By Guest Blogger Irene Villasenor

If you are interested in rectifying the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women in the media, one way to get started is by interning at the first and longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction film, P.O.V. (’point-of-view’). Produced by American Documentary, P.O.V. premieres 14-16 high-impact documentaries every year on PBS. Hailed by critics […]

N the 1936 Olympic Games, the sprinter Stella Walsh — running for Poland and known as the fastest woman in the world — was beaten by Helen Stephens of St. Louis, who set a world record by running 100 meters in 11.4 seconds. After the race, a Polish journalist protested that Stephens must be a man. After all, no woman in the world could run that fast.

Olympic officials performed a “sex test” on Stephens, who was found, in fact, to be female, proving once and for all that a person could be incredibly fast and female at the same time.

Forty-four years later,…

This goes out to all our Bay Area friends — WIMN’s having a party on July 17, and I hope to see you there. Feel free to forward this post to any Bay Area journalists, media producers, media activists, feminists, progressives and others who you think might like to eat, drink, network and collaborate.
–Jenn
You’re invited! […]

REQUEST FOR RESEARCH ASSSITANCE:
WIMN’s Voices readers know that I’ve been monitoring reality TV for years. Now, I’m hoping you or someone you know — friend, student, TV fan, disgruntled reality TV producer, underpaid reality writer who wants to be a “mole,” whatever — might be able to help out with some video research assistance.
I’m at […]

Saturday, 12:15: Right now, at the National Conference of Media Reform, I have the immense pleasure of moderating a panel called “There Is No Media Justice Without Women: Models for Feminist Social Justice Media Activism” with some of the women I respect most in the world — women who are simultaneously as creative, funny and […]

If you’re not able to be in Minneapolis for the National Conference on Media Reform, you can listen to live streaming video and audio from the opening plenary, here (you can also watch and hear clips from panels, full video and audio from plenaries, and more on a constant basis from now until Sunday).
As she […]

If you’re planning on attending the National Conference on Media Reform (NCMR 2008), I’m excited to invite you to what promises to be a fascinating and compelling conversation between some of the most dynamic, effective women leaders of the multi-faceted media justice movement.
On behalf of Women In Media & News (WIMN), I’m moderating a […]

Gives Good Headline: How the Media Loves its Sex Changes
by Mercedes Allen
(reprinted from dented blue mercedes blog)
Not too long ago, Calgary City Council voted whether to change the title of “alderman” to something ungendered, such as “alderperson” or “councillor.” They voted the idea down, leaving them the last major Canadian city yet to do […]

Media love to tell women we should be ashamed of aging. “You never ask a lady her age,” we hear from news anchors to soap opera characters. But WIMN’s Voices is turning 1,000 today, and we couldn’t be happier at how we’ve grown up.
This, in fact, is the thousandth post to WIMN’s Voices, the […]

Opportunity for Boston area folks: This weekend through Monday there will be several chances to meet Women In Media & News’s staff, board and bloggers at the WAM!2008 conference today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday), as well the next day (Monday) at MIT, where I will be speaking about reality TV as cultural backlash against women […]