Women and Radio: Airing Differences

From the very first days of national broadcasting and the founding of the BBC, through the innovative work of producers such as Hilda Matheson and Olive Shapley, to the breakfast-time antics of Zoe Ball and Sara Cox, women have been at the heart of radio, yet marginalised in the official histories. Women and Radio reveals and explains the inequalities experienced by women involved in the industry yet provides a platform for the many unique contributions that women have made to radio broadcasting as producers, managers, editors, presenters and consumers. It allows an understanding of feminist approaches to the media and examines ‘housewife radio’, the relationship between women and music, DJ chatter, the alternative news agenda and radio as a subversive and empowering medium. Women and Radio explores the variety of programming from mainstream broadcasts such as Woman’s Hour, through to radio at the margins as represented by accounts of lesbian radio, feminist pirate broadcasts, local Asian radio and women’s community stations. Combining classic work on radio with innovative research, journalism and biography it features interviews with DJs, presenters, managers and journalists and offers guidelines, advice and helpful information for women wanting to work in the industry. Margaretta D'Arcy, Stephen Barnard, Sally Feldman, Maria Gibbons, Rosalind Gill, Nicola Godwin, Janet Howarth, Belinda Hollows, Fred Hunter, Anne Karpf, Kate Lacey, Kim Michaels, Caroline Millington,