Wiley-Blackwell Women and Media: A Critical Introduction

Women and Media is a thoughtful cross-cultural examination of the ways in which women have worked inside and outside mainstream media organizations since the 1970s. Rooted in a series of interviews with women media workers and activists collected specifically for this book, the text provides an original insight into women’s experiences. Explains the ways that women have organized their internal and external campaigns to improve media content (or working conditions) for women, and established womenowned media to gain a public voice. Identifies key issues and developments in feminist media critiques and interventions over the last 30 years, as these relate to production, representation and consumption. Functions as both a research case study and a teaching text. Review “Byerly and Ross not only advocate but succeed in integrating theory with empirical data, and may inspire a few readers to undertake their own media action.” Linda Steiner, Rutgers University “The first comprehensive attempt to theorize women's media activism and its relationship to social change. An inspiring chronicle of feminist interventions in media systems world-wide, and a welcome bridge between scholarship and practice.” Margaret Gallagher, author of Gender Setting: New Agendas for Media Monitoring and Advocacy “The essays are forays into areas of media studies which will only grow with the growing presence and innovations of women in this central field of contemporary culture.” Midwest Book Review "A useful outline of global feminist media scholarship for students and practitioners. The book opens up new directions for future research, tempering an engagement with historical development of women's media activism with attention to the real voices and experiences of current activists and practitioners." Culture and Policy From the Inside Flap Women and Media is a thoughtful cross-cultural examination of the ways in which women have worked inside and outside mainstream media organizations since the 1970s. The book provides an overview of the key issues and developments in feminist media critiques and interventions over the last 30 years, beginning with the extant literature in this growing field and ending with a new study of women’s media activism in 20 nations. The authors recount and analyze the first-hand narratives of nearly 100 women media activists whose work has contributed to the making of a feminist public sphere that has moved women leaders and agendas more forcefully into their societies. This highly original empirical base, and the Model of Women's Media Action that the authors developed from it, provides a unique account of women’s struggles to improve, create, and otherwise employ media in pushing for social change. The text is written in a concise, engaging style, laying out the central concerns about the women–media relationship as it has operated in a variety of political/critical contexts. It can be used alongside Women and Media: International Perspectives (2004), by the same authors. From the Back Cover Women and Media is a thoughtful cross-cultural examination of the ways in which women have worked inside and outside mainstream media organizations since the 1970s. The book provides an overview of the key issues and developments in feminist media critiques and interventions over the last 30 years, beginning with the extant literature in this growing field and ending with a new study of women’s media activism in 20 nations. The authors recount and analyze the first-hand narratives of nearly 100 women media activists whose work has contributed to the making of a feminist public sphere that has moved women leaders and agendas more forcefully into their societies. This highly original empirical base, and the Model of Women's Media Action that the authors developed from it, provides a unique account of women’s struggles to improve, create, and otherwise employ media in pushing for s