Our Advocacy Work
April 5th, 2014
The moment was both painful and telling. As the MC introduced me to the 250 teenagers assembled to engage in a discussion about the importance of media literacy in an image-dominated age, I watched every kid’s eyes glaze-over. It wasn’t the reference to my two award-winning books for youth, or my ten years as president […]
read more...When age is a valued credential
Our Advocacy Work
February 6th, 2014
“You’re not making the best use of your prime real estate,” Chamika Ailapperuma told us. (Which was news to us: we didn’t even know we HAD real estate!) An experienced digital strategist, Chamika attended an Informed Opinions’ op ed writing workshop last spring, and shared some valuable insights during the session. Afterwards, we approached her […]
read more...Pro Bono Expertise Transforms Digital Real Estate
Our Advocacy Work
January 27th, 2014
Last month, Informed Opinions’ Project Manager, Claire Bellefeuille published an op ed in the Ottawa Citizen expressing the wish that people would stop telling her daughter, Lily, how beautiful she is. She confessed that, “…receiving constant accolades about her physical appearance gives my daughter the impression that her value is predicated on how she […]
read more...7 Ways to disable gender stereotypes for your daughter
Our Advocacy Work
June 16th, 2013
For a few years in the 1990s I had the enormous privilege of a regular column in the Vancouver Sun. Every week, I’d write 750 words on pretty much any topic I wanted, and the Sun (a broadsheet not affiliated with the tabloid chain) would disseminate it to hundreds of thousands of readers. That’s where […]
read more...Of privilege and prostitution
Our Advocacy Work
July 6th, 2012
Don’t take my word for it… On the retrograde troll front, I defer to hip hop DJ and vlogger, Jay Smooth, who recently weighed in on the classic, cautionary Internet story involving media critic, Anita Sarkeesian. He offers a compelling and persuasive analysis of an issue I’ve tackled before— but does so from a distinctly male gamer perspective. […]
read more...Deferring to Jay Smooth on trolls
Master Media Engagement
June 4th, 2012
What kinds of experts do journalists turn to most often? Last week in an effort to answer that question, Informed Opinions emailed several hundred editors, producers, hosts, columnists and reporters. Looking to make our experts database more useful – and gain some insights for a conversation we’re having with the Social Sciences and the Humanities […]
read more...What academic disciplines are most in-demand by journalists?
Improve your Writing
April 23rd, 2012
“No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine.” “Tap-dancing child abuser. That’s what The Sunday New York Times from March 8, 1993, had called Vivi.” “But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction.” Are you intrigued by one […]
read more...Opening lines – make ’em work
Our Advocacy Work
April 16th, 2012
Readers often overlook the byline of a story indicating the writer’s name, and although reading an article without knowing who wrote it will still leave you informed, when it comes to commentary, bylines can provide insights into what kind of world view or life experiences have influenced the opinions being expressed. As part of […]
read more...Calgary Herald Editorial Page Analysis – More Women’s Opinions Needed
Our Advocacy Work
November 28th, 2011
My mother grew up a Secord near Niagara-on-the-Lake, so I pay attention when someone slags my famous ancestor, and the story makes headlines. When it happened last week I took the advice doled out by screenwriter Nora Ephron’s mother (“it’s all material”), and turned the slight into an op ed, which appears today in both […]
read more...On Laura Secord, long skirts and women’s history
Improve your Writing
July 6th, 2011
Scholars accustomed to sharing evidence-based analysis grounded in research and purporting to be fact sometimes express discomfort with the idea of expressing the kind of strong opinion favoured by op ed page editors. They might benefit from the example offered by CBC Televsion’s intrepid attack dog, Terry Milewski. Profiled in the Globe and Mail last […]
read more...Commentary advice for scholars from Terry Milewski