100! Commitment
Edition 100
When the big news in social media is that Donald Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ is going public with its IPO, Americans are up in arms about a potential TikTok ban and a woman (albeit a royal and a celebrity) suffering from cancer, undergoing chemotherapy is forced to make a public statement to end raging conspiracy theory fires - it takes away any doubt that misogynist and anti-woman rhetoric has become mainstream.
Algorithms are amplifying misogynistic content and normalising it. It is now perfectly acceptable to spew bile at each other and more so at women (especially prominent ones). It’s now acceptable to indulge in unproven gossip and conspiracy theories that go viral and therefore make it onto even mainstream news (you know who you are). It is now acceptable to not just pit women against women, but enjoy the destruction of lives and careers from the comfort of a gaming chair, or a network studio.
If you think I’m having a visceral, knee jerk reaction to the Princess of Wales’ rather heartfelt ‘back off from my family’ warning — here’s a snippet from The Guardian about a new study, by teams at University College London and the University of Kent, albeit focussing on just a single social media platform:
“Researchers said they detected a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content suggested by TikTok over a five-day period of monitoring, as the algorithm served more extreme videos, often focused on anger and blame directed at women.”
It “comes at a time of renewed concern about the impact of social media on young people. Research last week found young men from generation Z – many of whom revere social media influencer Andrew Tate – are more likely than baby boomers to believe that feminism has done more harm than good.” Read the full article here
This anti-woman wave is everywhere. Not just TikTok.
This 100th edition of The Chief Brief was going to be a ode of thanks to you, for your unwavering support! It was going to feature Presidential interviews about the state of the world. It was going to be a celebration of reach, clout and whatever else we in the media typically do to to say - ‘thank you for taking the time to read every edition'!’ It was going to be a ‘see, reading this newsletter is worth it. Look who’s insights you have access to!’
Instead, watching the increased social media and mainstream vitriol of the past few weeks - I decided this 100th edition needed to be a moment to make two commitments to you.
Click bait articles and tearing each other down may be the way of the world today, but The Chief Brief will always remain a safe space. It will not drop its standards in the hunt for more eyeballs, likes, views, followers or subscribers.
The Chief Brief will remain committed to shining a spotlight on those like the women whom I’ve met and been influenced by, over the course of a long career.
Some are famous, some work behind the scenes - but together these women have taught me, to truly see the potential in people, build communities of support for issues that impact the world, question everything and pull others up as you rise and facilitate paths for them to succeed.
Women like: Corinne Vigreux, Shannon Shibata Germanos, Nina Easton, Pattie Sellers, Barbara Stelzner, Sonia Rocher, Sara Beysolow, Gardenia Trezzini, Anna Rathman, Anita Orban, Jen McGee, Emma Rhodes, Judy Hicks, Inga Beale, Barbara Humpton, Margrethe Vestager, Kersti Kaljulaid, Nina Levchuk, Menaka Doshi, Helle Thorning Schmidt, Miriam González Durántez and so many more I can’t name, as this list would become the size of the dictionary!
To my second grade teacher - Mrs. Rates at Rosendale Elementary School in London. Wherever you are today - thank you for taking the only little brown girl in your class by the hand and letting her know everyday she wasn’t disruptive. You understood that little girl just needed a bigger challenge to overcome every day. With kindness and guidance, you influenced a life that could have otherwise been derailed! I hope our community can do the same.
Thank you again for your support. Edition 101 onward will continue to aspire to be even more inspirational, thought provoking and experimental to make us all stronger and better, together.
Stories of Note:
Dame (Dr) Adaora Umeoji will become the first female CEO of Zenith Bank in June. Her appointment now take the percentage of female CEOs of Nigerian banks to 36%. Dr Umeoji,is a Harvard alum with almost thirty years of banking experience, including twenty-six years at Zenith Bank, and previously held the position of Deputy Managing Director at one of Nigeria and Africa’s most prominent banks. Read more at CIO Africa
Joana Vicente has stepped down as the CEO of the Sundance Institute, the NGO that organises the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. After overseeing some of the industry’s toughest times through the Covid crisis, she has been replaced with Amanda Kelso who will transition into the role in April. On her departure, Joana said, “After two-and-a-half inspiring years, I have made the decision to begin a new chapter and will be moving on.” Read more at Variety
Watch the clock turn back a few hundred years IRL as The Gambia could become the first country in the world to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM). The country's National Assembly advanced a bill that would repeal the 2015 law criminalizing all acts of FGM. The reasoning of the man that introduced the bill? The ability to protect citizen’s rights to “practice their culture and religion.” This isn’t great news for a country where 76% of girls and women aged between 15-49 years have undergone FGM, per a 2021 report by UNICEF. Read more at NPR
We’re about to lose another female head of state, this time in Slovakia. President Zuzana Caputova will be stepping down as the country goes to the polls to elect one of two men and we can expect a potential divide on support for neighbouring Ukraine. Ivan Korcok, the pro-EU former Slovak foreign minister who scored a surprise victory in the first round of a presidential election on Saturday, setting up a run-off vote with Peter Pellegrini a key ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. Read more at Reuters
Diversity and Inclusion in Disney films and shows may have gone too far for Nelson Peltz, the billionaire activist investor. He has been waging war against Disney and a few days ago hit out at the media giant over its use of all-black and all-female casts. (He has of course been in a bitter boardroom battle to join Disney’s board for a while now.) In an interview with the Financial Times he said Disney's films have become too woke and specifically took issue with "The Marvels" and "Black Panther." Here’s the doozy of a quote from the interview that Disney says, is the reason he can’t be let anywhere near a creative company:
“Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?” Read more at The Financial Times