Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones  by Barbara Cohn Schlachet

October 10, 2008

Words matter. From caregivers to teenagers to journalists, use of biased language, often unconsciously, can cause measurable harm, new studies show. The Ad Council, with PSAs featuring Hilary Duff among others, addresses one part of the problem in a campaign launched today.

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Speaking of Change: Women Broadcasters Deliver  by Nichola D. Gutgold

October 8, 2008

Two thirds of the way through the male-moderated presidential debates, history has turned in this election when women broadcasters played a role. 

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Pundits and Viewers Give Palin a Pass by Peggy Simpson

October 3, 2008

Governor Sarah Palin’s strategy of avoiding tough questions and talking into the camera will strengthen her connection with the GOP base. Independent voters are another matter.

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October 3, 2008

Sarah Palin survived the debate, but her down-home message can do little to reassure voters who have every reason to demand a change of direction.

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October 1, 2008

Morgan—whose controversial essay for the Women’s Media Center on sexism in the primary race, “Goodbye To All That #2,” was reprinted on 3,000 sites around the world—expounds here on women’s stake in the general election and the vote that will “make history.”

Speaker Pelosi: Leadership Tested By Fire   by Peggy Simpson

September 30, 2008

The financial meltdown is testing the leadership abilities of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and then some.

The high-voltage attempt to amend and pass the administration’s Wall Street rescue package didn’t turn out the way she had hoped.

The House defeated the bill, 228-205, causing the Dow Jones index to plummet 770 points, with Wall Street losses put at $1.2 trillion and with global markets reeling in the hours that followed.

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September 30, 2008

No one can argue against the need for a strong foreign policy.  As a nation, we face challenges ranging from terrorism and climate change to the enduring wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  None of these problems can be solved without building a better relationship with the rest of the world.  None can be solved without creative and informed leaders.

Having spent six months of the last year in Afghanistan, I know firsthand that our nation is confronting a stronger Al Qaeda, a resurgent Taliban and a weakening Pakistan armed with nuclear weapons.  America’s leaders cannot lack international experience, and they certainly cannot lack basic knowledge of world affairs.

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Weathering the Storm, Then Changing Course  by Lisa Wise

September 25, 2008

An economic storm is descending, and for many, the storm will be bad. While the Bush Administration and Congress wrestle with how to bail out Wall Street, and argue about how softly CEOs of failed financial institutions should be allowed to land, average citizens must leap into the new reality without benefit of 24-karat parachutes. 

Certainly, there isn’t any golden or even silver lining to losing your job, your savings, your home.  But for those of us not hit with catastrophic losses, an economic downturn might force us into painful, but ultimately useful, adjustments to our priorities.  Should we be fortunate enough to hold onto both nest and nest egg though the storm, we might eventually come out the other side with clearer skies and a clear sense of what’s important.

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Financial Meltdown Sidelines Politics As Usual  by Peggy Simpson

September 22, 2008

Last week's financial markets crises totally eclipsed the 2008 presidential campaign and changed the ground rules.

Briefings by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke terrified and then mobilized bipartisan leaders of Congress. The country's very standard of living appeared to be at stake if financial markets froze up—globally, this time, thanks to stunning technological innovations in the past decade that had spread the rewards and now the risks far beyond those, say, of the savings and loan crisis of several decades ago.

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Keeping Hold of Your Vision—the Making of Hounddog  by Melissa Silverstein

September 17, 2008

One of the dirty secrets of the film business is that it takes women directors a long time to get their films made.  The Women, which opened recently, took Diane English 14 years to bring to the screen; other examples include Tamara Jenkins award-winning The Savages and Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss, which took 10 years each.  Writer/director Deborah Kampmeier joins this illustrious club with her own decade long trek to see her film Hounddog starring Dakota Fanning finally released in theatres.

Pollsters Grapple With a Sarah Surge  by Peggy Simpson

September 15, 2008

Tracking the women’s vote in this historic presidential election is proving to be tricky.

The Sarah Surge is unmistakable. GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s support rose markedly after he named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate—although after two solid weeks of Palin-all-the-time media attention, McCain still hasn’t broken 50 percent.