Yes, I entered the Washington Post's Next Great Pundit contest. I cobbled together a piece about adoption, abortion, feminism and my undying love for Dawn Friedman. Then Latinos in America was on and I sent in an entry about how much I did not appreciate that series. I knew it was a publicity sontest for WaPo, but the fact that they excluded already published op-ed'ers made me believe I had a decent shot.
When I saw that the ten finalists were 5 men and 5 women, I was fairly happy. Four of the dudes appeared to be white. Strike. The women seemed fairly diverse in ethnicity as well as kinda age. Althou someone on one of the many listservs I'm on said they felt the candidates skewed young. Point taken.
Then the final two came down to a white dude, Kevin, and a woman of color, Zeba. I guess I thought the feminist media community would throw it's weight behind Zeba - She worked on Obama's campaign and while her pieces weren't screaming feminism, she fit what I thought we'd want to see in a new op-ed voice. I admit that before the final two, I tweeted the contest without backing anyone. I was leaning towards Zeba, but also thought that having Courtney win would be fine too. Honestly I didn't have a horse in this race, but did think that if we could will it, a woman of color should win. Once it was a two person race, I tweeted my support for Zeba. Alas Kevin won. Zeba came up 600 votes short.
If Zeba had been a contributor at Feministing or Feministe would she had kicked ass in the final vote? Did we get tired of all the voting? On the last day? She was disconnected, from my POV, from the feminist media community despite having gone thru the Op-Ed Project and thus we didn't rally for her. Perhaps many of us were just disappointed that Courtney had been eliminated.
I am eagerly awaiting Courtney's reflection post on the whole process. She was called perky and I believe I read some comments about her voice. All things that are rarely, if ever, mentioned about a man.
As I said, I know that this whole thing wasn't set out to find that hidden jewel of punditry, but to jack up the hits at the WaPo. But they did have a golden moment when it had the opportunity to anoint Zeba or Courtney (the second runner up) as the next great pundit. A lot has been said about the contest and the quality of the finalists, but I still held out hope that the result would be different.
Or maybe America really does just want to hear from white dudes...But I highly doubt it.
Oh WaPo, you got me good.
Windy Citizen Want diversity? Start with diversity.
Don't ask me to bring diversity to your organization, ask me to join your organization for my skills, my knowledge or because you just love me. Don't think that I'm the pepper to your bland mashed potatoes. I am the garlic to those potatoes - the first thing you put on the skillet after you start to boil the water. Where you dash on pepper, throw in some onion and make me a vital part of the dish....Not the afterthought.
Media itself is changing rapidly and in Chicago we have a new player in the game, the Chicago News Cooperative. Laura Washington gave them a tongue lashing for the total lack of diversity they are starting out with:
Nearly every staff member they have named so far is white -- and male. The co-op's board is white, all but one male. I would venture there are vast swaths of the city they don't know and rarely traverse....But wait! The Co-op responds:
If these reporters and editors check with the U.S. Census, they will discover that Chicago's racial and ethnic base is majority-minority. There are far more people of color than whites. Latinos are Illinois' fastest-growing minority group. A good half of the Chicago region is female.
Some might call it arrogance, hubris or just plain racism. I don't know about that, but to me it's just plain folly.
Jim O'Shea, the former Chicago Tribune managing editor who last week announced the Chicago News Cooperative...says he intends to have a diverse staff and board of directors....O'Shea envisioned eventually having 20 to 25 staffers. "I am interviewing a candidate as we speak who will bring to us some diversity," he said.As I wrote on a listserv about this topic, are they going to be hiring a Wiccan lesbian of color? A candidate? Come on...If this is the response that the Co-Op is going to send out after getting called out on their almost-all-dude, but still all white club, then I doubt that much will come from the Co-Op in terms of stories that truly reflect the diversity of Chicago.
That said, I know many under or unemployed journalists in this windy city who can bring a world of difference to your project Jim. So once you're done hiring that one candidate who will bring you diversity, get to work on bringing in a whole team of diverse candidates.Then maybe I'll read what your team brings to the table. And believe me, I'm hungry.
EVENT: Media Democracy Day -- Chicago, 2009
The Metro Chicago Progressive Media Network …
invites you join us for ...
2009 Media Democracy Day - Chicago
Date/Time: November 7, 2009, 1-4-pm
Location: Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn Ave, Chicago, IL
See: www.chicagoprogmedia.org
. PROMOTE MEDIA ACCESS TO ALL SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY!
. PROMOTE MEDIA THAT INFORMS THE PUBLIC ON IMPORTANT ISSUES!
. NETWORK WITH OTHER PROGRESSIVE MEDIA PROFESSIONALS AND MEDIA ACTIVITS
. CREATE MEDIA INITIATIVES TO STRENGTHEN DIALOGUE AROUND THE CHALLENGES FACING OUR WORLD!
Initially Media Democracy Day (MD day) was organized by local Toronto and Vancouver groups of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom. In 2002, events were held in cities around the world. A Media Democracy Day has been held in Chicago in the past.
Today the tradition of MD Day is carried on by local citizens and student groups in Canada and around the world. This year a group of media activists and professionals is planning for 2009 Media Democracy Day - Chicago with the objective of including representation and participation from all around the Chicago area. The timing of the event is planned to coincide with the date of Media Democracy Day in Vancouver, Canada.
Goals of 2009 Media Democracy Day - Chicago:
1) to bring together area progressive media professionals and media activists to share their perspectives on how we can promote a media system that informs the public on important issues and provides media access to all segments of society.
2) to create coherent messages and media initiatives to draw public attention and broaden and strengthen dialogue around serious issues and challenges facing the area, the nation, and the planet.
Part I - Panel The event will feature concise (5-7 minutes) presentations by key area media activists, media professionals, media-related organizations and academics covering the full spectrum of the reform media map:
1) mainstream media itself, its content, structure, sources, balance, etc..
2) alternative media of all types, including TV, radio, print, internet, performance, and graphics,
3) public awareness and education about the media, and
4) the media environment, including legislation and regulations.*
The panel is also planned to include media representatives from the Latin-American community, the African-American community, women, youth, and the GLBT community.
Part II - Working Groups and Skills sharing
Tract 1 - Working Groups The second part of the event will consist of facilitated breakout working groups, tasked with
1) discussion and then
2) formulating actionable items.
Tract 2 - Skills Sharing, such as blogging, video, and editing
Part III - Report-back The last component will be a facilitated report-back session. A summary of the report-back will be made available to interested attendees. LIST OF
PANELISTS
Mitchell Szczepanczyk, Chicago Media Action
Joel Bleifuss, Editor, In These Times
Tim Wais, HumanThread
Veronica Arreola; Educator, Blogger (vivalafeminista.com)
Larry Duncan, Labor Beat
Robert Koehler, Syndicated Columnist
Mike Barr, Documentary filmmaker
Karen Bond, National Black Coalition for Media Justice The Metro Chicago
Kevin Gozstola, documentary filmmaker completing a Film/Video degree at Columbia College
Progressive Media Network (MCPMN), which was formed in November 2007, is an area networking group of media professionals and media activists,
*Source: Hackett, Robert A. and William K. Carroll, Remaking Media: The struggle to democratize public communication. 2006
EVENT: Media and Democracy with Laura Flanders Café Society Do-It-Yourself Launch Celebration
Event Details
Where:: Chicago Cultural Center, 5th floor Washington and Garland Rooms
78 E. Washington St.
See map: Google Maps
Fee: Free. Open to the public
Reservations are required
Is the media fair and objective or is the media becoming more partisan? Can we point to the recent resignation of Van Jones as an indication of the growing power of the media on politics and policy? Does the media influence politics or is it the other way around? What should the role of the media be in a democracy?
Laura Flanders, host of “GRITtv” -- the new news and culture discussion program online, on satellite and on cable TV – will engage us in a lively conversation about these issues and more. This conversation will be moderated by Barbara Ransby, Director of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Plus, hear a few words from Lisa Lee, founder of The Public Square.
Following the presentation, we invite YOU to join the conversation. We’ll break down into small, facilitated discussions – Café Society style -- to share thoughts and reflections on the role of the media, partisan politics and democracy.
Hope you can join us in celebrating the official launch of the Café Society Do-It-Yourself Toolkit with special guest Laura Flanders!
This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made online, by email at events@prairie.org, or by calling 312.422.5580. Light refreshments will be served.
This event is co-sponsored by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and The Public Square.
Chicago Public Radio – WBEZ 91.5FM is the media sponsor of this event.
Weigh that media request carefully!
At Blogher, I was asked to blog more about the Progressive Women's Voices trainings and what I learned so that others can benefit.
About 8 years ago I got a call asking me to appear on "Hannity & Colmes" but the problem was that I really didn't have much media experience, I had never seen the show and I was scared shitless. I called Jenn Pozner up and she talked me down. We went thru talking points, but she also talked to me about the power of no. "You don't have to accept every call that comes in."
That lesson was hammered into us during the Progressive Women's Voices trainings. PWV trainees receive a one page sheet of questions to ask when you get a media call then you tell the person that you will call them back in 5 minutes. Why is this important? Because you need time to think if this opportunity is really good for you. Not just if you are the expert needed or not, but if this will be good for you.
Example 1 of bad experience: Marisa of Latina Lista had a horrible experience on CNN and I'm grateful that she blogged about it. She asked the right questions, but still had a bad experience. The lesson I took from it was that if you're going to be live on CNN or any channel, prepare for the worst. Marisa asked if it would be a confrontation style debate and they said lied to her about it.
Example 2 of um, maybe you didn't need to say yes: Sheena Williams was profiled on CBS2Chicago about mommy blogging and the controversy about them accepting free products for review and that sometimes they get paid to review products. In the video you can see that she was set up to look bad. The questions were leading her down a road to look bad. She was also opposite Alma Klein who was cast as "the blogger with integrity."
I don't know Sheena, but she seems like just about every other mom blogger I know, just trying to get by in this world. A nice woman who stumbled into this jackpot of blogola. So I feel for her. But again, the story was set up to pit Alma and Sheena against each other. I won't even get into the racial implications. But I should say that this is one of the few times I've seen a mom of color blogger in a media story and well, Sheena is cast as the selfish/lying blogger.
But that's how many of the mom blogger stories have been cast. As mom bloggers are just doing it for the free swag. Kim told them of how most of us are in it for the community, but it apparently wasn't juicy enough.
Example 3 of really? Your first appearance is on Hardball? Katy Abram asked Sen. Spector a question at a townhall meeting one day and found herself on Hardball the next. While she did hold her own a good chunk of the interview and even corrected guest host Lawrence O'Donnell. But he went easy on her, you can tell. Oh yes, I think he ripped apart her concerns by drilling her on her apparent apathy towards politics through the commencement of two wars and was only awoken when POTUS decides to inject cash into the economy and correct the shame that we call health care in this country. I kinda felt bad for her, but then again, perhaps she's decided to ride this baby as far as it will go since she called up Glenn and cried to him about Dems harassing her.
But I suspect that most of us wouldn't be as lucky if our first big media appearance was Hardball.
I'm still learning and feeling my way around this media thing. In the past few weeks I've hit the media jackpot, but I know it won't last. But the fact that I've had a lot of media appearances made me stop and think, "Is this too much? Am I over exposing myself? Am I doing valuable things?" The answer to the last question is yes, right now I am. I'm glad that I made myself think to evaluate what I was doing. I don't want to just do a media call to do a media call. I am trying to set myself up as someone who should be on the short list when you need a Latina/woman/person to speak on feminism/feminist mothering/feminist mom blogging/blogging/momblogging/women in science/education equity.
What are your media goals? Not to get on Oprah, but what do you want the media to think of you as? To me that's your goal, the appearances are how you will get there.
As I said, I'm still learning, so I'd love to hear what you think on this.
Oh and in the end, I didn't do Hannity. I was going to do the show because someone else couldn't, but that someone else did end up doing it. Whew!
Welcome Diego Mulligan listeners!
It was a pleasure to be on Diego Mulligan's show, The Journey Home, this evening.
Diego & I spent a lot of time chatting about health care reform and mom blogs, so I thought that I'd pull up a few recent posts on health care on a few of my favorite mom blogs:
- PunditMom points us to some great places for information on health care reform;
- CultureKitchen (a blog that happens to be run by a mom) demands that Bean & Foster give us health care reform;
- MOMocrats discusses what is actually in the health care bills about abortion;
- MOMocrats take on Sarah Palin and her death panel comment;
- One MOMocrat tells her story of losing her health insurance;
- VivirLatino (run by a mami blogger) discusses health care in immigration detention centers, or the lack there of health care in immigration detention centers;
- Feminist Breeder tells us why we don't need that c-section;
- MomsRising is also a great source for mama's discussing health care.
Thanks for visiting!
This is why we need more women in media
In the last six months or so, Chicago has had its fair share of townhalls and gatherings trying to figure out what the heck is happening with corporate media. What will happen when the newspapers finally fail? Will they? Where did the journalists go? After the first townhall, that I had to miss, another conference was called. In the lead up to both events, I tweeted my desire to see gender parity on the panels.
My tweets were replied to with “we’re trying!” Apparently most of the kick ass women (and people of color) in Chicago media were busy both days.
I know some people just don’t get it. I know people close to me don’t get it. They don’t understand why women need to be at the freaking table, in the newsroom and holding the editor’s red pen – it’s just as simple as women see things differently. Not better, not worse, just differently.
The latest example is the WaPo “Mouthpiece Theater” fiasco that ended with WaPo pulling the plug. Two men thought that calling the Secretary of State a “bitch” was funny. Not only was it not funny and not because the joke flopped, but it’s old and tired. Seriously, guys can’t you come up with something new? So some of us angry feminists wrote a letter demanding an apology. And gosh darn it, it freaking worked! OK, we didn’t get two full apologies, but hey, no more crappy videos from WaPo…for now.
Now I’m the last person to say you can never use the word “bitch.” I am one. I have friends who are bitches. But it’s all about context and that includes who is wielding the word.
Of course we can’t be sure that if a random woman at WaPo had screened the video before hand would have said, “Dude…We can’t air that.” Why? Because some women, I use to be one of them, know that there is power in being “one of the guys.” You are constantly proving that you need to be where you are and you choose your battles. Is sticking up for Hillary Clinton worth it? Maybe? Maybe not.
But women have different perspectives on things. We know that. And as I said before, it’s DIFFERENT not better, not worse.
If a newspaper decides to go online only, does that mean they will resort to T&A on the website for increased clickage to up the ad revenue ala HuffPo? Some women might be ok with that and others not. But giving their voices a place to be heard is a must.
That’s just one example of how having women at the decision table is important. Is the fact that yet another mass shooting had gender as a focal point important? How are rape stories covered? Are there enough women’s health stories? Is there enough content that is important to women that they even want to read your newspaper? We’re not all looking for fashion and Hollywood gossip. Maybe we’d like to read about our baseball team without having to see strong women athletes treated as pin up girls in the sports pages?
Having more women in the newsroom, in media itself, just might ensure that there is a critical enough mass that if something is offensive to one woman, she’d feel like she could say something.
Why diversity matters
Should we mourn Time, the magazine that sounded feminism's death knell too many times for me to recall? Should I subscribe to the NYTimes so I can get the latest opt-out or mommy wars crap story on my front step? Should I strategize how to save the Chicago Tribune who cut a ghettoized but fab Women News section?
Women are underrepresented on the op-ed pages. Our stories are not being told in the paper unless it fits in the Style section. Forget about quality women of color stories unless it's about whatever sweater Michelle Obama is wearing today.
And yet panel after panel on how to save old media is chock full of white dudes.
Now my obligatory 'I love white dudes' statement: I learned so much about politics from Bob Fertik, a white dude. He was the bleeding edge of new media & politics. He brought me into this online politics stuff.
But most white dudes simply cannot or don't want to see why it really makes a difference between having a panel of all white dudes & having 2 people of color &/or women on board.
That is why a diverse panel is needed when discussing any issue. For the most part white dudes have a similar story & thus have similar ideas. If we are going to find new & innovative solutions to saving old media we need more of us at the table.
I know it's hard to find new people for panels. Believe me I know. It's hard but I've found the conversations to be better with different voices.
But don't expect us to do all the work either. I'm sure you must know another [fill in the blank].
Bottomline: If you want us to fight we need to be heard as well.
Monday wrap-up
Good morning peeps!
Grab a cuppa something and catch up on my latest AWEARNESS posts:
And I was also quoted in a piece on Michelle Obama...but it's in French. I ran it thru Google Translate & Babel Fish, but ya know, it didn't quite make sense. But hey, I think I still came off good and supportive of the FLOTUS.
Just for the record, that media hit came from either a Google search or Twitter. I suspect Twitter. Social media for the win baby!
Lastly, it's wedding anniversary countdown week! On Friday we will celebrate TEN years of wedded bliss thanks to the lovely dude who married us is Las Vegas.
Women Do Kill
It was just a matter of time. It's just been a few days since the news of a woman being arrested and charged with the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu and we already have a flurry of stories about "Why do women kill?"
According to the Justice Department, roughly one in 10 homicides are committed by women. And when women kill, their victims are more likely to be someone close to them, like their children, boyfriends or spouses.
Friend of Viva la Feminista, Jennifer Pozner has been writing about the gender imbalance in school, now mass, shootings since Jonesboro in 1996. Heck, one of my first pseudo-blogs back then was the keep a running photo memorial to the women killed in the shootings from Jonesboro to Columbine. Yet time again, shooting after shooting, the media scoffs aside the fact that MEN do most of the killing. Yet when a woman does kill, every media outlet pulls out a few psychologists to discuss WHY.
Why not focus on the 90% of killing done by men?
Why focus on the mom who kills, the latest because she thougth she was the anti-Christ, instead of the rash of killings by dads who have lost their jobs?
Is it because we are so tied to the mythology that woman are all loving and protecting? Or do we, as a society NOT feminism, think so little of our men that we actually expect them to kill, so when it happens, we don't flich...too much anyway?
We are already the most incarerated country in the world, so let's try to think of solutions that are beyond "lock 'em up."
Let's start by examining our expectations. Yes, that means starting at how we raise our boys and girls. This doesn't mean we need to rid the world of all violent play, but let's see how far we let our boys versus our girls go with it. When I was a girl and I played "Star Wars" at recess, the boys would often fall into "Boys will be Boys" play and thus into a big wrestling pile. No worries. But once I started to partake in that THE MAN, ok THE WOMAN (who supervised recess) came down hard on me. Should girls be allowed to play "like boys" or should we even allow boys to wrestle like that? Where's the line and what does that tell our children?
How do we raise our boys to deal with their feelings? Do we scoff at them when they want to take dance class or want to *gasp* talk about their bad day? Do we let them be loud while shushing our girls? Are we still raising boys to think they will be THE breadwinner, when in reality men and women are winning the bread nowadays?
How are we crafting men's egos that they are so fragile that losing one's job sends them over the edge to murder?
I don't have any answers to these questions, but I hope it's a start of a conversation that might help prevent future deaths.
Meet the Press...with another white dude
Word is out that NBC is ready to sign David Gregory for Meet the Press. *sigh*
OK, so I pretty much knew that NBC wasn't going to take my suggestion of Carol Marin seriously. But I was hoping that a person of color or a woman (of color) would the pick. Margot Friedman says it eloquently:
As the Women’s Media Center documented in "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It," NBC/MSNBC was one of the networks that allowed sexist language and behavior during the 2008 campaign. Picking a qualified woman and/or person of color to host "Meet the Press" would have helped repair some of the damage to the network's brand. There was no shortage of talented individuals who could have done the job, including PBS’ Gwen Ifill, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, and CBS’ Katie Couric—to mention only those looked at for the post, according to reports.
And it is not just about making amends, but rather broadening who the news & news makers look like. As POTUSe Obama goes about bringing a rainbow of people into his Cabinet and administration, TV media is trying to keep things as bland as ever.
My main reason for wanting Carol Marin is to see someone who is bit more removed. She works in Chicago so we know she's not lunching with the DC elite...well now that most of them are here in Chicago, she might be. But let's not forget how the Sunday morning shows were a driving force for the Iraq War.
The media has a responsibility to ask questions of our leaders. In a way, they are our protectors. What did they do during the drumbeat of war? They amplified it and kept women away from the microphone. Laura Flanders on the Sundays one year after the war began:
Call me crazy, but it still gets my goat that the entire Iraq debate takes place without the input of the female majority. The Sunday TV talk shows are wall-to-wall male. Tim Russert seems his most relaxed, when–as again on March 18–he’s surrounded by white men. Russert’s not the only one, on the day before the anniversary of the invasion, three out of five Sunday TV news shows featured no women at all. The sole female on ABC was Senator Dianne Feinstein. Fox News Sunday included one woman on their panel of five, and she was representing Barack Obama.
I don't know Marin personally, we've met once at a fund raiser, but I've read and watched her enough that I do have faith that she would be one of the few journalists who would ask the tough questions. She takes her job pretty seriously here in Chicago questioning our ruling families and what is left of The Machine. That's why I started the Facebook group to draft her for the job. Because she does her job. Unfortunately NBC doesn't think that women can do the job.
Flanders reminds us that the format for the Sundays, specifically Meet the Press came from a woman:
I was thinking about that this weekend as I watched NBC celebrate Meet the Press. MTP is the longest, continuously-running program on US television. At the end of this Sunday’s show, a list of past hosts sped by. The first was Martha Rountree, the show’s first host, and needless to say, last female anchor.
Curious, I dug around a little. Rountree, it turns out, not only anchored the first broadcasts (starting in 1947) but came up with the format in the very early days of TV. The format — a panel of people asking questions of a guest — was her idea.
If we were good enough to start this ball of public debate rolling, why aren't we good enough to lead it?
The B-word
**********************************************
Monday night I made my WGN network debut (well, if you don't count catching glimpses of me at Cubs games) on the WGN News discussing the B word - BITCH.
I taped the segment a few weeks ago and it was pretty nerve wracking because the crew was coming to my house (clean up!), on a "vacation" day I had scheduled to watch my daughter & her BFF on one of many CPS teacher service days, I didn't know how the doxie would react with two strange men coming over, AND of course, it was my first on camera in a long time. But thanks to my peeps at the Women's Media Center, I had my talking points all written out.
I never got to meet the producer, Pam, but we chatted on the phone quite a bit before and over the past few days. She seems like an awesome woman and I hope we can work together again in the future. Antwan is amazing. He was super nice and seemed genuinely interested in the conversation. The gold star goes to the camera man who had to make sure I looked good, Antwan & I sounded good, AND kept the doxie & her collar with all her tags from ruining a shot. Yup, Annie was all up in the camera man's arms at some points of the interview. It was pretty cute.
I want to be clear on one thing - I do not condone calling a woman a bitch in anger. I do believe that women, yes it's a woman thing, can call each other one in jest or in a congenial way. I haven't used bitch with my friends in a long time thou. When I was in my 20s, I did say beatch a lot. The first time I can recall being called a bitch, not in the good way, had to had been on the playground by a boy. The first clear time by another girl was in high school when someone I thought was a friend took an effort to stroll over and tell me in my ear. Um, thanks. I think that's when I started to try to reclaim it...that and a few other words that girls get called in high school.
The motherly advise I give is from one my partners-in-parenting, Cinnamon, who loves to tell the kid stories of disarming bullies without lifting a finger.
While I haven't heard any direct negative comments about the segment, I did hear some indirect questions about why this segment mattered, aren't there other things we should be talking about, and so forth. I address this issue over at WIMN's Voices.
The best part of the segment for me was getting the word out about Bitch magazine. Maybe a few more feminists saw the piece and thought, "Even if I don't agree with Veronica, I need to check out that magazine!" Because the magazine really embodies how we can reclaim the word and use it in a positive manner.
Thanks for all the congrats from all the friends, coworkers and family.
Event:: Where Women Stand in Chicago Newsrooms
Viva la Feminista will not in in attendance as I have a mommy event to attend in the burbs. If you do attend and want to write it up, just let me know. Sounds amazing!
****************************
Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media
Columbia College Chicago
and
Association for Women Journalists-Chicago
are pleased to co-present
Where Women Stand in Chicago Newsrooms
Wednesday, October 15
6:00pm
Ferguson Lecture Hall
600 S. Michigan Avenue
First Floor
The Association for Women Journalists-Chicago (AWJ-Chicago) and the Institute join in bringing four prominent Chicago women journalists together to discuss the results of a new study, "Where Women Stand: A Survey of Newsroom Staff in the Chicago Region."
The study, released by AWJ-Chicago and completed in partnership with Bradley University, was administered via online questionnaire and takes a hard look at Chicago-area women journalists' salaries, place in the newsroom, job satisfaction, and more.
AWJ-Chicago is dedicated to supporting women in journalism and promoting fair and accurate treatment of women by the media.
SPEAKERS:
Linda Yu
News Anchor, ABC 7 News
Lynn Norment
Managing editor, Ebony magazine
Hanke Gratteau
Former Managing Editor for News, Chicago Tribune
Sally Eisele
Managing Editor, Chicago Public Radio
Moderated by:
Cheryl Corley
Midwest reporter and host, National Public Radio
Co-presented by: Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, Columbia College Chicago, and Association for Women Journalists-Chicago (AWJ-Chicago).
Supported by: Chicago Foundation for Women and Chicago Tribune Foundation.
Work it, Mom! Monday - Dads & Single Moms
Today at Work it, Mom! I say a heartfelt thank you to Joe Kelly and the team at Dads & Daughters for all the awesome work they did the past decade. I'm so sad that they had to close shop. The Chicago Foundation reminds us that only about 3% of philanthropic money goes towards women and girls-centered programming. Thus the closing of Dads & Daughters shouldn't be a surprise, but it still hurts.
On the flip side...kinda...I got a call from the Tyra Banks show. They are looking for single moms who have babies or infants to appear on the show. You also need to be in a difficult situation, having a very tough time at life. If you fit that description and want to learn more email Sonia at sonia.juarez@tyratv.com. And let me know if you're going to be on! Yes, my readers are FIERCE! hehe....
The Onion Couldn't Have Done Better
On the way to pick up the hubby on Thursday, NPR ran a story about a group called "Latinas for McCain." I can't describe it, so you have to listen yourself. It also provoked some letters.
The only thing I can say is that it is sad when stories, especially ones on NPR allow the interviewees to perpetuate myths about anyone, especially the "he's really a Muslim" myth about Barack Obama. I'm sure there were many other reasons why those Latinas were voting for McCain.
Why "Meet the Press" Needs Carol Marin
No, I'm not giving up on this yet. Today I give you one more piece of evidence why I love her so much and why she needs to be the one who puts our policy peeps on the hot seat:
Now that Obama has clinched the nomination, Alexander will not hesitate to give him her vote. But she's still looking for Obama to send a stronger signal than she thinks he has.See that? Brilliant! She gives Obama the kudos he deserves, but asks for more. Why is it wrong to ask for more from him? It's not. And if he or one of his surrogates were on MTP while Marin was hosting, she'd ask that question and push until we got a real answer or they were exposed as just another fauxgressive who doesn't give a rats ass about women's rights.Though "his positions on women's issues are solid," said Alexander by phone from Detroit Tuesday, "he doesn't have a long record like Hillary, wasn't a trailblazer [for women] like Hillary..." and there is a "thin understanding of what he's done policy-wise with regard to women."
Without question, Obama regularly discusses being raised by a single mother, talks about what kind of world he wants for his two young daughters, and what kind of economic justice is required for all citizens -- men and women.
That's not the same thing as a full-blown discussion about sexism.
The Facebook group just went over 100 people. Not as fast as most other Facebook groups get, but hey, it's moving up there.
Technorati tags: Carol Marin, Meet the Press
Meet The Press with....Carol Marin?
Just after watching Sunday's tribute to Tim Russert one could tell that NBC was going to move fast to name a new host. They kept mentioning that this is the best political year in ages and how sad it was that Tim wouldn't get to see it all play out. Today Zwecker reports a few names in the MTP hopper and lets us in on a possible "round robin" of rotating hosts until a new host can be named:
That said, the source agreed with various reports indicating veteran NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell, younger star David Gregory (who formerly worked in NBC's Chicago-based Midwest bureau), Chris Matthews (said to be quietly lobbying already) or even Gwen Ifill "all are names you hear thrown around."
My husband loved Tim and loved MTP. I was more apt to bounce from him and This Week based on whomever was the guest. Thus we were still talking about Tim on Monday morning on our ride of work (yes, we carpool) and I said, "What about Carol Marin?" And his eyes lit up. That's when I knew I might be on to something. While I love my hubby to death, we don't usually see eye to eye on political things, especially on pundits.
That's when I set my Facebook status as "Carol Marin for MTP" and got a few "hell yeahs!" Next step...Set up the "Draft Carol Marin" Facebook group. Then I let Carol know of my intentions and I waited to open up the group and blog about it until I heard back from her. Ever humble, she said that there are a ton of people out there who could do a better job. OK, maybe a few, but still, I want to see our Chicagoan take on the heavy hitting talking heads on Sunday mornings. If you're from Chicago and have seen her on WTTW or the local news taking on local politicans you'd know that she'd totally kick butt on MTP.
So join the group and let's see what happens. If I get enough people to join, I'll send it to NBC.
Comments for today:
1. WhyMommy's bone scan was NEGATIVE!
2. Mama PhD on why non-faculty academics rock as room mamas!
3. PunditMom's Mothers of Intention presents, my Work it, Mom editor, Nataly. Go show her some love...and tell her how much you love me. *wink* Oh, wait...put that on the WIM site!
4. Sciencemoms on lack of daycare at government labs.
5. NCLM goddess Stirrup Queens runs "Barren Advice"
6. Fertilized dishes some post-partum TMI
7. Growing in our Hearts gets some terrible news & has to put the adoption on hold
8. Child Bearing Hips freaks over sleeping positions
9. Who shot my stork? calls me a fertile (well anyone who isn't infertile) so I commented on her flower photos. Yeah, I'm a coward...
10. The Happy Hours is pretty down today...This weekend was her due date.
11. Fat Fighter TV reports that Japan is measuring waists...Note, don't move to Japan.
12. Confessions of a Paranoid Parent drops out of NCLM.
CAUGHT UP!!
Tuesday: The Voracious Vegan tempts me again...
Wednesday: Domestic Spaz muses about tomorrow to cherish today
Whew!
Technorati tags: Meet the Press, Carol Marin
A Lesson For All Your Youngsters Out There...
I'm working on my reapplication to the Progressive Women's Voices program. I applied for the second round and didn't get in. I was taken aback considering that the program says they want new voices and different voices. Yet if you click on that link and see who actually has gotten in, well, this reapplication is a long shot.
The hardest part of this application process?
Remembering all my media appearances!
Somehow I thought that this program was to find brand new voices, but apparently not. Just new voices in that women's voices aren't heard much at all, but they do want experienced voices. And seriously, that makes sense. So, here I am putting finishing touches on my resume and application and I can NOT for the life of me find all my media appearances. One part of the application asks for media clips. I have things that were in print, but outside of a poorly taped segment on TV, I have no live media to send them. That's what happens when you do most of your radio on community radio.
But even besides having the pieces, just remembering all the dates is driving me insane. I'm going to go dig thru my old appointment books pre-Treo to see if I can put together my media timeline.
So...for those of you starting out with anything - DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!!
You know how people say that you should always update your resume after you do something? Yeah, you really should. Or at least keep a better journal, diary, whatever so you're not like me running around trying to prove that you do have some experience. Not Donna Brazile experience, but I think some decent experience.
OK...back to writing.
Why is the IL Dept of Transportion using sex to sell seat belts?
I ask because I recently caught their new PSAs for the "Click it or Ticket" campaign and they use two very attractive women to urge their men to use their seat belts. Two women...one white and one African-American with sultry voices and in cute outfits telling their men, "You know what I want..." Where is the Latina PSA?
En Espanol! Because us Latinas are never more sexy than when we're seducing our hombres into wearing seat belts than when we're speaking Spanish, eh? The problem is that not all of Latino men speak Spanish or at least would be watching Spanish language TV. I can only consider that a lack of English-language Latina PSA means that the state thinks we all only speak Spanish, they could give a damn about us English speakers, or our Latina sexuality is just too much for English TV.
Can you imagine if JLo, Salma, or Lynda Carter aka Wonder Woman did a PSA in English? Ay, Papi, we'd bankrupt the state due to all the Latino men falling under their Latina spell and always buckled up! Especially if we used Wonder Woman's lasso of truth!
And what's with the men in these PSAs? They are squirming in their seats as if they are innocent virgins and the hot-to-trot women are fiery sirens seducing them into doing oh-so-naughty things. When I first saw these PSAs, it was after 10pm and I thought it was another ad for a chat line. "Wanna be bad? Let's use our seat belts!"
Ironically, I had to go to YouTube to see the PSAs and they are not mentioned on the state's website or offered in their 'Get involved' section. Is the state ashamed of their blatant use of sex to get men to buckle up?
cross-posted at Shakesville
Technorati tags: Illinois, seat belts, Click it or Ticket!, sexism
