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The March 21 issue of Newsweek includes an intriguing column by Senior Editor Steven Levy: “Blogging Beyond the Men’s Club – Since anyone can write a weblog, why is the blogosphere dominated by white males?” This has sparked quite a debate online, in weblogs, podcasts, and discussion forums.

I shared my thoughts on this topic in the following letter to Levy…

Sent by e-mail to Steven Levy, Senior Editor, Newsweek, Mar. 21, 2005:

Dear Mr. Levy,

I was very pleased to read your recent editorial, Blogging Beyond the Men’s Club. As a journalist, weblogger, and online media consultant, I’m often frustrated by these two common misconceptions:

• Online media is not actually predominated by white males.
• Even if it is, that doesn’t negatively affect media or society.

This is one reason why I’ve started a running list of links to podcasts that are hosted or cohosted by women.

You’re probably familiar with podcasting (a new kind of internet radio which uses feeds to deliver the content to subscribers), but just in case you’re not I’ve written this nontechnical primer. I’ve also explained why I think more women should be podcasting.

I hope you continue to discuss this topic in Newsweek, in the “blogosphere,” and with your media colleagues. While my own focus in this area is gender diversity, I also support diversity in terms of race, age, geography, ethnicity, spirituality, and sexual orientation in all media. We can’t really understand “society” until we’re hearing directly from all the different kinds of voices and perspectives that society comprises.

Personally, I see more women creating online content collaboratively by participating in online discussion forums (web-based communities, e-mail lists, etc.) and by commenting to weblogs. That sort of participation for some reason seems to appeal to women more than acting as a publisher by creating a weblog or podcast. That’s just my observation, I don’t have quantitative research to back it up. However, research by Deborah Tannen and others has shown that women and men do tend to have somewhat different styles, motives, and goals for communication.

It could be that being a publisher is a more inherently “male” approach to online media. However, as much (if not more) of online content consists of conversation and discussion rather than publishing. I think it’s finally time to broaden our concept of “media” to include – and value – less formal and more conversational types of content. The discussion counts at least as much as whatever sparked the discussion.

Again, thanks for your contribution to this topic. I look forward to reading more.

- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS

• Rebecca Blood (political weblog), March 18: “I confess that I’m frustrated that anyone has taken Levy’s column seriously. Men do not dominate the blogosphere. Levy might legitimately have asked ‘Why does the media point almost exclusively to weblogs created by men,’ or ‘Why do the male bloggers most often referenced by media, primarily reference weblogs maintained by other men?’ But neither of those situations has anything to do with the composition of the blogosphere. …But I still wonder whether the way some women write – whatever their approach – might not create an unconscious perception that they are personal, not political, writers.”
• The Feminine Technique, by linguist Deborah Tannen, Los Angeles Times column, Mar. 15: “No one bothers to question the underlying notion that there is only one way to do science, to write columns – the way it’s always been done, the men’s way.”
• Blogosphere Created, Women & Minorities Hardest Hit, Captain’s Quarters, Mar. 13: “Right or left, WASP or not, no barriers exist for [weblog] entrants except for quality and desire. The solution to a perceived lack of diversity isn’t charity links, but for simply more bloggers to start writing about what interests them in an interesting way and to make themselves known in the blogging community. E-mail knows no race and good writing knows no cultural or gender boundaries.”
• Steve Levy, Dave Sifry, and NZ Bear: You are Hurting Us, by Shelly Powers, Burning Bird, Mar. 15: “You see, White Guys, it’s all about you. And you’ll do everything in your power to destroy even an effective conversation, unless it is all about you. …After all, this is the ultimate egalitarian environment – anyone can have a weblog. Anyone can become famous. All you have to do, is write well. Except that you forget that popularity in this environment can lead to opportunity, which, in turn, generates more popularity, and hence more opportunity and so on. Or maybe I have it wrong – you never forget this.”
• BlogHerCon 2005, by Lisa Stone, Surfette, Mar. 14: “Shall we up the ante and build a global gathering place, online and off, virtual and real, for women bloggers: Bloghercon 2005?”
• The A-List Blogger Myth, by Brian Carnell, Mar. 13: “Look, there is simpy no top rung of bloggers. …There certainly is an ‘A List’ that appears regularly on talk shows, but Levy should ask those networks why they keep picking those folks.”
• Who Needs Diversity? Technicalities, Mar. 15: “I think the concept of diversity is ‘old-think.’ It comes from a closed system with a finite number of positions available.”
• Blogging White Male, by Jeff Jarvis, Buzz Machine, Mar. 15: ” I hate to break the news to you, Steven [Levy] but… you’re white and male, too! And you sit there in a Big Big-Media Job that is not held by someone unwhite and unmale. Should you ask why that is? Should you feel guilty? Should you quit? Should someone ask these questions of you?”
• Chris Nolan, Politics from Left to Right, Mar. 13: “This medium was first taken up by techies. Most of them are men. …Those men prefer to link and read men like them. …Most of these men are still reading the guys they started out with three years ago. …For the most part, blogging is covered in Big Media by either political or tech writers. Most tech writers are men. So are the overwhelming majority of political writers.”
• Promoting Women Bloggers: A Timeline of Relevant Discussions and Less Talk and More Action, by Jon Garfunkel, Civilities, Mar. 15: “Why it took over two years of conversations to get to this point; Why it’s important; What can be done; Where we should go from here.”