by Frank Paynter on January 14, 2007
This just in! Ironic Tennessee counterpoint to the National Conference on Media Reform…
Above…. the ex-Senator from Tennessee, Billy Frist takes time out from helping the medically indigent in Africa in order to run down a cape buffalo with his Hum Vee.
The Frist-fucking of America is about to begin in earnest. In the run-up to his bid to replace Bush as USian President, Frist’s propaganda campaign swings into action with a heart-rending story of how the good Senator/Doctor spends a week every year he’ping the po’ darky babies in Africa, he’ping them in places even Hillary would fear to go.
According to the Frist for President marketing piece that Chris Locke forwarded me, Billy Frist has “spent one week every summer for the past five years treating AIDS patients and children in a part of Africa so dangerous that American military and security personnel literally could not accompany” him. I guess now that the USian consumers have started their 2008 election shopping early, seeking a President with integrity, warmth, and kindness Billy Frist wants us to be aware of his wareZ.
Billy Frist is at best a cheap hack. We remember him for diagnosing and recommending treatment for Terri Schiavo without so much as a bedside visit. Uncharitably, I’m writing off his claim to good works in Africa. I think that it’s a fair inference that at best he saw himself as picking up the “white man’s burden,” and more realistically he was building political capital.
The Frist marketing piece suggests that Doctor Billy has modestly hidden the light of his concern for the medical care of Africans while toiling away in humble anonymity. A quick scan of his Presidential PAC website gives the lie to this notion.
Billy Frist and General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf are being positioned for a run at the Presidency. God help us all.
by Frank Paynter on January 14, 2007
Lots of congressMEN. No congresswomen. Balance of Hollyweird stars: Danny Glover, Geena Davis, Jane Fonda. Entertainers… balanced musical acts, Rev. Al Green’s choir brought female soloists forward. Pundits however were largely men, maybe 20% female at best. FreePress personnel were balanced, but typical panels seemed to have four men and one woman… viz. Gigi Sohn and four men, Chris Nolan and three men, with Ellen Miller moderating… a visual presence, but not a participant past the initial introductions.
Among the attendees, I venture to guess that there are equal numbers of men and women present.
Update in response to Jesse’s comment below: I was simply musing, trying to recollect and post an impression. My program was tucked in my suitcase and I hadn’t thought to review my notes, which were inadequate anyway. Here’s a more objective statement.
Friday thru 1pm: The Mayor, John Nichols, Yolanda, Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson… score 1 woman to 4 men. (Ignore power imbalances in this one…)
1:15 to 2:45 – (Creeping Deeper: Advertising and Commercialism): Diane Farsetta and three guys… aggregate score 2 women to 7 men.
3:15 to 4:45 – (Saving the Internet): Azlan White and four guys, plus Frannie Wellings as moderator… aggregate score 4 women to 11 men. Now Frannie and other female Free Press people did yeoman service, each moderating several panels. Free Press had male moderators also working hard on several panels throughout the conference. I think one rule for this game should be that we only count the hosts one time, no matter how often their faces appear.
5:15 to 6:30 – Judith Siers-Poisson moderated our regional caucus… aggregate score 5 women to 11 men
Saturday 9am – (Citizen Journalism) Ellen Miller moderated, Chris Nolan, Tim Wu, Jay Rosen, and Dan Gillmor comprised the panel… aggregate score 7 women to 14 men.
11am (Capitol Hill update) – 5 men including Ben Scott from FreePress moderating… aggregate score 5 women to 16 men. Now playing opposite this group in the same time slot was a panel on Feminists for Media Action with five women, but I didn’t go to that one so I’m not modifying the score. Anyway, at that same time Sascha Meinrath and three other guys were on a community wireless panel moderated by Dharma Dailey that I probably would have gone to if I could have spread myself around.
2:30 (An Inside Look at Media Policy) – Gigi Sohn and three male panelists moderated by Ben Scott. I’ll not count Ben twice, so the aggregate score now is 6 women to 19 men.
4:30 (The Press at War and War on the Press) – 3 women, 2 men… aggregate score 9 women to 21 men.
Sunday 9am – (Media Scholars Policy Research Review) – 1 woman, 5 men… aggregate score 10 women to 26 men.
That’s it, Jesse! If we add your 10 women and 12 men we get a 20:38 ratio, somewhat better than 1 in 3 panelists were women.
