The twins have arrived…

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin

… and we’re all in love!

Madonna and the boys

We are thrilled to announce that earlier this week, Informed Opinions’ Executive Director, Claire Bellefeuille, gave birth to two healthy, precious, beautiful baby boys. Kobe and Cameron arrived Monday April 29th.

The extent to which I miss Claire’s wise counsel, efficient administration and wonderful sense of humour, is offset by both appreciation for her current preoccupations, and the extremely competent part-time assistance of Ashley Armstrong, who’s in the office Mondays, Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.

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Gloria Steinem: why the women’s movement is more important than ever

Posted on April 24, 2013 by admin

source: BBC Online

In the following 3-minute clip from a recent BBC interview, Gloria Steinem explains why the women’s movement is more important than ever. (Spoiler alert: Yes, it does relate to the fact that more American women were killed at the hands of their partners than all of the US citizens who died during 911 and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period of time.)

Gloria Steinem on BBC World News

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Overcoming Anonymous: In Search of More Fully Clothed Female Role Models

Posted on April 20, 2013 by admin

… that’s the title of the talk I delivered three times this past week — and I didn’t even need to explain the context for the title to get a laugh. A wide variety of women working in high tech (Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa), education (symposium hosted by the Canadian Teachers Federation), and the non-profit sector (Skills Institute put on by the Canadian Women’s Foundation) understood the reference even before I clicked through my illustrative slides.

Lily Cole, left, outgoing President of the Newfoundland Teachers Association, bought multiple copies of I Feel Great About My Hands at an event in Ottawa

The stories and statistics, quotes and encouragement seemed to resonate with many (all I have to do is ask: “How many of you have ever declined a speaking opportunity or interview with the words, ‘I’m really not the best person’?”, and a sea of hands get raised).

Gratifyingly for Informed Opinions, many of the women present also expressed support for the project by purchasing one or — in some cases 5! — copies of I Feel Great About My Hands – and Other Unexpected Benefits of Aging.  

This is the collection of reflections featuring the provocative and poignant voices of 41 women over the age of 50 that we released two years ago as a fundraiser for our work. It includes funny and powerful pieces by comedian Mary Walsh, poet Lorna Crozier, journalists Susan Delacourt and Susan Harada, and politicians Sharon Carstairs and Elizabeth May. And the royalties from every book sold support the training and editing we offer for women whose perspectives can add value to the public discourse.

Now a best-seller, the book has been cited as an ideal mother’s day present for those on the mature side of 40, and it remains widely available in bookstores and online. But I’m also happy to ship or schlep a box of books to speaking engagements, offering a discounted purchase price and personalizing copies with a note to the intended recipients.

To book a presentation or inquire about group book sales, contact shari (at) informedopinions.org

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Media exposure creates ripples of influence

Posted on April 9, 2013 by admin

Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell is an Honorary Patron of Informed Opinions

There’s no predicting what impact your media intervention might have, but here are a couple of recent examples of the ripples created by published op eds…

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Two days after Kathleen Wynn was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal party, becoming the sixth female premier in the country, The Globe and Mail published a thoughtful commentary by former Prime Minister Kim Campbell.

Her uniquely informed perspective about women’s political leadership referenced the great work of Equal Voice, a multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women in Canada. This profile helped to reinforce Equal Voice’s position as the go-to source on the issue, and gave Executive Director Nancy Peckford broadcast exposure on two CBC Radio programs later the same week.

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My own recent op ed in The Globe about the regrettable use of sexist stereotypes in ad campaigns (the ignorance and ineffectiveness of which was illustrated by the Canadian Wheat Board in February) didn’t generate any broadcast requests. But a week or so after it was published, Sarah Barker at the Canadian Women’s Foundation told me that more than a dozen people in her network had emailed her the link asking,

“Do you know this woman? You should be working with her!”

(We’d already found each other, but it was nice for both of us to have the value of our collaboration re-affirmed!)

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When they get it wrong

Posted on April 4, 2013 by admin

It’s one of the most commonly-cited deterrents to doing media interviews: not having control over how the words you speak will be used in the resulting story, whether it’s in a newspaper, on the radio or on TV.

But just because you can’t oversee the editing or transmission process doesn’t mean you shouldn’t participate — even when a journalist or news outlet occasionally gets it wrong.

Consider Elizabeth Sheehy’s recent experience. The University of Ottawa law professor appeared on CBC Radio’s Sunday Morning to provide context about violence against women and the impact of granting bail to men accused of abusing their partners.

Disappointingly, the public broadcaster got the title of her new book wrong on its website and edited the interview in a way that cut out some information she felt was critically important.

However, when her initial request to correct the title and provide a link to the missing information failed to elicit a response, she contacted CBC’s ombud’s office, and within an hour, the website reference was corrected, and a note about the excluded information was posted, along with a new link to the original interview.

Which just goes to show that a little persistence pays off.

As importantly, the broadcast generated some great letters that were read on-air the following week, expanding the conversation and allowing more perspectives to be heard.

Because the internet allows information to remain accessible indefinitely, if and when a reporter misquotes you or relays inaccurate information (usually inadvertently), it’s important to request that the record be corrected.

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“It’s not about you”

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin

Will Dena McMartin’s recent op ed in the Regina Leader-Post help prevent a flooding disaster and save lives?

It just might.

And even if it doesn’t, the informed analysis of the University of Regina professor of environmental systems engineering offered citizens valuable and timely information about her city’s pending spring thaw.

At the same time, its existence underlines one of the key messages of the workshops and guest lectures Informed Opinions delivers:

“It’s not about you.”

Because we’ve found that’s the best way to motivate educated, articulate, expert women who decline media interview requests because they don’t cherish the limelight or want to be seen as promoting themselves.

First we invite them to share some of the specific changes they’d like to see in the world. Then, after we’ve filled a whiteboard with their goals for greater social equity, better environmental sustainability, and more comfortable footwear (ok, that’s just me), we point out that media engagement is one way to amplify their voices, increase their power, and make it easier for them to bring about the changes they seek.

Being reminded of the bigger picture — the potential for enhanced impact on an issue that has significant implications for the lives of others — makes all the difference.

 

 

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Weighing In On the Work-At-Home Debate

Posted on March 13, 2013 by cbellefeuille

Marissa_Sheryl
Even if you lament some aspects of how the media cover Marissa Mayer (Yahoo CEO) or Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO), or note how different their realities are from those of most women, their significant responsibilities and high profiles offer strong role models and inspire more public attention to issues affecting women and families. In response to the furor that greeted Meyer’s new policy on telecommuting, the Globe and Mail commissioned an op ed on the subject by Informed Opinions’ Catalyst Shari Graydon:

Telecommuting is not a right
The Globe and Mail by Shari Graydon 7 March 2013

Give Marissa Mayer a break – not to mention a little credit for showing leadership.
[Read more]

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The Motivational Power of Guilt

Posted on January 31, 2013 by admin

Guilt didn’t play a big role in my upbringing: I was never discouraged from having sex in order to prevent my mother from having a heart attack, nor was I warned to do well in school to compensate for any sacrifices my parents suffered in raising me.

So it comes as a surprise to me to hear — as I have twice in the past week — that my voice apparently rings in the heads of others as a guilt-inducing force.

Thoughtful scholars with important insights into two critical issues recently agreed to do radio and TV interviews, despite their discomfort with the activity, because they remembered my explicit encouragement during Informed Opinions workshops about the importance of women not abdicating the field. But both confessed to me afterwards that this pushed them over the resistance hump.

When I was first asked to go on CBC Radio earlier in January, I said no. Then I immediately felt guilty because I knew you would be so disappointed. I’ve now been on their show twice and on the local CTV station as well.

So wrote Kelly Grindrod, a pharmacist and professor at the University of Waterloo pictured above, who also published an op ed this week in The Toronto Star. Her piece offered clear, concrete advice about how we can — and must — collectively address the critical problem of the overprescription of antibiotics. In compensation for the time she invested to craft, polish and submit commentary on a timely issue, Kelly’s insights received more than 10,000 hits, and over 500 Facebook recommendations, making her piece the most read op ed of the month!

So although guilt may be the initial motivator, what keeps experts agreeing to interviews (despite the inconvenience, the time challenge, and even the nerves) is experiencing that kind of impact — knowing that thousands of people will benefit from the knowledge shared, and be able to make choices that may make a positive difference to some aspect of their daily lives, or those of others.

For scholars interested in becoming more comfortable and more effective in media interviews, the Informed Opinions website has a useful primer, accessible here.

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Getting Ahead

Posted on January 19, 2013 by admin

University of Ottawa law prof, Elizabeth Sheehy, regularly shares her analysis through the media.

… of the news story, that is.

It’s a great strategy to increase your likelihood of publication: if you know that a research report, government announcement or legal decision is about to be released, and your informed opinion about the issue can offer insightful context and analysis, contacting op ed page editors in advance of the breaking news can:

1. Demonstrate to editors that you’re on top of the news in your field, and therefore a valuable resource; 

2. Let them know that you can provide a topical op ed in advance of the story breaking, allowing them to have something in the paper immediately afterwards;

3. Give them the opportunity to save space for the piece;

4. Save you the trouble of writing something entirely on spec, only to be told when you submit it that the paper has already agreed to run someone else’s reflections on the same issue. 

Last week, University of Ottawa law profs, Liz Sheehy and Carissima Mathen contacted Ottawa Citizen op ed page editor David Watson, offering to write an op ed about an about-to-be-released Supreme Court decision. This advance notice was a win on all fronts:

Watson knew that he’d have a timely piece written by two experts within hours of the decision on a controversial case being released, and Sheehy and Mathen knew that their analysis would be published.

You can read Battered women’s defences still in question in today’s Citizen, in print or online, and as of Monday, it will go up on Informed Opinions’ site alongside more than 75 other commentary interventions made by women experts who’ve participated in our workshops.

University of Ottawa Law prof, Carissima Mathen has also written numerous op eds.

Informed Opinions salutes the regular media engagement of  both Sheehy (who also serves on our Advisory Committee), and her colleague Carissima Mathen: they frequently provide thoughtful journalists and the broader public with informed analyses of justice issues.

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New Year’s Resolution: How to disregard criticism by applying the “reasonable man” test

Posted on December 31, 2012 by admin

Celebrated American poet and critic, Ezra Pound, in his considered advice to beginning poets offered the following advice:

“Pay no attention to the criticism of men who have never themselves written a notable work.”

But he could have been speaking to female opinionators a century later. So many of the trolls who trash women daring to comment in prominent places “have never themselves written a notable work.”

Earlier this year, when speaking with members of Women in Capital Markets in Toronto, I was reminded of how much more of an obstacle such criticism seems to be to female commentators, relative to their male counterparts. The women with whom I sat agreed that we tend to take negative feedback much harder, and more to heart.

“Guys shrug it off,” said one; “they don’t take it personally.”

This jives with dozens of studies done over the years finding that when women do poorly at a rigged test, they blame themselves, whereas men are more inclined to blame external factors.

Individually and collectively, we need to get over this — because it holds us back. So — inspired by the example of my husband, who is a master of moving beyond small setbacks — I now try to apply my version of the “reasonable man” test.

Here’s a sample of how it works: In response to criticism, the woman asks herself the following:

Would a reasonable man fret over the incoherent criticism from three anonymous trolls, OR would he assume that their ignorance rendered them unfit to weigh in, and focus instead on the seven emails from people who expressed appreciation for the insights offered?

Feedback on the helpfulness of this strategy welcome!

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