WMC Daily News Brief: Tibetan Blogger Woeser, Obama’s 100th Day, Algerian Women’s Movement
April 27, 2009
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A Tibetan Blogger, Always Under Close Watch, Struggles For Visibility
4/25/09
NY Times: Woeser, a Tibetan poet and blogger whose every word is of great interest to the Chinese authorities, described the nightmare that jolted her awake shortly before a reporter arrived for what some might describe as a foolhardy interview.
In 100 Days Obama Scored Big For Women Of Color
4/27/09
Women's eNews: President Obama will pass his 100th day in office this week, and C. Nicole Mason says the occasion gives women of color a chance to assess the enormous gains made in a short period of time.
Algeria: Women's Movement Still Going Strong
4/27/09
Common Ground News via World Press Review: Those who think that Algerians have been passive victims of their country's political problems need look no further than the Algerian women's movement for a change of mind.
Parents: Jailed Journalist Resolute In Hunger Strike
4/26/09
NPR: Roxana Saberi, who holds dual American and Iranian citizenships, was convicted in Iran of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. Her attorney filed an appeal Saturday, the same day her father, Reza Saberi, announced that she had started a hunger strike.
4/27/09
NY Times: Martha Stewart is prevented by law from running her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. But you get the feeling that no one else is allowed to run it without her say-so, either.
Antiabortion Movement Gets A New-Media Twist
4/26/09
LA Times: Lila Rose, a UCLA student, goes undercover at Planned Parenthood clinics to pose as an underage girl pregnant by a 31-year-old. Her surreptitious videos go on YouTube, and inspire outrage.
With Rivals Ahead, Doubts For CNN's Middle Road
4/27/09
NY Times: Since the beginning of March, CNN has fallen behind both the longtime ratings leader, Fox News Channel, which, as the voice of disaffected conservatives, again has an imposing lead, and the upstart MSNBC, which has tried to mirror Fox's success by steering to the left.
Doing More With Less On Your Local Newscast
4/27/09
Washington Post: Local TV news operations across the country are cutting jobs and slashing salaries. That hardly makes them unique during this recession, particularly among media organizations. Yet, stations are adding time to their newscasts, at the surprising rate, on average, of a half-hour per day.
BBC Offers To Share With Local Media
4/26/09
BBC: Local and regional newspapers and broadcasters are close to agreeing a deal that would give them access to BBC content, training and technology
First Lady In Control Of Building Her Image
4/25/09
NY Times: By focusing on her domestic persona and harnessing the fascination with her family, the first lady and her communications team have emerged as the key architects of one of the most remarkable political transformations in years.
Senate Republicans Throw Obstacles Before Sebelius, Johnsen Nominations
4/27/09
RH Reality Check: Protests from anti-choice activists continue to stall the nominations of Dawn Johnsen to Office of Legal Counsel and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Women In Majority On Tennessee's Highest Court
4/26/09
Chicago Tribune: The three women who make up a rare majority on the Tennessee Supreme Court didn't start their careers planning to be lawyers, much less ground breakers.
Same-Sex Ruling Belies The Staid Image Of Iowa
4/26/09
NY Times: As of Monday, gay couples will be allowed to marry in places like this small town that once served as the background for Grant Wood's "American Gothic," the painter's famous depiction of stern, traditional Midwesterners.
Women Professors Not Being Promoted As Rapidly As Men
4/27/09
Diverse: Troubling inequities remain in career advancement between male and female college professors in English and foreign languages, according to a report being released today by the Modern Language Association.
Billboards Featuring Women Reappear In Peshawar
4/27/09
Daily Times (Pakistan): Despite Taliban threats for women to not appear on billboards, multinational companies have begun replacing men's photos on advertising billboards in the provincial metropolis with those of women.
Rural Afghan Women Hungry For School
4/27/09
Reuters: Shi'ite farm women in a remote Afghan valley shrugged off a new law that has created an international uproar about their rights, saying it largely reflects the reality of lives governed by their husbands.
Centre-Left Wins Iceland Election
4/26/09
BBC: Iceland's interim centre-left government has won a resounding victory in early parliamentary elections.
Saudis Clamp Down On Women's Gyms
4/27/09
BBC: Many women-only sports clubs and gyms in Saudi Arabia face closure under a government clampdown on unlicensed premises, Saudi media have reported.
Women Rise To Take Over Leadership Of Basque Terrorists Eta
4/27/09
Telegraph: The leadership of Eta, the Basque armed separatist group has passed into the hands of two women, Spanish authorities believe.
Britain Moves Against Gender Pay Discrimination
4/27/09
Reuters: Britain has moved to curb gender discrimination in the workplace by launching a bill which will force companies to reveal pay gaps between men and women.
Uganda Tests Strategies For Cervical Cancer
4/26/09
Women's eNews: Ugandan health officials are mulling the results of two pilot projects involving the HPV vaccine that test different ways to reach the nation's girls. One project adds the vaccine to existing public health programs; the other is based in schools.
Equal-Pay Agitator Meets The New Her
4/26/09
NY Times: As Violet Newstead, the coffee-poisoning, corpse-stealing, boss-kidnapping office supervisor in the hit 1980 movie "9 to 5," Lily Tomlin did just about everything except sing and dance. But now those tasks have fallen to Allison Janney, the Emmy-winning actress who is playing Violet in the new musical version.
Still Kicking Up Her Heels on 42nd Street
4/27/09
NY Times: President Woodrow Wilson waved at her. Babe Ruth autographed a baseball for her. George Gershwin - "a nice young man" - improvised at her family's piano. Charles Lindbergh dropped by for Sunday "tea" - actually Prohibition cocktails. Funny, the things you remember when you're 105 years old and the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl.
Bea Arthur, Star Of Two TV Comedies, Dies At 86
4/26/09
NY Times: Bea Arthur, who used her husky voice, commanding stature and flair for the comic jab to create two of the most endearing battle-axes in television history, Maude Findlay in the groundbreaking situation comedy "Maude" and Dorothy Zbornak in "The Golden Girls," died Saturday at her home in Los Angeles.
Portrait Of An Artist, Her Work Revived
4/26/09
NY Times: In most survey books on American art history, the artists associated with Abstract Expressionism in New York in the 1950s and '60s are almost exclusively men. In recent years, however, museums on Long Island and elsewhere have sought to widen our vision of the movement, highlighting the achievements of many talented, if sidelined, female artists.
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