Last week, the university’s communications department hosted its second annual Equity in Media Fellowship event.
The Equity in Media Fellowship is a two day event meant to provide students with opportunities to learn from and connect with industry professionals through roundtable discussions, presentations and taped interviews.
The event launched for the first time last year and it was organized by Prof. Wayne Edwards to give students the opportunity to hear from professionals stemming from diverse backgrounds.
“Hearing from professionals, and hearing from professionals that look like them, makes more of the difference for their maturation, to get out there and get into it,” Edwards said.
Edwards is an industry professional himself, having won an Emmy award as a production leader and having over 15 years of experience in broadcasting and multimedia productions.
Edwards is known for his efforts in encouraging diversity in his work, having implemented a Race, Gender and Class in the Media class and being awarded an MLK Jr. Visionary award at the end of January.
This year’s guests were WTNH News Director Chuck Carter, Fox 61 Digital Producer Leah Myers, Greenlight Productions Managing Director Adrienne Gallagher and Director of Photography Sam Motamedi.
Myers is a University of New Haven alum and graduated in 2018 with a BA in Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia.
“Diversity and equity is important in news because there are so many different stories to be told in the community, and hearing all those different voices will give different perspectives and there are different stories to share,” she said. Myers used her own workplace as an example of diversity in media. “Our newsroom is diverse, we have people of different races and they are also part of the LGBTQ community so we’re diverse in that aspect.” Myers said.
Myers went on to explain what this cause means to her as a woman. She said, “Diversity for me, it’s been a great opportunity to see women excel in the media industry and also see other minority groups excel as well to find their voice and share the voices of another community as well.”
Myers was fortunate enough to not face discrimination in the workplace, however Edwards has faced some issues due to his race.
“I recall a time that I had a show idea that I wanted to pitch to the executives,” said Edwards. “I was told to schedule an appointment. After doing so, that appointment kept being kicked down the road until ultimately, we never met. Meanwhile, my white male peers were able to meet without appointments. To simplify, it was harder for me (and women in the industry) to have your voice heard.”
He explains these kinds of microaggressions are part of what the fellowship aims to challenge. “When you have gender, when you have race, even LGBTQ, sometimes your voice isn’t heard or sometimes it takes more effort to get a seat at the table, and we want to identify that, and also learn how you can get your way to have that seat at the table,” Edwards said.
When asked to share any words for students who doubt their abilities as a result of past discrimination, Edwards said “Always trust your gut. Do not be afraid to express your thoughts, ideas, and creativity. In order to succeed, you need to fail. It’s unfortunate, but if you’re a person of color, or female, or LGTBQ+ in a profession and you fail at something, at times it’s magnetized more. You can’t let that affect you. There is no way you’re not going to fail at something. As the late singer Aaliyah sang, ‘dust yourself off and try again’. Learn and grow.”
