The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, October 7, 2011 · 10 Mesley speaks to women in nuclear energy By Nathan Howes OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Who can you trust? This was just one of the questions discussed by CBC broadcast journalist and anchor Wendy Mesley recently at the eighth annual Women In Nuclear conference in Oakville. Mesley hosts the CBC news program The National l on Sunday evenings, and the presentation gave her a chance to share stories, from her own experience and the world-at-large, to women in the nuclear industry. "I'm hardly an expert on women in nuclear, but I am pretty comfortable in talking about women in power because as a journalist we faced, as women, a maledriven business, but that's changing," said Mesley. "Usually when I speak to people, I talk about all the very serious business-like aspects of women losing people's trust because it's pretty much as important as money." Mesley also said there isn't much trust in journalism anymore. She noted there used to be a lot more trust between the media and the people they covered, and from the audience. Nor are politicians as open with the media as they once were, she noted. reason for hope, she said. "We might not trust politicians as a group, but we do trust the politician who does show up for our own barbecue. We may not trust police entirely as an institution, but we do trust the officer who brings our kid home safe," said Mesley. The journalist said we perhaps don't trust salespeople, but we do trust that lady downtown who tells us our latest buy is suitable for us. Mesley sometimes sees herself as part of the Madonna generation, she said, partly because she admires the singer's economic and financial success, but mostly from watching the world's reaction to Madonna when she first started. "It really wasn't terribly unusual for a woman starting to break out in a man's world to be successful in areas like that, but it was still seen as a little bit shocking and that made some people uncomfortable," said Mesley. Mesley got her first job answering phones at Chum Radio in the '70s, she said, when there weren't very many women in journalism, and the ones that were, weren't doing any work related to the profession. "Back then, it was generally accepted people actually said things like `You can't have women doing the news because womSee Trust page 15 DANIEL HO / OAKVILLE BEAVER A MATTER OF TRUST: Broadcast journalist Wendy Mesley speaks to the audience at the recent Women in Nuclear conference held at Le Dome Banquet Hall. "They don't even talk to us anymore, I'm not saying we don't keep secrets, (but) I'm not sure how the relationship fell apart. There's not much trust anymore and people don't trust us as much," said Mesley. "Trust really affects how you are seen and how you try to create yourself to the world. Whether you are an engineer or a scientist or a journalist, we all want, and we all need, to be trusted." But it is that same desire people have to be trusted that also gives Mesley some Presenting Sponsors BARRINGTON'S AND BURROWS Hear of Candlelight Ball Saturday November 5, 2011 6:00pm at the Burlington Convention Centre Net proceeds from this year's Candlelight Ball will fund: ~ Motorized Rotary Microtome for the Laboratory ~ High Resolution Digital Ultrasound for Rehab ~ ECG Machines for Cardio Respiratory Presenting Sponsors Go Ñ Dinner Sponsor Entertainment Sponsor Michael and Christine Selim Wine Sponsor Creative & Design Sponsor Reception Sponsor Auction Sponsor Golden Ticket Sponsor Venue Sponsor Multimedia Sponsor Decor Sponsor Volunteer Sponsor Program Sponsor For more information please visit: www.otmhcandlelightball.com