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Media for women: what will we support?

Trudi

It’s not just indie magazines that are at risk for folding these days (as discussed in a previous entry here). It seems that any non-mainstream mass-male-produced media is destined to either dissolve or not be profitable and have to work at a not-for-profit level. Why can’t women make a go of it and be a financial success?

On August 17, Greenstone Media aired its last radio program. For those who don’t know: Greenstone was a radio network founded by Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda et al and lasted all of 18 months. Stations wouldn’t pick up their programming. They have wondered publicly if it was seen as too feminist. The funny thing is, among feminists, there was nothing particularly feminist about it. It was talk radio “the way women want it”, or so they thought. They produced about 63-hours of programming each week and only a dozens radio stations carried it. They had call-in shows with few callers. The shows were fairly average. I listened online, not because I loved it but because I wanted to support them while they grew and found their true niche. They say it takes two years to find your market in radio, but their financial backers were impatient. They couldn’t see how talk radio for women could ever fly. Apparently, we’re satisfied with the morning drive-time program format that includes two frat boys and a woman paid to laugh at their penis jokes.

Were the backers right? Is there no room for women’s media or are we just not willing to support it in its infancy. It truly is in its infancy at this point – we need to get women out there and then help grow media to empower women.

The question has been asked many times in feminist circles – is it enough to get behind women and support them just because they are women and then hold them to higher standards, or do we set the bar so high now that we’re not getting anywhere, and then complain when we’re not represented?

9 thoughts on Media for women: what will we support?

  1. For me, the question is not whether something is produced by and for women, but whether I think the content is worth supporting. Media “the way women want it” can as easily be Cosmopolitan magazine as Ms., depending on who’s deciding just what it is that women want.

    I think it’s too bad about Greenstone, but I’m more interested in putting my energy and financial support into feminist and progressive media than gendered-audience media.

  2. They couldn’t see how talk radio for women could ever fly. Apparently, we’re satisfied with the morning drive-time program format that includes two frat boys and a woman paid to laugh at their penis jokes.

    Is that what women listen to, though? I listen to either NPR or the “morning show” on WXRT, which consists of rock(ish) music with news on the half-hour and a couple of two-minute features over the course of the morning. No penis jokes, no talk show concept. I know women who watch morning TV shows, listen to iPod media and listen to station formats like Jack-FM, where there’s no DJ at all, but I don’t know any who listen to talk shows, whether they be Rush Limbaugh’s, “Dr.” Laura’s or Air America stuff. And during the work day, a talk show stream in the office would get in the way of bosses popping in, clients calling, etc.

    I never knew who their market would be for this talk radio concept, and so I was hopeful to see some feminist media out there, but not optimistic about its chances. I never understood why Fonda and Steinem put themselves forward as the faces of the media group but didn’t take an active role as the talk talent (or, conversely, why they didn’t put forward the talk talent). Why would I listen to radio shows about which I knew nothing, just because prominent women/feminists are the ones who raised the money for it? Their positioning was off, in other words, more than their politics or media concept.

    Then again, I have this frustration with multiple aspects of the Steinem/Fonda era of feminism. Their cohort of feminist leaders did so very little to promote younger women into feminist leadership positions, to make feminism relevant for young women, and then they wondered why young women didn’t respond to the message. I remember being in college in the early 90s and trying to contact NOW and Ms and NARAL and try to volunteer, to get involved. The only message I got back was to give them money so that they could look out for my interests for me. Thanks, but I don’t need to give money to feminists to be patronized — I can be patronized any old place in the patriarchy already! While I loathe Roiphe and Paglia and their ilk for their reactionary postures, I can at least see why they felt so frustrated by the feminist establishment. It was very self-satisfied.

    Thankfully, the younger generation has had access to its own media, to the blogosphere, to independent publishing, and it’s made the established organizations take note and pay attention. There still could be more intergenerational cooperation, but it’s now SO much better than it used to be. And this media group is evidence of how far we have yet to go. As long as the Fondas and Steinems of that era insist on being the center of attention, the newer, less known talent will remain in the shadows and will have little chance of succeeding.

  3. I think the women/talkradio idea was a good one; but like most people, I didn’t know it was even ON, and I doubt it was ON in my area.

    I think that the “blame” here isn’t with feminists who didn’t support it, but with (male) radio programmers who didn’t AIR it.

    They probably got a kick out of “proving” to GLoria Steinem (et al) that their silly feminazi idea was unworkable.

    Gosh I sound like a bitter feminist myself here! But it DOES sound to me like something not getting a chance.

    Fairness Doctrine? Anyone? Would that have helped? You know, an hour of Gloria Steinem to balance an hour or Rush Limbaugh?

  4. I honestly didn’t even know about Greenstone Media. I listen to Progressive/Liberal talk radio when I’m in the car, and that’s pretty much the only time I listen to the radio.

    If the programming is interesting and I feel connected with it, I would listen in. That’s probably how the majority of listeners would feel. But if Greenstone didn’t market their programming effectively [I’d never heard of it], then there’s no way to ensure folks are going to be listening in.

  5. I would have supported if I had known about it. I consider myself an expert on pop culture and politics, yet this is only the second time I’ve heard about this venture. And this is something I would have seriously been looking for. Why wasn’t I, and people like myself starving for quality entertainment for women, made aware of this?

  6. I learned about Greenstone Media when I watched Real Time with Bil Maher, where Gloria Steinem was a guest on his show. I did listen to it at one point and I thought it was kind of boring to be quite honest.

    I agree with CLD about the marketing.

  7. Bianca – I think they did a lousy job in promoting it. I don’t remember how I came across it, but it was by fluke that I did and that I remembered to follow up and listen somewhat regularly. The programming didn’t impress me a whole lot, but I was willing to hang in and listen and send in feedback and see where it went. As far as I know, this was the first commercial radio venture for and by women in the US – I didn’t expect it to be perfect right out of the gate.

    The very few women I know who did listen to it either thought it was boring (usually self-identified feminists) or too feminist (by a few conservative women). I’m not sure who the listening audience was supposed to be.

  8. Like KMTBERRY, I didn’t even know it existed.

    I can’t find any progressive talk radio in my area either. We had Air America for a about a year and then they were gone–Poof! When we did have Air America, it was on such a low watt station I could only hear it in the daytime and even then only when we had clear skies. It went silent under a bit of cloud cover.

    Of course the Winger stations have signals you can pick up and hear from space–and they are all over the dial!

  9. Oh, I got off on a tangent and neglected to answer your question. Yes, had I known about it, I probably would have listened in. I agree with you that it usually takes time for these things to gel. That’s true of radio and television programs, too.

    Both Seinfeld and Cheers had terrible ratings in their first seasons. Someone “upstairs” liked them so they were given additional time. Sometimes that’s what it takes.

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