Tracey Spicer

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Tracey Spicer
Spicer at the Australian film premiere of Grace of Monaco, June 2014
BornJune 1967 (1967-06) (age 56)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
OccupationSky News Australia Journalist
SpouseJason Thompson
Children2
Websitehttp://traceyspicer.com.au/

Tracey Spicer, born 1967 in Brisbane, Queensland, is an Australian news reader and journalist. She is best known for her association with Network Ten as a newsreader in the 1990s and 2000s when she co-hosted Ten Eyewitness News in Brisbane, Queensland, and later presenting the national news. She later went on to work with Sky News Australia as a reporter and presenter from 2007 to 2015. Spicer’s 2014 TEDx talk,The Lady Stripped Bare, in which she draws attention to the pressures women feel to meet society's expectations on how they ought to look, received over 2 million views. She is author of The Good Girl Stripped Bare, in which she encourages women to resist the pressure to conform to socially imposed gender roles and to speak out against sexism and inequality, and the Women in Media (WiM) Australia “Mates over Merit” report which looked at gender discrimination in the Australian media industry. She currently runs two media companies, Spicer Communications and Outspoken Women.

Education

Spicer attended high school in Brisbane and in 1987 graduated from the Queensland Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Business (Communications) with a major in journalism.[1][2]

Career

Spicer began her career at Macquarie National News providing reports to the Brisbane station 4BH, before moving on to Melbourne radio station 3AW as the chief police reporter and morning news editor. Spicer moved on to television: first for the rural network, Southern Cross Television, and the Nine Network. The Network Ten station in Melbourne later hired Spicer as a local correspondent before promoting her to co-host the First at Five News in Brisbane. In 1995 she moved to Sydney to presenting the National Weekend News bulletins, and late night news until it was taken off air in 2005. Spicer remained with Network Ten until the end of 2006.[3][2]

In late 2006, after 14 years with the network, Spicer was dismissed after returning from maternity leave when her second child was two months old. In a 10-page letter of demand served to Network Ten, Spicer claimed she had been discriminated against since giving birth to her first child in 2004 following severe pregnancy complications.[3] The case garnered attention in the media, with speculation she was fired because of her age; Network Ten strongly denied allegations of discrimination.[4][5] Spicer threatened to take the case to the Federal Court, but eventually settled with the network.[6][7] She signed off for the final time on New Year's Eve 2006,[8] beginning work with Sky News Australia four days later. Spicer worked as a Sky news presenter until leaving in 2015.[citation needed]

Spicer is a regular columnist with Sunday Life (Fairfax newspapers)[9] and regular contributor to Signature Magazine Travel and Lifestyle.[citation needed] She writes the Mama Holiday column for Traveller Magazine’s Sunday edition, focusing on family holidays.[10] Spicer was previously a weekly op ed columnist with Wendy Harmer’s The Hoopla from 2011 to 2015 and travel writer and ambassador for Holiday with Kids Magazine from 2009 to 2014.[11] She was a columnist with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, and a regular contributor to publications such as Sunday Telegraph, House & Garden and WeightWatchers' magazine, and online wrote for The Punch (Australia) website before its closure in 2013.[12]

Since August 2015, Spicer has been an occasional contributor to ABC TV’sThe Drum[13] and currently works as a freelance writer, speaker, media trainer and broadcaster through her two media companies, Spicer Communications and Outspoken Women.[14]

Spicer produced a documentary for the World Wildlife Fund, World Vision and other non government organisations about the plight of women in Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and India.[13]

Advocacy and views

Spicer is an Ambassador for World Vision,[15]: 82  the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Queensland University of Technology's Learning Potential Fund[1] and the Penguin Foundation, and Patron of the NSW Cancer Council, the newborn care unit at the Royal Hospital for Women, the Life's Little Treasures Foundation and the National Premmie Foundation.[16][13]

She is also an Ambassador for Dying with Dignity, and is the face of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research’s research into pancreatic cancer, the disease responsible for her mother's death.[13][17]

In January 2011, Spicer interviewed anti-vaccination campaigner, Meryl Dorey (Australian Vaccination Network now Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network) on 2UE. Citing an editorial in the British Medical Journal which confirmed there was now ‘clear evidence’ that the now discredited research linking autism with the MMR vaccine, undertaken by Andrew Wakefield, was conducted unethically and based on falsified data, Spicer asked Dorey to concede the AVN’s ‘scare campaign’ was based on “fraudulent and misleading information”. When Dorey tried to direct listeners to her AVN website (which had, itself, been found by the Health Care Complaints Commission to be disseminating “misleading, misrepresented and incorrect information about vaccination”) Spicer ended the interview prematurely by terminating the call.[18]. And in December 2011, in an article for the Daily Telegraph, Spicer became a public advocate for childhood vaccination when she wrote of her frustration with the growing anti-vaccination lobby.[19]

In a 2010 Daily Telegraph article, Spicer urged politicians to approve the use of ‘medical marijuana’.[20]

In June 2014, Spicer delivered a TEDx talk for Southbank Women in Brisbane, Queensland. In her presentation, “The Lady Stripped Bare”, Spicer drew attention to the time women commit to fulfilling society’s expectations on how they should look. During her speech, Spicer wipes off her make-up, dishevels her hair, and removes her dress until she stands ‘stripped bare’ in a white singlet top and a pair of black shorts.[21] As of 2017 the video has received over 2.6 million views.[22][23]

In 2015, Spicer featured in a short documentary, “Let’s Talk About Breasts”. In the film, she talks about the need for women to check their own breasts and have regular mammograms. Medical imaging company, Hologic, supported the documentary with a ‘per view’ donation, resulting in a $10,000 contribution to the breast cancer charity, Pink Hope.[24]

In 2015, she became an ambassador for KidsMatter, an Australian mental health and wellbeing initiative focused on primary schools and early childhood.[25] Spicer hosted KidsMatters’s Starting School videos.[26] In the same year, she was appointed as ambassador for Autism Spectrum Australia.[27]

In May 2017, Spicer addressed the Sydney Institute on the topic “Ways Forward for Women in the Workplace”. In her speech, Spicer argued quotas and targets are insufficient to address gender inequity in the workplace. Alluding to a scene in the film “Hidden Figures” (2017), she calls for business leaders to ‘take a crowbar’ to the cultural and structural barriers which impede women’s full participation in the workplace. She provides evidence that gender diversity on corporate boards has a positive financial impact.[28] Also in 2017 Spicer was the MC for the 2017 International Women’s Day Events in Brisbane, hosted by the United Nations.[29]

Writing

On 1 May 2017, Spicer released her autobiography,The Good Girl Stripped Bare, published by ABC Books and Harper Collins, described as ‘part memoir and part manifesto’. Spicer deconstructs the structural barriers facing women in the workplace and encourages women to resist the pressure to conform to socially imposed gender roles and to speak out against sexism and inequality. Following comments made in her book, In June 2017 Spicer made public statements in the Sydney Morning Herald about the abuse she receives from online ‘trolls’ and mens rights’ activists.[30][31]

As co-founder and convenor of Women in Media (WiM) Australia, In 2016 Spicer spearheaded the report, “Mates over Merit”, a study of gender differences in the Australian media. The data was collected via a national online survey of around 1,000 women in media at the end of 2015, backed by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.[32] Spicer’s contribution to the design, analysis and promotion of the WiM survey were recognised by the Walkley Foundation as one of three achievements supporting her nomination for the Walkley’s Women’s Leadership in Media award.[33] The survey revealed women employed in the Australian media believe discrimination is rife in the industry, promotions rely on ‘mateship’ rather than merit, women are the victims of ageism within the industry, there is a significant gender pay gap, and that the policies designed to prevent discrimination are largely ineffective.[34]

Awards

Spicer was named the 2016 QUT Alumni Service Award Winner, in recognition of her advocacy for the QUT Learning Potential Fund, which provides scholarships to students whose financial circumstances might prevent them from pursuing higher education.[1]

In 2017 Spicer was named as a finalist in the Walkley Foundation’s Women’s Leadership in Media Award. The award ‘recognises outstanding journalistic contribution by women to coverage of gender equality and full participation of women in society’. Spicer was recognised for her contribution to Women in Media’s “Mates over Merit” report on the status of women in the Australian media industry, her book “The Good Girl Stripped Bare” (2017) and an article on the objectification and sexualisation of girls (Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 2017). The winner will be announced at the Walkley Mid-Year Awards Celebration in Sydney on July 26.[33]. The award was won by Catherine Fox.[35]

Spicer also sits on the judging panel of The Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalists Award.[36]

Personal Life

Spicer is married to camera man, Jason Thompson. She has two children, Grace (born 2006) and Taj (born 2004).[citation needed]

In 2016, Spicer wrote about her father, Paul Spicer’s, struggles with depression and alcoholism. She has since become an advocate for mental health and self-care.[37]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tracey Spicer named 2016 Alumni Service Award winner". qut.edu.au. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Tracey Spicer". ovations.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Ten Axes Newsreader Spicer". theage.com. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Spicer discrimination 'untrue': Ten". smh.com.au. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Ten accused of discrimination over newsreader sacking". abc.net.au. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  6. ^ Gadd, Michael. "Channel 10 journalist reaches settlement". news.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Tracey Spicer Settles With Ten". heraldsun.com.au. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  8. ^ Tracey Spicer Farewell. youtube.com. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Columnist, Tracey Spicer". smh.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Columnist, Tracey Spicer". traveller.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Articles by Tracey Spicer". holidayswithkids.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Our Journalists, Tracey Spicer". newsmodo.com. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d "Tracey Spicer". abc.net.au. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Speaker, Tracey Spicer". atheistconvention.org.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Looking Back on The Vision, The stories behind World Vision Australia's First 50 Years" (PDF). worldvision.com.au. 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Our Patrons". prembaby.org.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Tracey Spicer, Ambassador". dwdnsw.org.au. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  18. ^ Tracey Spicer interviews Meryl Dorey. Macquarie Media PtyLtd. January 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  19. ^ Spicer, Tracey (28 December 2011). "Campaign of fear gives me the needle". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  20. ^ Spicer, Tracey (18 January 2010). "Tracey Spicer argues for use of medical marijuana". news.com.au. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  21. ^ Spicer, Tracey (24 November 2015). The lady stripped bare Tracey Spicer TEDxSouthBankWomen. youtube.com. TedX Talks. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  22. ^ Mollard, Angela (11 June 2011). "Tracey Spicer: 'I've put on five kilos and I don't give a sh*t'". dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  23. ^ Spicer, Tracey (2 October 2016). "Tracey Spicer plans to ditch the hair dye are met with some surprising reactions". smh.com.au. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  24. ^ Barter, Krystal (21 September 2014). "Lets Talk About Breasts". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  25. ^ "Introducing KidsMatter ambassador Tracey Spicer". kidsmatter.edu.au. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  26. ^ "Starting School". kidsmatter.edu.au. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  27. ^ "Announcing Our Latest Ambassador, Tracey Spicer". www.autismspectrum.org.au. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  28. ^ "Ways forward for Women in the Workplace". The Sydney Institue. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  29. ^ "Brisbane IWD Breakfast". unwomen.org.au. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  30. ^ Noyes, Jenny. "Who will help the women being traumatised by anonymous trolls?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  31. ^ Gorman, Ginger. "Staring down the trolls: Mute, block or resort to 'digilantism'?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  32. ^ Groves, Don (5 March 2016). "New Study Shows Staggering Harassment and Abuse Numbers For Women In Australian Media". forbes.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  33. ^ a b "Finalists announced for Women's Leadership in Media and Best Freelance Journalist awards". walkleys.com. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  34. ^ "'Mates Over Merit: The Women In Media Report'". Media Entertainment and Arts. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  35. ^ "The Women's Leadership in Media Award 2017". walkleys.com. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  36. ^ "The Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalists Award". National Press Club of Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  37. ^ O'Sullivan, Jodie. "Tracey Spicer to speak at 2017 Albury-Wodonga Winter Solstice event". Border Mail. Retrieved 24 July 2017.


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