Post 4 - June Marie Davis

 

For this post, I have chosen to write about the Women’s Media Center as alternative media and some alternative media personalities.  I myself never heard of the Women’s Media Center until taking this class and to be quite frank am ashamed that I did not know about this organization.  They advocate women empowerment and go above and beyond to ensure that the presence of women and their voices are a constant in every media outlet.  The Women’s Media Center trains women and girls to become aware that there is a crisis in media today and something must be done.  The media is predominately male driven and although females comprise 51% of the nation, we are still struggling to make our presence a sustainable anchor in media today. 

 

Women who are doing their part to make women more present in media today are women like Carol Jenkins, writer, producer and journalist.  The most notable of her many accomplishments is that she was the founding President and now on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Media Center.  Jenkins is not only an award winning journalist, but has made every conscious effort to make sure she shines a light on the lack of female representation media.  Jenkins makes compelling arguments in her blogs regarding the unjust ways women are often overlooked for media positions when they are more than qualified for the position.  Here is an example of Jenkins work, click here.
 

Another media personality that is paving the way for women is political analyst, Rachel Maddow.   Maddow has risen to national acclaim by proving, especially to the white men that dominate the political arena that she is as capable if not more so ready and able to “play with the big boys”.  She provides thought provoking commentary and breaks down political jargon that would honestly keep a person like me from wanting to become involved in politics.  Maddow appeals to a large demographic and has ratings prove it.  Take a look at her work, click here.

 

Alternative media provides information that often times may not be available in mainstream media.  Most of the information that is provided through mainstream media is authorized by big conglomerates.  We as media spectators are shown what “they” want us to see, purchase and/or believe.  For this reason, alternative media is a valuable resource, which gives the spectator the opportunity to receive the full scope of information and turns the decision making back to the viewer/consumer. 

I myself, sometimes feel that mainstream media perceives the spectator as incapable of formulating an opinion based on both sides of an argument.  That we are spoon fed ideas and beliefs that contribute to big corporations sustaining its power.  Alternative media allows a break from the ideology of big corporations force feeding spectators garbage and focusing on the information, albeit left, right, wrong or right.   It is for this very reason that alternative media should be readily accessible and plays a key role in media today.

 Other interesting links to check are:

Rachel Maddow video

Carol Jenkins blog posts

Women's Media Center