Antoinette Lattouf has had a huge year working to support Australia’s next generation of leaders after publishing her new book, all while continuing to make space for more cultural diversity in the media.
She’s an award-winning journalist, author and diversity advocate, and was named the Emerging Leader in the Not-for-Profit Sector at our 2021 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.
Her book, ‘How to Lose Friends and Influence White People,’ released May 2022 from Penguin Random House, explores how to make a difference when championing change and racial equality, and counters Dale Carnegie’s advice in ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ to explore the fallouts of failing to ‘criticise, condemn, or complain’.
No matter who you’re trying to influence — a racist relative at the dinner table or even a CEO blind to institutional barriers for people of colour in the workplace — this powerful and personal guide teaches you how to be effective. Lattouf describes it as “a cheeky and provocative but also super pragmatic anti-racism guide,” which sounds like a must-read for us all.
When asked about her best career tips for women, Lattouf notes the need to focus on your why.
“If you want to make things happen be very clear and descriptive about what it is you want and more importantly why you want this,” she says.
“I think many people fail to really understand their why.
“Also, life has curveballs and we can only plan so much — so you need to be prepared to be flexible and pivot if necessary, even just for the short term. This can be things like a pandemic or having a child or falling ill. Plans are great, and so are goals, but be gentle with yourself if things don’t always go to plan and if you take a break or change course temporarily, it does not mean you cannot get back on track.
“Self-belief will get you back on track.”
Meanwhile, Lattouf has made some significant moves in terms of her career. She’s left her journalism position at Network 10 to work as an independent freelance presenter, content maker, consultant and speaker. And at Media Diversity Australia, the not-for-profit she co-founded in 2017, she’s moved away from operational work to become a non-executive board director.
She’s also taken on the position of co-host on ‘The Briefing’, a daily news podcast for Southern Cross Austereo, and is working on a still secret, documentary series with a subject matter she says will surprise some people. This August, she will also be giving her first TED Talk in Sydney
We recently followed up with Lattouf to hear what she’s been up to since winning the 2021 leadership award, and to learn what advice she has for other women looking to make big things happen.
Nominations for the 2022 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards are now open! Check it out here.
What have been some reactions you’ve gotten from readers since the release of your new book, ‘How to Lose Friends and Influence White People’?
One of the most rewarding and exciting things about becoming an author is being contacted by readers. Every day I get messages or Instagram selfies of people with my book, my heart warms, it is such an honour. For a lot of people of colour — it has been cathartic because they feel seen and heard and are grateful for tips on how to move forward, but it can also be triggering for some. I especially love hearing from people like older white men. Just this week, a handyman emailed me saying he enjoyed the book and wants to get more involved and volunteer in any way he can. These are the sorts of allies we need to make Australia a fairer and more inclusive place.
What’s your career and life been like over the past year?
I’m super grateful for the opportunities and platform I’ve had over the past year. Having a voice in public life is a privilege but it also comes with a lot of responsibility, especially given we know that women and especially women of colour are given less bandwidth to fail and scrutinised more closely. I constantly feel like I am one comment or one tweet away from being harassed and threatened out of the media.
Having said this I think the election outcome has signalled that there’s a real appetite for change in this country. Women have spoken and ethnic minorities have spoken. The recent Census results have shown that we are even more multicultural than previously thought — so it really is high time our media, politics and judiciary catch up.
Can you give any updates on Media Diversity Australia’s work to champion cultural diversity in Australian journalism and news media?
We really want to help guide and support the next generation of leaders in news and current affairs, so we have a 12 months women of the colour mentorship program. This is the first of its kind in Australia and has just kicked off.
MDA recently wrapped up paid political fellowships in Canberra, where people of colour were able to be embedded in major newsrooms and help with election coverage because it’s essential for press gallery journalists who are overwhelmingly, and in some teams exclusively white — become more representative.
Later this year, we’ll be releasing phase two, of Who Gets To Tell Australian stories. This will essentially be a report card of television news and current affairs and what the progress has been (if any) since we first forensically examined on-air and behind-the-scenes diversity in television. The report this time will also survey audience attitudes to examine whether diverse audiences are turning away from mainstream news and why.
We are also working on research into the online experiences of diverse journalists – to look at what more can be done for women. people of colour, those with a disability and those from the queer community to ensure they are not bullied online into silence or feel unsafe to stay in the industry.
What do you believe urgently needs to change for women in your current area of work or focus?
While progress has been made on camera in terms of gender representation, we still need to see more women in leadership roles in the media. But not just middle-class white, able-bodied women. We need women who reflect our population leading the decisions about which stories are told and how.
What advice do you have for women who are looking to push the status quo in trying to achieve better outcomes for others?
This is hard to summarise in one sentence so I would suggest reading my book because it is all about evidence-based tips and tools for influence and change!
Being a changemaker isn’t easy and there can be pushback and consequences (often disproportionately so!) You may ask yourself, well I don’t want to put myself in the firing line. To that, I would say, progress and equality have always had to be fought for and women enjoy freedoms today that those before us — so I think we all have a responsibility to make things fairer for the next generation, and importantly for all women. This includes for women of colour, those with a disability, those from remote and regional areas and the LBGTQI+ community. And you can start small and really find your niche — you don’t need to single handedly take on everything because it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not have impact and then just give up entirely.
What, generally, is your best career tip for making big things happen?
If you want to make things happen be very clear and descriptive about what it is you want and more importantly why you want this.
I think many people fail to really understand their why. Also, life has curveballs and we can only plan so much — so you need to be prepared to be flexible and pivot if necessary, even just for the short term. This can be things like a pandemic or having a child or falling ill. Plans are great, and so are goals, but be gentle with yourself if things don’t always go to plan and if you take a break or change course temporarily, it does not mean you cannot get back on track. Self-belief will get you back on track.