Tuesday, February 21, 2012

At the Paley Center: She's Making Media

The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public.  Tune into conversations online with experts on topics such as models for investigative journalism, new tools for digital media, demonstrations in cloud technology, engaging communities through social media, reflections of genres and genders through television history, and more. It’s a fantastic resource and collection for all those interested in media.


At the Paley Center is now airing their second season of their series “She’s Making Media” on PBS stations.  Hosted by Pat Mitchell, the president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media, the series spotlights women’s role in media and highlights through their stories the new and innovative ways that they have used media to teach and inspire.

At the Paley Center: Marlo Thomas

Marlo Thomas has been affecting media for over 40 years.  In That Girl, her character represented a generation of women that did not want to solely be in typical female roles of the 40s and 50s like their mothers. Ann Marie, in That Girl, reflected a trend in society of female empowerment and independence. Through her career, Thomas selected roles that she felt would be right for women, selective to not play characters that went against her own sense of morality. She can be credited with helping to change the way women looked at their own lives with her roles in the media. And, with the transformational change at the onset of new media, she continues to evolve women’s issues. You can check out marlothomas.com for news, entertainment, and dialogue on topics affecting women. Through her works, Marlo Thomas sends the message that women “can have it all.” 



At the Paley Center: Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda has used the media to promote to women the idea of knowing yourself. She has gone on a journey of self-discovery reflecting on the stages of her life and shares her insights and findings to help and inspire other women. Even at a very young age in an interview clip in 1960, she had the insight to acknowledge that she wished that she could enjoy more of what she was doing in the moment. Her advice to reflect on the experience of your full life in order to know what direction to take in your future is valuable. Through her dialogue, she makes women conscious of the journey to get to the end of the “third act” with no regrets.





 At the Paley Center: Arianna Huffington

Just as Arianna Huffington learned courage and strength from her mother, she teaches women by way of her example to have the strength and courage to pursue our dreams and aspirations.  In her book Becoming Fearless and through other media vehicles, she encourages women to not be afraid of failure because it will only hold us back from realizing our potential.  It is important for her to speak her mind and her truth, as she has exhibited through top news site, the Huffington Post.  She also advocates “unplugging and recharging,” to promote health and wellness. She has not only affected the content of political and business messages in the media, she has affected how those messages are disseminated through the media with the improvement and elevation of new media.



At the Paley Center: Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler has an incredible story that she shared on, At the Paley Center.  She is a writer, an activist, and a cancer survivor.  Through her play, The Vagina Monologues, she provided her perspective on her own womanhood and opened a forum for other women that allowed them to express themselves and the joys and pains of being a woman. She considers the performances as a way to transform social consciousness and has empowered women around the world to develop their own productions to support the commitment to end violence against women.  Eve Ensler gives of herself because she realizes that these causes are greater than she alone. She shares the message that “if we find that thing in our lives that is beyond us, we can always find a way to keep going” and uses art to inspire women and help them realize their own strength.



I found the discussions to be thought-provoking and inspirational.  In addition to the programs that I featured in this blog posting, you can also enjoy videos with Glenn Close and Maria Elena Salinas this season on At the Paley Center.



Begrudgingly,
BB

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