"Women Television Producers: Transformation of the Male Medium"

Within the chapters of Women Television Producers: Transformation of the MaleMedium, authors Robert Alley and Irby Brown present a general, but detailed history and overview of women's role in television broadcast from 1948 through 2000. Alley and Brown write through a strictly historical lens, aiming to inform the general reader of the historical context and significance of women involved in the development of the television medium. The historical facts of their writing are supported by dozens of specific case studies of real women who have impacted television. Historically, women have been fighting for rights since the birth of America and the Declaration of Independence in 1776, when women such as Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, made noteworthy steps to transform the image and privileges of women in society.

The television business was an extension of the radio industry, which had been blossoming just prior to WWI. The first twenty-five years of the television business were extremely male-dominated. Men held no regard for sexual equality within television management. During this time, women were attempting to advance their television careers by acting in a newly developing phenomenon called the soap opera. Popular soap operas of this period included "Portia Faces Life" and "Ma Perkins." These "soaps" aired at times when women, especially mothers, were at home, cleaning or caring for sick children. After the end of the war, women were expected to return home and resume the role of wife and mother. This expectation came from the same government which had previously expected them to join the war effort.

In 1946, the Dumont Network and NBC dominated television. By 1948, an almost full evening programming schedule was offered by NBC, Dumont, ABC and CBS. It was during this time that President Harry Truman stepped in to regulate the new medium of television and appointed Frieda Hennock to the FCC. This appointment by Truman greatly angered many men on the commission. Hennock would later become the single, most prominent and important FCC member to speak on behalf of educational television. Women were "...rarely in the boardrooms and still had very small roles in writing, directing and producing." (18)

By the 1970s, women began to enter the television workforce in ever-increasing numbers, strengthened by support from the EEOC. By the early and mid 1990s, women were gaining top producing and directing jobs. The battles of discrimination seemed to have been won. However, as with many discriminatory issues throughout history, this is not always the case. In a 1975 interview, 20^th Century Fox executive Nancy Malone reminisced of a television executive meeting held in New York City. She stated, "There I stood in a room, invisible, just invisible. There was only one other woman without a husband in the room. They [the men] had trouble relating to us as women and they were uncomfortable relating to us as executives." (Alley, 26) "Today, television as a business, has no evident interest in the issues of equality and equity except where they may be required by law." (Brown, 35) Much of today's broadcasting industry is still rigorously driven by and credited to the male demographic. Women, particularly in the broadcast journalism arena, receive little or no credit where credit is often due. They are continually fighting for their rights in the work place.

Review:

As a book, Women Television Producers: Transformation of the Male Medium presents a superb, carefully crafted and structured view of women throughout the history of television, and a well-analyzed, informative historical context of the time period. The reader is educated on the grounds of television's early beginnings and on the continuing development of television within the twentieth century. By presenting numerous and specific case studies of successful broadcast women, Alley and Brown successfully suggest and prove the possibility that women can make it within this particular arena.

In comparison to other relative works of media history, Women Television Producers rises to meet the standard. Alley and Brown write with an unbiased, indiscriminate voice, being careful to compare and contrast the past with the present. Both authors collaborate in an excellent, noteworthy effort to give specific women, as well as women worldwide, due credit in their contributions to the television broadcast industry, as well as to the American corporate work world in general.

The book, however, fails to mention the deeper ramifications of women working alongside men in the broadcast industry, especially the journalism and reporting fields. Men and women are constantly vying and competing for various positions and ranks within the industry, often in a rather harsh manner. The consequences of such competitiveness are hardly discussed. These consequences could include pay decrease, a separation from alternate sex employees, and even termination. Providing examples of these consequences would allow the reader to gain a better grasp on the reality of men and women in the television workforce.

In summary, Women Television Producers: Transformation of the Male Medium delivers a remarkably informative context on the history of television as it relates to women's role in the industry. Alley and Brown successfully tie past historical occurrences with today's ever-changing television market and management. The women of the 1950s through the 1970s are not the same women of the twentieth century. They were forced by the existence of a biased, sexist society to rise to greater heights within the realm of television broadcast. Women continue to be an integral, yet controversial part of today's American television industry.