Working in media was once no place for working parents but that’s changing.
The media industry, where workers are expected to stay connected, informed and deliver 24/7, may not at first glance seem like a place that’s inclusive for parents and carers.
But broader trends towards family-friendly conditions, flexibility and inclusivity have seen employers in this space driving change in unexpected ways.
The media landscape is constantly evolving, and professionals in the industry are regularly having to evolve with it, whether that be through developing new skills, working across multiple platforms or staying on top of algorithms.
Speaking on the Family Friendly Workplaces podcast, the Village co-founder, Lauren Thornborough, says the “fast-paced” industry is an exciting one but can be challenging.
Her own experience as a parent navigating the media world inspired her to co-found a support and advocacy group for parents in the industry.
“When I had my first child, I took six and a half months off, which is a short timeframe for some people,” Thornborough says. “But I was quite shocked when I came back from maternity leave, how much had changed and evolved in such a short space of time.” “I was used to being a high-functioning employee, and yet, I had to come back in and almost retrain myself. You cannot just rest on your laurels. You need to constantly be learning.”
Thornborough and her co-founder, Louise Wilson, are ambitious professionals with more than three decades of combined experience in the industry, and both also happen to be working mums.
“Media has one of the worst churns of all the industries,” she says.“[It’s] such a shame to see talent going out the door because we can’t support them appropriately.“Media is quite a young workforce, so it’s great when you’re in your 20s – all the social occasions that are available to you – but as you move later on in life, maybe that’s not so important to you, and of course if you have family that sort of compounds that issue.“[It’s] not often that you see people in their 40s, in their 50s, in their 60s thriving in this industry.”
Thornborough says this is mainly because of a lack of visibility and support for staff juggling family obligations with career goals.
In Australia, employers in many industries are working to improve conditions for working parents and carers, but the media world has a long way to go.
According to data from the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the advertising and media sector has a gender pay gap of up to 26 per cent, which is higher than the national average.
Nevertheless, there is progress being made to improve conditions, with 60% of the media firms that completed the Family Friendly Workplaces benchmarking assessment passing, as well as certified employers ranking high on flexible work and work-life balance.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Family Friendly Workplaces podcast, the founding editor of Women’s Agenda, Angela Priestley, says she’s been lucky enough to work with employers taking proactive steps to be more family-friendly.
Priestley became a mum for the first time while working in journalism, and she’s gone on to build a thriving career, reporting and running a business, as well as hosting podcasts like ‘Family Friendly Workplaces’.
“I did get pregnant with my first child while in the first year or so that we were publishing
Women’s Agenda,” Priestley says. “I really wanted to have a baby. It had taken us a long time to get pregnant, but then at the same time, I really loved what was going on with
Women’s Agenda as well, so it was sad to step away from that.”
When Priestley was on leave, Georgie Dent, now the CEO of Parenthood and a prominent advocate for working parents and carers, backfilled her as editor..
Upon Priestley’s return, the pair then decided to job-share the role, allowing them to work part-time, which was something they both wanted at the time.
Job-share roles can be a great way for organisations to retain talented and experienced professionals as they go through major life changes like becoming a first-time parent.
It can also unlock opportunities for parents and carers to step into senior leadership roles.
Women’s Agenda now employs multiple reporters and creators who all work remotely, and it reaches around 1 million people every month.
Priestley and her business partner, Tarla Lambert, want to ensure their staff feel supported through life changes like starting a family.
They also know that the cost to employers of failing to implement family-friendly and inclusive practices is much higher than the cost involved in setting them up.
“We knew that we wanted to have paid parental leave as part of our business,” says Priestley. “We also know that we can’t afford what a big consulting firm can do, and I think that’s a reality – for small businesses, in terms of what they can manage. But we’re happy, we’re proud to have that. We’re proud to have something there.”
