Being a regional woman working in media (or in any sector!) can be isolating, so when scholarships were offered by Women NSW to attend the national Women in Media conference in Sydney early this month, three Western Plains newspaper editors jumped at the chance.

Taking a break from the newsrooms at the Coonamble Times, newspapers at Gilgandra, Narromine, Warren and Nyngan, and from the Coonabarabran Times and Wattle magazine were Lee O’Conner, Lucie Peart and Kait Britton.

They were part of a 13-woman cohort from across regional, rural and remote NSW who attended the conference and heard from renowned speakers including Liz Hayes, who was interviewed by actor, Rachel Griffiths, and Ita Buttrose.

Attracting 150 delegates, the conference covered topics such as women's storytelling, the media's influence on men's violence against women, the intersection between press freedom and the law, using AI for good, challenges to media trust, and the balance between online opportunities and safety for women in the digital realm. 

Lucie Peart said it was the first time she had attended the conference, but and it had been worthwhile.

“It was kind of like being in a zoo with all these famous people, but you're also in the same zoo, like you're on the same level,” she said.

Ms Peart said industry heavyweight, Caroline Jones acknowledged the contribution of women in media.

“It was a welcoming environment for those of us from the regions to join with our metropolitan counterparts and more broadly, our media heroes. There was a lot of diversity in terms of the media businesses that were represented there.”

Ms Peart said it was pleasing to see that issues for regional media were discussed.

"There was actually a lot of interest in how the regions would potentially suffer first under the collapse of the deals with Meta (formerly Facebook) and if anything happened with Google or other digital providers. There was a real concern that the regions are a barometer for change and we would perhaps be the first to suffer with limited resources."