In this week’s blog I will be discussing an important event that took place in June of this year- the WNYC’s (a flagship public radio station of New York) launch of the first-ever women’s podcast festival. This festival, lasting for two days, was entitled “Werk It: How to Be a Grown Ass Podcaster,” and was hosted by Anna Sale, Roxane Gay, Lulu Miller, and others-all of whom are important women in media. Among some of the principal points addressed throughout the course of this event included statistical data proving that, in the realm of journalism, men receive on average 63% of the credit of most media-related stories over women. Additionally, statistical data pertaining to iTunes reveals that women host only 15 of the top 100 podcasts on the application. Clearly, this data reveals a rather prevalent gender inequality in the realm of new media. The primary goal of this event, as such, is to bring new voices and new ideas to the forefront of media, and hopefully convince the general public that the beliefs and values of women should in all fairness be appreciated and weighed to the same extent as men. I personally believe this festival is meaningful in that it promotes ideals of gender equality and allows women from various walks of life and opportunities to speak out against the oppression they may very well experience as a part of everyday life. The more that women are inspired to stand up to the gender inequality that exists as a part of our world, the more society will take notice. Slowly, but surely, women will be allotted equal rights with regards to media attention and sponsorship.

http://www.wnyc.org/press/womens/podcast/festival/