WAM!2008 Sessions:
(Sessions and presenters are subject to change)

Battling Backlash: Strategies for Fighting Back, Rising Above and Making Progress
Jessica Valenti (& other presenters TBA)

Beating the Old Boys' Club
Ann Friedman, EJ Graff, Kara Jesella (& other presenters TBA)

Big Coverage & Big Cash, How to Get National News Media Exposure and Turn it into Big Funding
Jennifer Einhorn

Breaking the Frame: Revitalizing and Redefining Reproductive Rights Media Coverage
Emily Douglas, Aimee Thorne-Thomson, Amanda Marcotte, Christina Page

By Any Media Necessary: Empowering Youth to Use Media to Make Change
Cara Lisa Powers

Can Blogging Help End Racism?
Carmen Van Kerckehove, Latoya Peterson, Wendi Muse

Cleavage, Cackles and Cookies: Analyzing News Coverage of Hillary Clinton and the 2008 Presidential Election
Allison Stevens, Garance Franke-Ruta, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Jennifer Lawless

Conscious Women Rock the Page: Using Hip Hop Fiction to Incite Feminist Action
Elisha Miranda, Jennifer Calderon, Sofia Quintero, Marcella Runell-Hall

Do It Yourself New Media: Creating and Maintaining a Viable Internet Presence
Sarah Jenny Bleviss, Axon Damien Lux

Doing It Yourself! Promoting Your Own Book or Project on a Tight Budget
Jen Angel, Nell Greenberg, Brianna Cayo Cotter

Dying for Your Entertainment: Gender Bias in News Coverage of Britney, Lindsay, Courtney and Owen
Carla DeSantis, Jeannie Smith, Kristin Bredimus, Jennifer Trynin

Fact vs. Fiction: Advancing the Truth in Today's Media Maelstrom
Janna Zinzi, Rebecca Wind

Feminism and Video Games: Expanding the Discussion of Sexism in Gaming Culture
Roy MacKenzie, Naomi Clark

Feminist Blogs: Activism, Journalism or Masochism?
Jennifer Pozner, Veronica (Roni) Arreola, Deanna Zandt, Liza Sabater

Gender, Justice and the Future of Media - Building Our Long-Range Plan
Aliza Dichter

Having Our Say: Using Community Cable TV Access as a Force for Positive Social Change
Kelley Chunn, Clementina Cherry, Neptopha Jean, Katherine Tyler

Here We Go Again: Bad Stories About Women that Never Die
Caryl Rivers, Dr. Rosalind Barnett

How to Get Heard: The Art of Strategic Communication with Editors
Barbara Beckwith, E. Jeanne Harnois, Shirley Moskow

How to Start a Blog in 90 Minutes or Less
Christine Cupaiuolo

Immigration in the U.S.: The Women's Rights Crisis Feminists Aren't Talking About
Tara Tidwell Cullen, Carly Burton, Brownfemipower, Irina Contreras

Less Trauma/More Impact: Creating Survivor-Informed Journalism
Risa Mednick, Olinka Briceno, Meqdes Mesfin, Phuni Meston

Making High Impact Progressive Media
Tracy Van Slyke, Jessica Clark

Making Internet TV
Margaret Pickering, Dean Jansen

Networking for Newbies
Sarah Karpman, Rochelle Lefkowitz (& other panelists TBA)

One on One Editing Consultations
Lisa Jervis

Research Like A Librarian: Fact Checking and Critical Thinking
Jenna Freedman, Lana Thelen

Resisting Walls and Bars: Amplifying the Voices of Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and All Family Members of Prisoners
Alice Kim, Barbara Becnel

Sex Workers and Media Representation
Audacia Ray

Stereotyping and Typecasting in Reality Television
Terra Renton, Andi Zeisler

Strategies for Making Change: Models for Progressive Feminist Media Action
Jennifer Pozner, Ann Elizabeth Moore, Betty Yu, DeAnne Cuellar

The Revolution Will Use New Technology
Deanna Zandt

Business Models for Creating Your Own Media
Rita Henley Jensen (& other presenters TBA)

The Power of Voice / the Power of Collaboration: Strategic Communications for Social Justice Advocacy
Ellen Braune, Deepa Fernandes, Makani Themba-Nixon, Radha Kanan,

Transnational Feminist Media in Praxis
Preeti Mangala Shekar

We B(e)lo(n)g: Womyn of Color and Online Feminism
Lisa Factora-Borchers, Sydette Harry, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Nadia Ann Abou-Karr

What's the Future of Indie Publishing?
Debbie Rasmussen, Andi Zeisler

Who's Talking About Abortion, What Are They Saying, and Is Anyone Listening
Britt Wahlin, Kelly Blanchard, Frances Kissling, Kirsten Moore

Writing a Book Proposal that Sells
Deborah Siegel, Courtney E. Martin, Amy Caldwell, Laura Mazer

Women & the Book Review
Jenn Mattson (& other presenters TBA)

You in the Commentary Continuum: Crafting an Op-Ed
Denice Zeck, Sui Lang Panoke

YouthSpeak: The Present & Future of Online Media and Activism
Kierra Johnson, Jessamyn Sabbag, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Kristina Rizga

Your Best Pitch: One-on-One Advice for Pitching Editors
Heather Gehlert

HELEN THOMAS is a noted news service reporter, a Hearst Newspapers columnist, and member of the White House Press Corps. Thomas was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, was the first woman member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and the first woman member of the Gridiron Club.



HAIFA ZANGANA is a novelist and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. She is a weekly columnist for al-Quds newspaper and an occasional commentator for the Guardian, Red Pepper and al-Ahram Weekly. She lectures regularly on Iraqi culture, literature, and women issues.

Click here for more information on the 2008 Call for Proposals -- due Oct. 12, 2007.

At WAM!2008 we will share facts and ideas and develop skills and action plans to transform the media environment and amplify progressive womens public voicesas media producers, PR strategists, journalists, activists, academics, community organizers, funders or philanthropists, citizen media watchdogs, media policy advocates, alternative-network-builders, bloggers, writers, teachers, artists, technology trainers, deejaysor, actually, any progressives concerned about womens voices in the media.

But to do that, we need you. What questions, issues, and concerns do you want to hear debated? What thinking, strategizing, planning or skill-sharing work should happen at WAM as a step forward in building the movement to "make noise and make change"? What should we know, what should we be doing, and what should we be preparing for?

Please send us your session proposals and help us spread the word, and in the meantime, save the date: WAM!2008 will be held right here in Cambridge from March 28 - March 30, 2008

Submit A Proposal!