationship. I think when youre like, i am just up against brick wall, its probably because youre yelling, which is me. Im like ah and you have to like sit down, have a minute, take a breath. And then have a real conversation with someone. And even in that moment of them getting to know you will help maybe not in that moment with that problem but later on. And just to pick up on something you said, i think its about reaching back. Because you know what, you all i actually cant help you. But what i can do, i have a lot of value with young people. A young woman reached out to me. We had been back and forth. She has this not for profit. She did a survey of the young women she worked with. And she asked do you know a whom wants a job . And they said, i need a dermatologist. I need a social justice. And they were like, hi, jeanay. Sometimes i say if its like frustrating like looking forward, sometimes look back. Carrie when you may be the only person in the room or the only person of color or in a company, you know what, are the best experiences youve had to sort of like breakthrough, make your impact, get people to listen to you . Well, listen, my name is chief troublemaker. Ive broken ever rule that made no sense and rewrote the new ones without permission. It just what i needed to do. And i always wanted to make me i was always the white girl the minority in the room but make me the exception. Not make me the exception but the new norm. And you just have to rewrite the rules. I think oftentimes we talk about that imposter syndrome. Where if a guy can do 610 things, ive got this. If a woman cant do 1010, were not ready. We opt out. You have to shut that voice up in your head. I would use another word. Shut that voice up and own your strength. Stand in your ambition. And dont try be like someone else. Our differences are our greatest friend. You have to believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself others will. Thats first and foremost. You know guys in general they have that imposter syndrome but they dont admit it. They hold it in and move forward. If we rewrote the rules think about the masculine leadership, decisive, linear, aggressive, the new churing, collaborative i mean, who wouldnt want to get into that . Youre not loud and aggressive. Youre passionate. And passionate that can deliver a great bottom line. I mean, count me in. Who wouldnt want that Job Description . We would all opt into that, wouldnt we . We need to change the lexicon. But it starts with confidence. Im the cofounder of a movement called seehere if you can see her, you can be here. Culture defines change. Change defines action. And if you cant see not only representation but reflection, we have to start thinking about reflection if you can see yourself in these rooms, you have that inspiration. And yet, 90 of parents dont believe those role models for their girls vained to say for our boys, what boys perceive goirls be is what perception becomes reality. 40 of women dont identify at all with people in entertainment. And 55 think that women are portrayed negatively. This is a cultural change when we put women in front of the camera, behind the camera. We will think about how people reflected and how important visitibility of everyone is in everything we see. And i watch a lot of tv too. [laughter] carrie i do want to say one thing about this. I just want to say something. And just to add to what you said what salley does so amazingly well is make sure that women are support and know each other. I think part of the reason why were all here today and what you do with the female pepper and see her and all your work which is so amazing is make sure that we know each other so we know who to call when were in these posses, i cant these positions, like i cant figure it out. Carrie is media is in such upheaval and to pick up something they mentioned in the intro. This is a lot of opportunity, the fact that there are new digital startups. Obviously, its extraordinary well back. But couple of billionaires. Carrie but you this amazing opportunity, right, to sort of fix some of the stuff everyone on the stage actually has a role in fixing this. But youre at the forefront of a potential new juggernaut. And how are you internalizing that need and weve had these conversations you and i off line about how do we have something thats more representative than what we see right now . You knowers i took the job about you know, i took the job about six weeks ago. I flew to l. A. About a week ago. Theres a small office in new york. Theres a Bigger Office in l. A. The executive team have put around them especially on the Development Side with jeffrey is incredibly diverse and female centric. What i took from that immediately is that would two people with a lot of money at the top saying if im going to create my own company, were going to do it with the people who we want to create content for. So its pretty young at the executive level. And its diverse at the executive level. And i was really really that made me happy when i walk into the sort of the biggest meeting i walked into l. A. Something happened when i started at vice news they walk into this room. They were vling some meeting at a Bowling Alley in brooklyn. I thought its going to be a bunch of hipsters and im from d. C. [laughter] but i walked in and it was literally gay, straight, black, white, asian, hispanic, trans in that room. And this is before we actually started making the show it. And i was like this is the group my boss has gotten together, thin i think were going to make something pretty interesting. When youre starting something new and it helps to have money to hire these people, i realize, it is imperative to start and create the thing that you really want to have in front of you, which is hard to do with the Legacy Companies that are moving up and the same people in have been around and its not a knockout at older companies. My 10 years at cbs serve med well. If you can do that, then go do that. For me, they said you need to hire three more people beneath you not beneath me. That sounded terrible, ugh. For me, let me see the resumes you have. Let me talk to other people. Let me make sure im looking at a diversity of candidates. And im not rushing through it. I think my actual boss would like me to hire a little bit faster. But i want to see one more person or i heard about this person. I want to talk to this group and see what they know. Its my responsibility to look at everybody possible and make the team they would love in an ideal world. And i think its everybodys responsibility to make the team that reflects their world. I think we can learn so much from the mistakes of the past on this particular sufpblgt i can remember a time when i was running large newspapers, like the San Jose Mercury news. This is from the mid to earlier 2000s. And we were working really hard on growing, you know, female editors. Editors really running these big papers. And then what happens . The financial upheaval that hit media came down really hard. And all of a sudden, everybody took their eye off of that ball. And its like, oh, yeah, yeah, we might need more female editors but right now weve got to worry about something else. We might need more female editors, but we have to worry about something else. And were still recovering from that. From the progress that we made, we are aware where we were 10 or 15 years ago. No matter what upheaval or what chaos is going on, and it seems to me that this is going to continue perhaps forever in our business, you cant take your eye off of that ball because its important to the business. Its the right thing to do. Its important for the accuracy and legitimacy of your content. We can never get put in that this other thing, this diversity thing. I think its a huge reminder. And i was going to ask you that. A couple of weeks ago, i had the pleasure of participating or going to the tyler perry grand opening, which was lige still reeling and quoting from it. But one of the things that i think is often missing from this conversation is ownership and how do we to your point, yeah, there are these major like a c brand, but the legacy brands are looking for those new voices, and the importance i was speaking at a Conference Last Week about the importance of owning your own i. P. Understanding the assets that you create. I think part of what we need to do today is supporting young creators, having them understand how to open their own contact so they can understand those revenue it might not just be about going to work somewhere. But how do i own my own content. Start my own business. And empower myself and bring other people and help them create the next one. Exactly. I wanted to we only have a couple of minutes left. Jeannine, you mentioned men as a eyes earlier on. Ive had this same experience. Im not in this position but for min who saw farra reality in me. This is a room full of mostly women. But what actually can men take and what can women do in response to that so we can mutually sort of benefit from one another . I hate the phrase men as a eyes sorry. I mean, im just being honest. Its a leadership issue. The second we start saying male a eyes, we are empowering men more to say, rescue us, you know, we need help. We didnt create this problem. To me, its an opportunity. I and and i think we need to look at it that way. We need a eyes. We need leadership a eyes. We need people in positions of responsibility, accountability and power if you will to help bring us all up. So i think its back to weve got to rewrite the words and call us a eyes. I dont care if youre a male or a female if you are in a three, you know, can do the pulling and lifting up, then we all shine. I think, you know, we really need to start understanding and, you know, a lot of surveys that said 50 of men dont want to work with women because theyre afraid to do or say the wrong thing. Thats a problem. We must reverse that. Were hysterical. Were hysterical and were bossy, you know . We need to get past this. And understand that if we are truly going to move forward, we are all in this together. Gender equality is all of our opportunities. And i think that thats the language we need to be using. We need to be proactive. We need to be positive. We need to take steps forward. If we make the wrong steps, dont worry about it. But keep pushing forward most importantly together. Men and women in the workplace. And i think it starts with also create agriculture where people feel they can speak up. This happens when i was given advice. One, if that particular show we had this culture that everybody came to the pitch meetings from p. A. To Senior Executive producer. Everyone can speak up. Everyone can pimp push. He convinced the federal government to let us do it with them. So it was creating a culture where everyone can speak up and some of the women had started to speak up too. My male boss about a specific person who was talking over the other women in meetings. And it was a constant thing that people had started to notice. And what my mailbox did was take all of the men on our team and put them in a room. And said the talking over women has to stop that now. You to stop doing that. That was reating a culture where people could speak up even if they couldnt tell people directly. But it took one of the people to say, hey, be aware that you are doing this because that diminishes our ability to get ideas from other people and create the best possible product. You know what we do with the interruption . We put an interruption bell. Kindergarten to like dr. Seuss. Carrie i want to hear the one knack life to accomplish this. Jeannine, we got yours with the stick and the belt. I love that. Editors, coming your way . Ok. Perfect. I want to push back on one thing because i respectfully take your point on not wanting the men as a eyes. But we have to be prescriptive. But it speaks to places of color. I know. Be very specific about it. And matt had not walked in the room with the same kind of power that we have. Thats something with the women of color when you sfind a voice in the collective, sometimes you really need to be told or to get that encouragement to make sure that you are communicating and you are seen and heard particularly by what and so i would push back on that. I hack is resiliency. Ive been doing this for 40 years. We have seen so much progress. You know, i feel so great about where we are now despite what that poll says. Im not sure i believe that poll. I just think we have made so much progress. Its important to keep that perspective in mind that things are so much better. Theres a way to go. And theyre going to get better soon. We have to keep on keeping on and showing up every tuesday and doing it. Im anxious, myself. Thank you so much. Shawna, shelley, jeannine susan. A couple of take aways. Dont say men are a eyes. Point taken. But in all seriousness being very conscious about about what were trying to do here and frankly be prescriptive and hold people to it. Hold people back. Hold people up with you. And of course, be resill yen. Keep fighting the fight. Be resilient. Keep fighting the fight. A lot needs to be done. Thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National able satellite corp. 2019] hi, everyone. My name is anita kumar. Im White House Correspondent and associate editor at politico. Im so excited to be here for my first women role. Im going to be joined in just a minute by lara trump who is a Senior Advisor to president trumps campaign. Shes the president s daughterinlaw and shes married to eric trump. Please welcome thor the stage. [applause] hello. Hi. Good to see you. You can sit right here. Thank you