Renowned television presenter and journalist Lisa Wilkinson was praised as the feminist hero Australia needed, after the former Today show co-host sensationally quit over a contract dispute and joined rival network Ten.
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On Wednesday the Wollongong-born Wilkinson returned to her "home turf' to accept a Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Wollongong.
"To be bestowed an honour like this by the University of Wollongong not only comes as a complete shock but an extraordinary honour," she said.
Just two years after starting her career and aged just 21, Wilkinson became the youngest editor of Dolly magazine.
Today almost 40 years down the track, The Project presenter reckons there has never been a better time to be a female broadcast journalist.
"At Channel 10 there is a female fronting every major news bulletin in all of the capital cities around the country. Twenty years ago that would have been unheard of. In fact even 10 years ago that would have been unheard of," Wilkinson said.
"You look at all the major news and current affairs programs, it is mostly women.
"Women like Sandra Sully, Liz Hayes, Tracey Grimshaw, Leigh Sales, Jenny Brockie...so many great role models there for women to look up to and to follow in their footsteps.
"In fact I feel a little bit sorry for a lot of men who want to make it in broadcast journalism these days. I think it has never been a better time to be female and work in broadcast journalism."
Household names Ita Buttrose and Tracey Spicer have rightly been praised for championing female journalists. Wilkinson too deserves such credit.
But she just feels "extraordinarily lucky to be around at a time when age and experience are actually celebrated and what so many audiences are actually looking for".
"[The industry] has changed extraordinarily. So many of the magazines that I used to work for don't exist or have diminished circulations. Everything has moved into the digital world and of course TV has as well," Wilkinson said.
"So I've kept moving as the industry has changed.
"There is a lot more opportunities for women in television beyond the age of blonde and 25 these days.
"Women are finally being recognised, being celebrated, being elevated....and lucky us."