Journalist and Media Critic Jennifer Pozner Discusses Sexism, Racism in Media Coverage of 2008 Elections

NEW LONDON, N.H.- Colby-Sawyer College will host journalist, author and media critic Jennifer L. Pozner's multi-media lecture, “When Anchormen Attack: Gender, Race & Media in the 2008 Elections.” Pozner seeks to expose how sexism and racial prejudice have dominated and distorted the media coverage in one of the most important elections in U.S. history.

The event will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., in Wheeler Hall at the Ware Campus Center. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

Pozner uses wit, her own insights and footage to expose and challenge what she sees as the media's preference for irresponsible stereotypes over substantive reporting. Pozner is founder and executive director of Women in Media & News (WIMN), a media analysis, education and advocacy organization dedicated to increasing women's presence and power in public debate.

She formerly directed the Women's Desk at the national media watch group FAIR, where she was a staff writer for Extra! magazine and the organizer of the Feminist Coalition on Public Broadcasting. She has appeared as a commentator on many television shows including MSNBC's “Scarborough County, and ABC News Now's “Top Priority,” and Comedy Central's “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” as well as in several independent documentaries.

A noted public speaker, Pozner has conducted multi-media presentations and participated in panels and debates at dozens of colleges and conferences around the country. Pozner's freelance work on women, media, politics and pop culture has been published in many national magazines, newspapers and web sites such as Newsday, Chicago Tribune, Salon.com and CommonDreams.org. Her essays have appeared in anthologies such as What Do We Do Now: A Post-2004 Manifesto; The W Effect: Bush's War on Women; and Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century.