Revolutions We Need: On women and media reform

On the Issues, one of the leading magazines on progressive women's politics, asked me to contribute to their current issue on "Revolutions We Need," on media reform and what it means for women. This is what I wrote:

Finding the Power in Women’s Voices, by Hannah Miller

A growing group of organizations work on what is called "media democracy," that is, changing the structure and legal framework of the media so that it reflects something a smidgeon closer to the actual public – including women.

In all its complexity, the media – TV and cable, newspapers and film, magazines and podcasts – can be understood quite simply: it's just a group of people sitting in a circle, talking to each other, debating over the issues they care about.

But in American culture – our common circle – some speakers are deemed important than others. Some speakers always go first and speak as long as they like; some utter a few words. More often than not, it is men who start the conversation, who carry the conversation, who are the very topics, and women who respond, stay silent, or are not discussed at all.

And this is one revolution that we need, on the airwaves and on the page: to give back to women the power of their words.

Continued here.