For most of us, radio forms part of the background to our lives. It wakes us up in the morning, keeps us company as we make dinner and becomes our passenger on the long commute home from work. We might not realise however that most of the voices we hear are male – in fact less than 20% of radio broadcasters are female. This might seem arbitrary to those feminists working to diversify mainstream media, but when you take into account that 9 out 10 people in the UK listen to radio at least once a week (and listening has remained at this level for the past 5 years), you begin to realise that radio is much more than audio wallpaper for most people.
The BBC’s share of all radio listening was 52.5% in 2017 and Radio 4 its second most popular station. But while Jane Garvey can do great things on Woman’s Hour, offering as it does a “female perspective on the world”, it remains one programme among many on the station. Interestingly it is the Today programme that remains most popular on Radio 4, helmed and somewhat dominated as it is by John Humphrys (known for expressing a number of inflammatory sexist views including that female presenters are “better on fashion”).
We’re also listening to the radio for longer, while commercial radio revenue rose by 1% in 2017 to £526million.
So what does this mean for women and feminists?
The voices we hear everyday form part of our understanding of the world, they shape our culture and influence the formation of our ideologies. Considering the reach that speech radio broadcasting has (34% of adults per week) along with its popularity with advertisers, radio could and should become a way in which we both amplify women’s voices and re-shape our toxic, misogynistic culture.
The Women’s Radio Station is a not for profit community interest charity and internet based radio station that is unique. Launched by Howard Jameson in January 2018 as a ‘voice for women’, it is currently the only radio station in the UK dedicated to women. It currently has 22 different presenters on its roster – all women apart from male presenter Russ Kane – with a mission to recruit even more. The programmes cover a diverse range of female centred topics including ‘Being Bame’, ‘Teen Talk’ and ‘Judymay Is Listening’ which focuses on using the expertise of its presenter as a top coach and speaker who, along with a team of experts, really listen to and help transform the lives of women listeners.
Its aim is to be a positive platform to and for women while ensuring it is also an accessible recruiter for them; offering internships to female graduates who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to work in such a competitive (and male dominated) media industry. Likewise WRS give free advertising for charities including Breast Cancer Care and Media Matters for Women, as well as helping small to medium sized and large businesses grow by enabling them to advertise and sponsor with them at affordable prices.
Dr. Zena Miscony Ph.D. is WRS’s Head of Business Development who when we interviewed her, was both vibrant and ambitious for the station’s future development. She would love to see more radio stations exclusively for women all over the world and is passionate about the importance of the station in breaking down barriers for women. So far WRS has been nominated for Best Radio Station Diversity in Media Awards and is quickly expanding into an influential cross-media brand.
WRS possesses an admirable and important ethos: to provide a platform for women regardless of age, colour, creed, race or religion to inspire, educate and connect women globally. They believe in the notion that “if other women have done it, then so can I”, something echoed by other activists we’ve profiled including sexual violence survivor and activist Maymeen Meftahi and feminist writer Laura Ferries.
It provides a safe, nurturing environment where women can share their stories, something we are passionate about @afeministcalltoarms. We believe storytelling is in itself a form of activism and that media organisations such as WRS are vital if women’s stories are to be heard over the din of the patriarchy.
With their intention to become a global community they are also going out on the road, with a bus starting in the UK and eventually travelling all over the world to meet and broadcast women live from their own communities.
We hope, along with Zena and WRS, that this is the first of many media platforms dedicated to women. It is vital, now more than ever, that feminist activists embrace all forms of media in order to shift the cultural conversation towards equality.
To listen online visit www.womensradiostation.com. To become a sponsor or request more information email zm@womensradiostation.com. You can also follow them on Twitter @womensradiostn.
SheCurates