The Oct. 4 WICT Leadership Conference kicks off the cable industry’s Diversity Week festivities, which for the second straight year will be held virtually and also includes the NAMIC Conference (Oct. 5-8) and The Walter Kaitz Foundation fundraising event (Oct. 6). 

The two-day WICT Conference, with its theme of “Together We Shine, Together We Thrive,” will feature several sessions and keynote speakers that will look to empower its members as well as conference attendees to thrive in a challenging business environment. WICT President and CEO Maria Brennan spoke to Multichannel News regarding the organization’s outlook for this year’s conference. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Multichannel News: Are you satisfied with the attendance numbers heading into the virtual conference?

Maria Brennan: I'm more than satisfied. I said that I would be happy if we got more than 800 [attendees] by conference time and we are at 799 so I’m pretty confident we’ll get there. Last year as you may recall we set a record for attendance of about 840 -- it would be nice to get there, but I've been very, very pleased. I think it’s a really good indication that even though we may have some virtual learning fatigue, there's still always time to make the time for the Leadership Conference and Diversity Week. I think it’s a good sign that people still have it in them to participate in the work we do to bring Diversity Week to the masses, along with NAMIC and the Walter Kaitz Foundation.

MCN: You mentioned record attendance for last year’s conference. Has the industry been able to maintain the momentum for WICT's diversity and equality efforts from last year?

MB: Absolutely, and we're now at a very critical inflection point: women in terms of the workforce lost a lot of ground in a year and a half. In fact, the Women's Economic Forum has the last year and a half or two years setting back women in the workforce a good three decades behind what it was before the pandemic. That’s the bad news, but here's the good news:  we can also recover exponentially quicker with a bit of a course correction. That's why events like this are so important. We're certainly teaching and talking about the business of the business, but we're also teaching and instilling really good practices when it comes to recruiting, retaining and advancing women and people of color. The global pandemic hurt women in the workforce, but it can also help us get to parody quicker if we take these issues seriously and work collaboratively and collectively to try to stop that course. I know we work in an industry that believes in the diversity imperative, so we know that the companies we work with are going to put resources toward it. 

MCN: What are some of the highlights of this year’s conference? 

MB: I bet I say this every year, but I think this is one of the most extraordinary collections of speakers we’ve ever had. I’m really excited and proud about where we are and I think that’s why we’ve seen our numbers stay strong from year to year. We have some tremendous general sessions and keynote speakers, including [MSNBC President] Rashida Jones. One of the things that we know in terms of building diversity is that it starts in the C-suite. Women are going to get parity with men exponentially quicker when men are part of the solution. That’s why I’m excited about the CEO panel that we’re doing. There will be some real important CEOs who really are putting forward best practices when it comes to putting women at all different levels within the company, including [Cox Communications President and CEO] Pat Esser, [Altice USA CEO] Dexter Goei, [Urban One CEO] Alfred Liggins and [Charter Communications CFO] Chris Winfrey. I’m also a huge fan of our 'Pearls of Wisdom' session as well as our 'Beyond the Hashtag:#LoveIsLove' session. Niecy Nash is going to preempt the session with lovely remarks about her journey.

MCN: WICT is planning to hold the Leadership Conference in person next year. Does having gone virtual for two straight years present some challenges for the conference in 2022? 

MB: It does, but here’s the silver lining: I hope there will never be a WICT Leadership Conference that is strictly in person. I think we should always make it hybrid. We have to meet people where they are. Not everybody is going to want to get back in a crowded room right away. Also, some people just don't have the clearance to get on a plane and go to New York for a few days. We can really make this a more inclusive experience by reformatting it based on what we've learned in an entirely virtual scenario. 

Christiane Amanpour, chief international anchor at CNN, sat for a livestream interview as part of the University of Rhode Island’s Taricani Lecture Series July 16. Entitled “Truthful Not Neutral in a Time of Dissent,” the lecture was moderated by Sree Sreenivasan, professor of digital innovation & audience engagement, Stony Brook University. 

The series is named for Jim Taricani, the late, legendary investigative reporter at WJAR Providence, who mentored Amanpour after she graduated from URI. 

Amanpour took on the issue of bogus news being shared on social media, and called it “a scandal that the social media giants don’t police themselves better. They cannot hide under just being platforms. They are publishers. If we have to abide by the laws of the press and publishing, then they should too.”

She said it’s “a complete and utter disgrace that so much rubbish and so many conspiracy theories” traffic around the social platforms. 

Amanpour encouraged consumers to get their information from trusted news sources. “Please don’t just look at social media,” she said. “Please, please, please, please, please.”

Getting one’s news from social is “damaging to your health, it is damaging to our democracy, it is damaging to our lives,” said Amanpour. 

Amanpour is the host of Amanpour on CNN and Amanpour & Co. on PBS. 

She spoke about being a reporter throughout the pandemic. At her London home, she mentioned how part of her kitchen has become her studio. “I’m used to mostly being face-to-face with people I interview, and that hasn’t been possible,” she said. 

Amanpour noted how sources appear to be more available, as they’re often stuck at home. “They have no more excuses,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of guests we may not have as easily brought onto the program.”

Amanpour was asked about the First Amendment, and said “it is the example to the world.”

She mentioned it being under attack from U.S. leadership, which she called “unacceptable.” 

“It is vital, it is absolutely vital, even under the most difficult circumstances,” she said. 

Amanpour described an “unconstitutional attack on our profession from the leadership of the United States,” and said she will not state the phrase “enemy of the people,” as President Trump has described the media. “I simply won’t go there,” she said. 

Amanpour was asked about bias trickling into journalism. “I think we have to accept that bias exists,” she said. “It is our job to report truth and objectivity despite what biases exist.”
Speaking about Black Lives Matter, Amanpour acknowledged taking “great exception” to the way civil rights protests were often described as riots in the U.S. “We are not to be swayed by the politics and the agenda of those who would knock us off the root of truth,” she said. 

President Trump, she said, has a “complicated relationship” with truth, democracy and “basic freedom.”

Christiane Amanpour, CNN chief international anchor, will share her perspectives on the First Amendment, journalism and the news business when she takes part in the Taricani Lecture Series at the University of Rhode Island July 16.

The lecture, titled “Truthful Not Neutral in a Time of Dissent,” happens at 12:05 p.m. ET and is produced by URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media. 

The livestream event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. 

Sree Sreenivasan, former professor at the Columbia School of Journalism, moderates. 

Amanpour graduated from URI in 1983. She’s the host of Amanpour on CNN and Amanpour & Co. on PBS. She was inducted into the B+C Hall of Fame in 2018. 

The event is named after Jim Taricani, who was a celebrated investigative reporter at WJAR Providence. The Taricani Lecture Series came to be not long after Taricani’s death in 2019. 

Taricani mentored Amanpour when she interned at WJAR after graduating from URI. He retired in 2014. 

“Providence turned out to be a brilliant news town,” Amanpour told B&C. “It was such an amazing experience.”

Authors and journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn were the guests in the Taricani Lecture Series last month.

CNN will debut its new original series Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World on March 17, network executives said.

The six-part series focuses on individuals around the world who are shaping the idea of modern love. CNN international correspondent Amanpour focuses on the shifting landscapes of intimacy, love and pleasure as men and women are pushing the boundaries on sexual satisfaction, consent and connection, said network officials.

Sex & Love Around the World is produced by Zero Point Zero with executive producers Anthony Bourdain, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Joe Caterini, Anna Chai, Amy Entelis and Lizzie Fox.

"I've long been an admirer of Christiane's brilliant work as a journalist, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with her on this project,” said Bourdain in a statement. “Between Christiane's deep and broad experience as an incisive, experienced and empathetic reporter, who has worked all over the world, her genuine passion for this project and Zero Point Zero's proven ability to execute just this type of global content, Sex and Love Around the World represents some of the best of what CNN Original Series can do."