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TOPICS

1. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. OR IS IT?

Whether it’s politicians, corporate leaders, or health experts, it’s getting increasingly difficult to know who to believe these days. Even journalists can’t always be trusted!

Well-known TV journalist Wendy Mesley takes you behind the scenes for an insiders’ look at how media , marketing and politics influence how we are informed.

Full of anecdotes from her years as a political reporter for CBC’s National News, her time as host of the media savvy program Undercurrents, and now as host of the consumer advocacy show Marketplace, Wendy offers informed and humorous take on the challenges of trying to figure out what’s right.

Wendy’s interest in these issues is longstanding, but took a different angle two years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Again, politics, business and media issues were found to complicate the information available. You may have seen her documentary called Chasing the Cancer Answer.

There may be no such thing as “the truth”, but Wendy offers some insights into what to look for as you try to stay informed.

2. THE WONDERS AND THE HORRORS

Imagine being born now. In their world, will wireless be old hat? Will television be obsolete? Will people trust the news media again?

Every generation is so different from the one before it. And a big part of the difference has been the influence of media and technology.

And the influence begins early. Marketers now target consumers starting at age 2! By the time they’re tweens, products are pitched with violent and sexual images that were banned , even by advertisers, just a few years ago. In grade school, kids no longer head to the library for their homework. They go online. The outlets of easily accessible information have exploded. As have the opportunities for communication. That’s the good news. It’s also the bad news. The cliques and bullying that used to happen in the school yard, now form online.

Yes, we all have access to so much information…but are we any better informed? In a world where everyone has an opinion, how on Earth does one determine value?

Many young people think Ali G. and Jon Stewart are more believable than network anchors or the big newspapers. What does this say? The good news is that these satirists are dealing with serious issues. The bad news is that we only listen when it comes in the form of a joke. And as news audiences dwindle, the solution seems to be to make the news more entertaining.

Wendy Mesley has been a reporter, a news anchor, and a professional trouble maker for 25 years. She is both thrilled and horrified by how media and technology are changing the world we live in.

3. WHO CAN YOU TRUST? AND … WHO CAN TRUST YOU?

Trust is one of the most powerful currencies we have. Whether it’s in business, politics, the community, or our personal lives, the strength of our relationships depends on trust. It’s an essential quality … yet it’s also one of the least examined human characteristics.

Trust is a topic that has fascinated Wendy Mesley throughout her career, and often defined the stories she’s told. Issues of trust – winning it, losing it, and abusing it – have come up consistently through her career. As a political reporter for CBC’s national news, host of the media savvy program Undercurrents and the consumer advocacy show Marketplace, and in many roles with The National, the issues she’s explored have often come down to a single question: who should you believe?

In this engaging, irreverent, and ultimately invaluable presentation, Wendy shares anecdotes from her own experience, and the world at large, to explore some of the most important questions about trust. What exactly is it? Why does it matter? Who has it? Who had it, but blew it?

How is it earned … and how is it lost? What are the warning signs that suggest your trust may be misplaced? Why are we more likely to trust individuals than the institutions they represent? How has this “trust gap” led individuals to create new communities to rebuild the ties that bind us together – and what does it mean for our future?

With her customary humour and famously direct approach, Wendy’s presentation leaves the audience with a clear understanding of how mastering trust makes a measurable impact in all areas of their lives.

4. We've Come a Long Way Baby!

We've come a long way baby! If only it were that simple! Overworked, underpaid and still not sitting in the big chair! I could be talking about your business or network television. We've worked our way up the greasy pole, but that final threshold is still a challenge. Although it does seem to be changing in my business with the appointment of network anchors Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer. Now, 2 of the 3 most trusted men in America are women! Quite a change from when I started out and was told women couldn't read the news because women's voices "aren't authouritative enough!"

So we're getting there, but how are we doing on the balance front, the holy grail of working women with kids at home. With women now making up almost 50% of the workplace, it's in everyone’s interest to find ways to help women manage long hours and weird schedules. And it's not just the women who have been asking for it. This generation of fathers is being offered the choice of spending more time with their children, of not being the sole breadwinner any more, and many men these days want the kind of flexibility and support that women have been requesting for decades.

The old cliches are true. There is a glass ceiling and we Have come a long way, baby! But like life, women are more complicated than that! It is hard to get to the top, but it's certainly doable, and definitely worth it!

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