A few weeks ago, I commented about the continuous, tired debate of how to get women speaking at technology conference. I know a big part of the reason is because women lack the ability to self-promote. Alot of men have this difficulty, but alot more women suffer from this. I used to coach women on how to raise their self-esteem, so I got a ton of data to throw at you for anyone who wants to contest me on this issue.
I have no problems promoting myself or my work. None. I enjoy the marketing and business development portion of my business, preferring to leave the implementation and support to my very capable Production Manager.
Okay, so what happens when you do everything to let someone know you’re interested and you’re still passed over? But not just passed over, but given the lamest excuse ever as to why they passed women over?
The new Blogger & Podcaster magazine was released this morning – at least that’s when I got the email. I paid it little attention until my friend Karin from Denmark pointed me to the fact that there was only 1 woman profiled in the magazine out of 16 writers, columnists and profiles. This I really couldn’t believe until I looked at the magazine myself and sure enough, only 1 woman.
Now, here’s what gets my goat. Actually, not just the goat, but the farm, the 100 acres of peach trees and the John Deer tractor. The comment that someone left on Karin’s blog is from someone who works with magazine. It was laden with excuses as to why more female voices weren’t included. Anne said:
“We were aware of the gender imbalance in the first issue too and hope in the future more women bloggers and podcasters will agree to interviews and pictures so we can better reflect the industry. Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention. I’m looking forward to hearing from more women.”
What? You’re kidding me, right? Female bloggers and podcasters not agreeing to interviews? Here’s one word to Anne’s reply – bullshit. Absolute crap. Here’s what they should be doing instead:
- Put together an advisory committee. Include both male and female bloggers and podcasters from a variety of backgrounds and get them to meet once a quarter. Let them help in identifying people that should be included in future episode.
- Look at some of the industry’s biggest events in blogging and podcasting and take a look at past speakers. Then contact them for interviews.
- Start publishing according to themes instead of just publishing a series of articles. For example, one issue can be The Money Issue, another The Envy Issue, and so on. Then every person profiled and every article inside reflects the theme.
- And of course, use Amazon. There are a number of books on blogging and podcasting. Some have been authored or co-authored by women.
I would urge everyone reading this to put together a list of both female and male podcasters that they admire and email it over to the magazine’s publisher. Let the publisher know what you liked about the magazine, what could be improved and suggest a list of individuals they can interview next.
Only then can our industry’s first magazine be truly inclusive. And while I commend their eagerness to publish this publication, they need our help to make it reflective of us.
Tags:
podcasting,
podcaster magazine,
blogger magazine,
blogger and podcaster magazine,
women,
women in blogging,
women in podcasting,
podcast expo
Larry, I am so glad to read your post, and I must say you and your editors have taken my (our) criticism very seriously. Thank you for that. Which makes me want to take you up on your request for help to focus on all the fantastic women in the industry. It is not sufficient to look at the list of speakers and panels at conferences and expos. They don´t have gender balance – not at all. But if you look around, ask around, also outside US, you´ll find a huge potential for articles, that will give a very much broader picture of podcasting and blogging.
I am reading your magazine these days, I like it, as a journalist, a blogger and a podcaster, and I would never hesitate to leave it on my coffeetable if I had the print issue 🙂 But I´ll be looking forward to reading coming issues with more women, more feature articles, more Europeans, more oblique angles, etc. Cause it is a vital and colourful business. Thank God for that. She created it. 😉
Leesa, as Blogger & Podcaster’s publisher I want you to know I hear and appreciate your (and Karin’s) criticism. We’ve already started to proactively reach out to women, so we can be more representative of the community. That being said I would still love to get the names of others that we should be talking to. In my opinion, having heard you speak at the podcast expo, you should be at the top of the list. I just hope everyone can understand that launching a new magazine is never an easy task. Doing it in only 4 months and publishing in 3 formats makes it even more challenging. To be blunt we were rushing around like crazy just to get content written & edited, that we didn’t stop for a second to consider gender (or racial for that matter) balance. We will in the future.
Obviously they didn’t do enough research before they published this magazine. Now I will admit that I was surprised by the language used here. I know that’s not Leesa. She was just fired up by the magazine’s lack of research and inclusion. I trust that the editors will do a better job next time. I would hate for Leesa to have to go off again. 🙂