Missing Perspectives has appointed Alicia Vrajlal as editorial and partnerships lead (formerly senior culture editor at Refinery29 and editor of HuffPost Australia), and Natasha Gillezeau as product and strategy lead (former reporter at AFR and GQ Australia).
Missing Perspectives founder, Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, started the platform to fill a gap in the mainstream media industry and to provide more opportunities for young female storytelling across news, film and entertainment.
The 2023 Women in Media gender scorecard found that women in media are vastly underrepresented in Australia, with men accounting for 70% of quoted sources, and 66% of experts in all news stories.
Missing Perspectives content reaches more than one million people across 120 countries, overseen by Hannah Diviney, editor-in-chief and creative lead of Missing Perspectives as well as author, actress and disability advocate.
The company’s new appointments will scale the business, its operations and editorial content to amplify unheard voices and reach new audiences.
Vrajlal’s role at Missing Perspectives will ensure that the platform continues to drive impact through female storytelling and like-minded brand partnerships in Australia and worldwide.
Vrajlal said it’s an exciting time to be joining Missing Perspectives, which is on the brink of creating major impact in a world where diverse communities are still underrepresented, particularly in mainstream media.
“Missing Perspectives complements my platform, ‘Draw Your Box’ and its vision to give Australia’s largest migrant communities a voice through informed storytelling and the growth of a freelance writer network," she said.
"I’m similarly looking forward to connecting with female reporters to help them shine a light on untold stories.”
Gillezeau joins the platform to work with its talented reporter base and deliver impactful stories and content. She will lead the development and pilot of Missing Perspectives’ software product launching in November, which will connect newsrooms and media enterprises with young female reporters and content creators.
Gillezeau said Saintilan-Stocks and Diviney have created something really special at a fascinating time for the media industry.
"They are pushing the boundaries by publishing stories that other outlets would likely miss, while testing new forms of technology to connect newsrooms with exceptional reporters from Afghanistan to India and around the world," said Gillezeau.
Saintilan-Stocks said Vrajlal and Gillezeau’s appointments were the first of many exciting announcements in the pipeline.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that the female voices represented on Missing Perspectives are amplified to reach the global community and continually drive impact," she said.
"We are proud to have Alicia and Natasha join our team to help us achieve our collective mission of bridging the gap between marginalised voices and mainstream press.”
Diviney said that bringing Vrajlal and Gillezeau on board will give the team extra scope and creative bandwidth for creating meaningful, intersectional change.
"I cannot wait until the full breadth of Missing Perspectives is revealed to the world because honestly, with our growing team, the sky’s the limit," said Diviney.
"I feel so lucky and privileged to be working with these amazing women.”
Missing Perspectives is also in the process of building a Missing Perspectives Directory – a first-of-its-kind SaaS product connecting newsrooms, brands and media enterprises with young female reporters and content creators.
Discussions are currently being held with strategic investors across Australia and the United States to scale the app, and the Directory will be launching in November 2023 across Australia and North America.
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