Multicultural Affairs presents Jennifer L. Pozner, journalist, author, and media critic

Oct. 20, 2008 -- Arkansas State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs will present journalist, author, and media critic Jennifer L. Pozner in a multi-media lecture geared for a college audience. Her lecture, “Gender, Race, and Media in Election 2008,” will be held Tuesday, October 28, at 7 p.m. in  ASU's Student Union Auditorium, 101 North Caraway Road, Jonesboro. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Jennifer L. Pozner is a journalist, a lecturer, and the founder and executive director of Women In Media & News (WIMN), a national media analysis, education, and advocacy group dedicated to increasing women’s presence and power and power in public debate (www.wimnonline.org). She is also the recipient of Soroptimist International of NYC's 2007 "Making A Difference for Women Award,” and was honored in 2006 as one of “The Real Hot 100,” a Girls in Government project honoring young women leaders.

In November, millions of U.S. young people will vote in record numbers, many for the first time. Jennifer L. Pozner believes that today’s multicultural generation of young voters deserves better reporting to help choose political leaders, and she exposes how sexist backlash and racial prejudice have dominated and distorted media coverage of one of the most important moments in U.S. history.

Pozner uses wit, insight, and damning footage to expose and challenge the media’s irresponsible preference for regressive stereotypes over substantive reporting. Pozner helps her student audiences unpack the biases underlying this increasingly contentious election cycle, giving them the media literacy tools they need to critically analyze journalism and pop culture long after they leave her presentation. Students will see campaign coverage – and possibly all of news media – as never before.

Chief among Pozner’s observations about the 2008 presidential campaign is that for all the talk about race and gender, the media has focused heavily on the ethnicity and biology of the candidates and has failed to investigate Clinton’s, Obama’s, and McCain’s policy positions on crucial race and gender issues.

For example, Pozner examines the Washington Post’s 746-word article on the political significance of Hillary Clinton’s cleavage, and notes that the New York Times has condemned Clinton’s “cackle.”  Pundits also questioned whether an “emotional” and “weepy” woman is fit to lead, after Clinton displayed emotion on the campaign trail. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has said he “hates” the New York senator, branding her an “uppity,” “witchy,” “scolding,” “anti-male” “she-devil” who can “grate on some men” like “fingernails on a blackboard.”  Meanwhile, early campaign headlines like Time’s “Is Obama Black Enough?” were followed by a constant refrain of “Is America ready for a Black president?” from the mostly-white newsmen of CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN and Fox. ABC debate moderator George Stephanapoulos wondered if Barack’s “cool style” is “tied to [his] race,” while cable news commentators insinuated that Obama may be a “secret Muslim,” has an “angry,” “un-American” minister, and doesn’t wear a flag pin.

None of these comments, of course, has anything to do with how any single candidate’s policy positions would affect health care, education, war, the economy, reproductive rights, poverty, or any other issue important to women, people of color, or the country as a whole.

Pozner is a noted political commentator who has advocated for progressive ideas and for media justice on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and PBS, and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” A widely published media critic, her work has been published in Ms., Newsday, Chicago Tribune, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, and numerous publications and anthologies. She manages the popular group blog, WIMNS’s Voices (/http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/).

For more information, call Kimberley Johnson, Office of Multicultural Affairs, at (870) 972-2055. 
           

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