Forwarded is an alert from FAIR, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, which
hits the nail on the head. i have still not been able to access my local
affiliate by email, as i get meaningless computer-system generated messages
in return. nor have i been able to find out when this National Desk series
on gender equity will be broadcast in the NJ/NYC area.
Marylin A. Hulme
hulme@email.rci.rutgers.edu
>Hello, all. This is the first action alert I am sending out as the new
>Women's Desk Director at FAIR -- Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. I
>encourage anyone concerned with biased representation of gender issues to
>take note of the right-wing framing and funding of the PBS series
>explained below. Please post this alert to any web sites, action lists,
>fax blasts, and other forums of people interested in fighting
>ultraconservative, antifeminist media hype.
>
>If possible, please "cc" jpozner@fair.org if you post this alert to
>your organization's list, web site, or etc. Also, if you can, "cc"
>jpozner@fair.org with any letters to the editor, or letters to PBS, that
>you write on the subject. The women's desk would like to track the
>responses generated by and for this PBS programming.
>
>For fairness and accuracy in reporting,
>Jennifer Pozner
>Women's Desk -- FAIR
>212-633-6700 x. 310
>jpozner@fair.org
>------------------------
>
>
>Where gender issues are concerned, does PBS stand for "Promoting
>Biased Stories"?
>
>It might as well. Throughout April, the PBS program "National Desk" is
>presenting a three-part series on "the gender wars," in which they aim to
>address "whether the advancement of women in virtually all areas of
>society can be achieved without a retreat, in some way, on the part of
>men."
>
>This manipulative framing of gender politics is clear throughout the
>first installment of the series, "The War on Boys," which opens with the
>following quote: "If we don't start changing how we treat our boys, we are
>going to be heading toward Gender Armageddon." Hosted by omnipresent
>right-wing pundit Fred Barnes and underwritten by the right-wing John M.
>Olin, Lynde and Harry Bradley, and Sarah Scaife Foundations, the program
>showcases undocumented conservative commentary by right-wing ideologues
>and pundits. Worse, many of these critics are on the payroll of the same
>foundations bankrolling this slanted series - for example, "The War on
>Boys" relies heavily on the opinions of conservative author Christina
>Hoff Sommers, who was paid six figures by the Olin and Bradley Foundations
>to publish the antifeminist tract, Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have
>Betrayed Women.
>
>The second part of the series, on "Politics and Warriors: Women in the
>Military," due to air on April 16th, will be hosted by arch-conservative
>pundit Laura Ingraham, who already has her own program on cable channel
>MSNBC. And the title of the third segment, which will air on April 23rd,
>illustrates the bias inherent in the series: it's called "Title IX and
>Women in Sports: What's Wrong With This Picture?" Hosted by another
>ubiquitous conservative - talk show host and columnist Larry Elder - this
>episode attacks the federal law designed to ensure equal access to
>education and extracurricular activities. Among the pernicious assertions
>of the series (as well as in the National Desk's publicity materials) is
>the idea that "despite all good intentions" by larger society to solve
>sexist injustice, "some things have gone terribly wrong" - and feminism is
>now leading our culture down a "dangerous path" to female dominance and
>male subordination.
>
>National Desk's "gender wars" series is based upon a seriously deficient
>definition of human rights: one in which there aren't enough human
>rights to go around, and if women want their fair share, men naturally
>have to buckle under. The American Association of University Women
>(AAUW), much maligned in the series, disputes this zero-sum game
>understanding of gender issues. According to AAUW Association Director
>Amy Swauger, "We don't think pitting boys against girls to determine who
>is the biggest loser is the way to help children get a good education.
>This is not a war anyone wants to win."
>
>No one, that is, except the conservatives funding a massive campaign to
>roll back gender equity laws and retract the gains that women and girls
>have achieved in the last thirty years. Want to know why a group of
>right-wing foundations are allowed to not only buy airtime for this series
>but also supply "experts" already on their payroll? How about why the
>so-called "alternative" public broadcasting network refused to find a
>single host who does not already have a regular media platform? Interested
>in finding out if or when PBS plans to offer a series about gender issues
>hosted by feminists?
>
>ACTION ALERT: One person who should have those answers is Ervin Duggan,
>president and CEO of PBS. You can call him at 703-739-5015, and fax
>letters to 703-739-0775. Let Duggan know that it is not feminism, but PBS
>programming, that has "gone terribly wrong." Additionally, you can find
>email contacts, phone numbers, and mailing addresses for your local PBS
>station at: http://www.pbs.org/voice/
>
>Susan F. Feiner
>Economics & Women's Studies (office): 207 780 4966
>96 Falmouth Street (T/TH): 207 780 5041
>University of Southern Maine Portland, ME 04103
>
>(fax 1): 207 780 5532
>(fax 2) 207 780 5507
>(e): sffein@usm.maine.edu
>Kimberly J. Cook
>Dept of Criminology
>University of Southern Maine
>P.O. Box 9300
>Portland, ME 04103-9300
>U.S.A.
>
>207-780-4399 (office)
>207-780-4987 (fax)
>kjcook@usm.maine.edu
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