Influential Women In The Media
editPowerful women in the media, are women who hold an occupation that gives them great authority, influence, and/or responsibility. Historically, power has been distributed among the sexes disparately. Power and powerful positions have most often been associated with men instead of women.[1] As gender equality increases, women hold more powerful positions especially in the media industry.[2] Accurate and proportional representation of women in social systems has been shown to be important to long-lasting success of the system. A study has shown that “absence is not merely a sign of disadvantage and disenfranchisement, but the exclusion of women from positions of power also compounds gender stereotypes and retards the pace of equalization".[3]
Television
edit1936 was an important year for televised broadcasting of the news. The British Broadcasting Company, which later became the BBC, marks the start of modern broadcasting.[4] Later in 1940, Lowell Thomas became the first news broadcaster to have a regular show on NBC. Later on, as television developed, it became more common to have more than one news channel.
Pauline Frederick was one of the first women to cover the likes of large events in history such as the Nuremberg trails, along with being the first female broadcaster to report from China. After reporting on the 1948 political conventions, she was hired on ABC TV, making her the “the first female news correspondent to work full-time for a TV network.” [5] Another important milestone that Pauline Frederick achieved was when she became the first female moderator to mitigate a presidential debate, between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. [6]After Pauline Frederick trail blazed the way for other women, more women were seen on television broadcasting.
Another powerful and famous female news broadcaster is Barbara Walters, she is an American journalist. She is known for her important and unique interviews of high tier people. These interviews started in 1976 with Jimmy Carter and Barbra Streisand.[7]Another extremely notable interview that Barbara Walters was her talk with Monica Lewinsky, on March 3, 1999. This talk became "the most watched news interview in broadcast history, with an audience of nearly 50 million"[8]She had a wide variety of people she's interviewed, from criminals to celebrities.
Oprah Winfrey, a media mogul of today, started her famous talkshow The Oprah Winfrey Show. This talkshow started in 1986. Many believe it to be a turning point in daytime television, as it changed the way people saw entertainment in the daytime. This show "addressed serious issues like AIDs and race relations.[9]
Radio
editIn the late 1840’s, women first worked as telegraph operators and then in 1900, they continued the same task with the development of wireless telegraphy. A telegraph operators job was primarily to send Morse code over long distances in regards to commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. In the early twentieth century, amateur radio emerged and for many, it was a hobby and in 1912, The Radio Act of 1912[10] stated that radio amateurs needed a license. Despite this barrel women had to jump in order to do radio, Gladys Kathleen Parkin[11] became one of the first females to obtain a license at only age fifteen and co-run her family radio business, the Parkin Manufacturing Company.
Parkin, born in Bolinas, California and raised in San Rafael, California, ran one of the first wireless stations in California with her brother, John Parkin, for six years. American national magazine, Electrical Experimenter, featured Parkin on the cover in 1916 with the title “The Feminine Wireless Amateur.
Being one of the first female amateur radio hosts was a big step for women empowerment in the media industry, especially when radio, similar to back then, is still a man-run industry.
Today, there are thousands of female radio hosts broadcasting all over the world, primarily for the purposes of entertainment, news, and debate.
A few contemporary female radio hosts with different spoken word radio formats are Laura Ingraham and Laura Schlessinger.
Ingraham, U.S. president Reagan’s old speechwriter, is an American conservative radio show host[12] and launched her own radio show called The Laura Ingraham Show active on 306 stations[13]. Ingraham’s show mainly focuses on politics, pop-culture, and media bias where she comments on events and opinions regarding those topics. Her radio show became one of the most listened to in America in 2008, and she is still regarded today as one of the highest-ranking radio hosts in America.
Schlessinger is another American talk radio host. Rather than talking about global and national political issues like Ingraham, Schlessinger takes a more personable and relatable approach. Callers give her requests for personal advice and she responds, teaching and going in depth with morals, values, and ethics.
These two present-day female radio hosts are shaping the world of radio more and more, with powerful debate and conversation that has the power to impact it’s audiences.
Newspapers
editHistory
editNewspapers were first published in Germany in 1609.
Women first started participating in newspapers and in journalism, around the 17th century. Women like Maria Wankijf, who was Swedish, was one of the first women in the newspaper business. She was in charge of different printing shops, like the N.Wankijfs Enka (Wankijfs Widow), and later on printed the newspaper called Ordinaire Stockholmiske Posttijdener (General Stockholm Postal News).
One of the most important female journalists of the early 18th century is the French, Anne-Marguerite du Noyer, who came to fame when she published her reports of the negotiations that lead to the Peace of Utrecht.
In the 19th century, the American, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, mostly known as Nellie Bly, was one of the most famous female journalists because of her new forms of investigative journalism to report on a mental institution, as well as her trip around the world in 72 days, in which she simulated Jules Verne’s novel ‘Around the World in 80 Days'.
In the 20th century, during World War II, the American Dorothy Thompson, was a radio broadcaster and journalist. She was expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 due to her reports. In 1936, she worked, in New York Herald Tribune, where she started writing her own newspaper column called “On the Record”[14] Later on she was declared by Times Magazine as the second most influential woman after Eleanor Roosevelt.
Women also started taking part in journalism as war correspondents during the Second World War[15].
Now
editCurrently, one of the most influential and powerful women in the world is Jill Abramson. She is mostly known for her job as the first executive editor of The New York Times, where she worked for 17 years. Before working for the New York Times, she worked as the deputy Washington bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal. She also did investigative reports about money and politics, and has also written many books like ‘Strange Justice’. She currently works in the Guardian US as a political columnist, and is a lecturer in Harvard's English department[16].
She was ranked the second most powerful woman in media in Forbes’ top ten list. She was also ranked as the 12th in Forbes most powerful women in the world in 2011. [17]
Magazine
editleft|thumb|180x180px|Wintour's first cover in 1988
The first publication, which was similar to what we understand as magazines nowadays, was the German Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen, released in the year 1663 and aimed to an intelligent audience. However, it took years until the first women-editor, Sarah Joseph Hale was hired in one of the most widely circulated magazines: Godey's Lady’s Book from 1837 to 1877. [18]In the late 19th century, due to technological processes, increased diffusion and increasing use of images, magazines started to appeal to advertisers. Magazines are now considered to be as forms of entertainment and as channels of education.
It is important to emphasize a British woman well considered in the world of the fashion magazines, Anna Wintour in Vogue magazine. Ranked 69th on 2011 World's Power Women list and 27th on 2017 rankings. [19]Wintour first arrived at American Vogue in 1988 and transformed it into an absolute authority on US women fashion after being fired in the mid-’70s from Harper’s Bazaar. [20]"I think everyone should get sacked at least once," she said. "It forces you to look at yourself.”
Yet she has significantly changed how the world gets dressed and typically known as one of the most influential people in the fashion industry leading one of the top famous magazines of the times. Wintour is the crucial architect of one of the prime aesthetics of our era, which is that of soft power.[21] According to Wintour, who has stood for 30 years on a top position as an editor-in-chief, a leader is someone who is looked up to, a good leader is someone who is capable of taking accountability, responsibility and leading a pack. [22]As a legendary icon, Wintour is capable of creating new interests in an established brand. Nonetheless, she is not only accomplished for her portrayal as media’s most famous tastemaker but for many other compliments including her significant role in the fashion and political world.
Social Media
editIn 1997 the first recognizable social media page, Six Degrees, was created[23]. It enabled users to upload a profile and connect with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that's still popular today[24]. Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook, Inc. It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 exclusively on iOS and is one of the most successful social media platforms by today[25]. Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole, and became a profession during the social media era.[26] It identifies the individuals and especially women to have influence over potential customers.[27]
Chiara Ferragni is an Italian influencer on instagram with 15.6 Million followers. She started her fashion blog The Blonde Salad in October 2009. In March 2011, New York introduced her as "One of the biggest breakout street-style stars of the year".[28] In December 2011, Ferragni was profiled as the Blogger Of The Moment in Teen Vogue, while she still studied law at Bocconi University.[29] By that time Ferragni's blog had reached more than one million unique visitors and 12 million views per month.[30] By 2013, Ferragni had won various blogger of the year recognitions.[31] In December 2013, she published an Italian language eBook, under The Blonde Salad.[32] In September 2017, Ferragni was ranked first in the Forbes list of the most powerful fashion influencers.[33]
Another powerful fashion influencer with 1.6 Million followers is, Danielle Bernstein. She is a fashion blogger known for her brand WeWoreWhat based in New York City.[34] Since starting her blog in 2010, Bernstein has collaborated with many brands and has launched her own fashion lines, the most recent, Second Skin Overalls and Archive shoes.[35] Bernstein was named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 Art & Style list.[36] In May 2018 Bernstein launched a capsule jewelry collaboration with Lulu DK for sale at Nordstrom.[37]
Negin Mirsalehi has 5.1 Million followers on instagram. She was a marketing student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and decided to become a social media influencer. Mirsalehi started as a fashion blogger on instagram and end up creating their own brand. Her own self-funded hair-care brand Gisou, inspired by her families history as sixth generation beekeepers, did almost $3 million sales last year and is a representative from REVOLVE. She continued to make $20,000 per sponsored Instagram post. She has a bigger audience than brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Pantene. Because Mirsalehi has grown such a loyal audience, brands like NARS and PatBO have worked with her to promote their new lines.While that may seem like a lot of money, the majority of Mirsalehi’s posts aren’t sponsored. She says she picks around 1% of the offers she receives. She was included in Forbes 30 Under 30, where 600 of the brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, stars are involved.
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- ^ "Television in the US: History and Production". www3.northern.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "Female Broadcast Pioneers". Biography. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
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- ^ Inc., US Legal,. "Radio Act of 1912 Law and Legal Definition | USLegal, Inc". definitions.uslegal.com. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
{{cite web}}
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ LLC, Revolvy,. ""Gladys Kathleen Parkin" on Revolvy.com". www.revolvy.com. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Laura Ingraham Biography - Affair, Single, Ethnicity, Nationality, Salary, Net Worth". Married Biography. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ Ingraham, Laura. "PodcastOne: The Laura Ingraham Show Podcast". www.podcastone.com. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "Dorothy Thompson | American journalist and writer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ Blake, Sarah (2010-07-12). "Women war correspondents". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "Jill Abramson". Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "Jill Abramson, U.S." Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "Godey's Lady's Book | American magazine". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "World's Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "6 strategies Vogue editor Anna Wintour uses to run her empire". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ Cartner-Morley, Jess (2018-09-05). "Thirty years at Vogue: how Anna Wintour changed the way the world gets dressed". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "The Fashion Power House Anna Wintour and her top 10 rules". Best Fashion and Interior Designing College/Institute in India. 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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- ^ "Danielle Bernstein", Wikipedia, 2018-12-02, retrieved 2018-12-02
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