This goes out to all my Bay Area friends -- if you've been reading my occasional blog posts about women, media, politics and pop culture here at Huffington Post, or my regular posts at WIMN's Voices, the group blog I manage for Women In Media & News, then you probably already know how significantly major media marginalize women's voices, misrepresent our issues and malign our causes.
If that's true, then you'd probably enjoy meeting with like-minded people to learn about ways we can work together to achieve media justice. So, here's your chance. Women In Media & News, the women's media analysis, education and advocacy group I founded and direct, is having a benefit house party in the Bay Area on July 17, and I hope to see you there. Full details are posted below. Don't wait -- RSVP today via this Evite, or by emailing info[at]wimnonline[dot]org, and come meet me and my cohosts Lisa Jervis, Jeff Perlstein, Martha Wallner, Sarah Olson and Lisa Rudman (along with many special guests). Feel free to forward this post (or the official invitation below) to any Bay Area journalists, media producers, media activists, feminists, progressives and others who you think might like to eat, drink, network and collaborate.
Also: For those of you attending the BlogHer conference at the Westin, you might want to get in touch with Tre, a BlogHer attendee hoping to meet up with new friends to share travel from the BlogHer hotel to the Oakland home where our party will be taking place.
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YOU'RE INVITED! JOIN US FOR FOOD, WINE, CONVERSATION, AND THE CHANCE TO HELP AMPLIFY WOMEN'S VOICES IN THE MEDIA.
WHAT: Come meet media critic Jennifer L. Pozner and an exciting mix of local journalists, media justice activists and progressives at a house party benefiting Women In Media & News (WIMN), the national media analysis, education and advocacy group.
Learn about WIMN's innovative strategies for media justice, including media trainings for women-led social justice groups, advocacy journalism, media monitoring via the popular group blog WIMN's Voices, and the POWER (Perspectives Of Women Expand Reporting) Sources Project, which helps journalists and media producers increase the quantity and diversity of women's voices appearing in public debate.
WHEN: July 17, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. (A short program will start promptly at 7:45.)
WHERE: 39 Randwick Ave, Oakland, at the home of WIMN supporters. RSVP for directions.
HOST COMMITTEE: Jennifer L. Pozner (founder of WIMN), Lisa Jervis (WIMN's board chair and the co-founder of Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture magazine), Jeff Perlstein (Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media, formerly of Media Alliance), Lisa Rudman (Making Contact/National Radio Project), Sarah Olson (independent journalist and radio producer) and Martha Wallner (Media & Social Justice History Project).
HOW MUCH: Attendance is free, but we hope you'll support WIMN with a contribution at the party.
RSVP: Please RSVP by Wed., July 16 to info[at]wimnonline[dot]org or call 347-564-5190.
WHY: As the San Francisco Chronicle reported recently, women are consistently marginalized on the op-ed pages of the nation's most influential newspapers, where women are published just 12% (Washington Post), 17% (New York Times) and 20.5% (Los Angeles Times) of the time. Multiple research studies show that the picture isn't rosier in other news arenas. In broadcast news, where women are only 14% of guests on agenda-setting Sunday morning public affairs shows. And women and people of color are virtually invisible as top executives and board members of our megamerged media conglomerates. Is it any wonder, then, that the mostly-male, mostly-white pundit corps turned Democratic primary coverage into a discussion about "Hillary's Cleavage" and "witchy" "scolding" voice, and Barack Obama's middle name, "angry" minister and (gasp!) lack of flag pins? Or that on the entertainment side, TV networks and advertisers regularly humiliate husband-hunting harems and anorexic girls in the name of "reality" on cash-cow franchises like The Bachelor and America's Next Top Model?
What can you do about women's marginalization and misrepresentation in media today?
For starters, you can come join us for a fun, fascinating evening with Jennifer L. Pozner, media critic and founder of Women In Media & News, the national media analysis, education and advocacy group. As board members, collaborators and allies of WIMN, we're excited to host this house party to benefit WIMN's important feminist media justice work.
WIMN is showing the media - and the country - that women's voices matter, and there are plenty of ways Bay Area journalists, media activists and progressives can plug in. Come party, meet inspiring people, build local and national connections, and support WIMN's vision for a fairer, more diverse and more vibrant media landscape.
Hoping to see you there on July 17,
-- Jennifer L. Pozner, Executive Director, Women In Media & News (WIMN)-- Lisa Jervis, WIMN Board Chair and Co-Founder, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture magazine
-- Jeff Perlstein, Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media, formerly of Media Alliance
-- Martha Wallner, Media & Social Justice History Project
-- Lisa Rudman, Director, Making Contact/National Radio Project
-- Sarah Olson, independent journalist and radio producer