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Monday, January 31, 2005

Does anyone care?

Maybe many professional women are unable to restructure their jobs to be more family friendly simply because the media does not consider it a newsworthy issue. And if it's not a newsworthy issue, then maybe the problem doesn't exist.

Last Thursday I blogged about a conference series called Family Squeeze, hosted by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). There is not one single news article can I find about this conference or Friday's topic of flexible work laws in the UK and possible implications for workers in the United States. Not one article. It is so hard to believe that not a single reporter--who covers public policy, or women, or work--was available to write about this one-hour discussion, the first of many work-family panels scheduled for 2005. "Our audio conferences don't tend to generate much media coverage," said Gayle Bennett, CLASP's communications director via email.

I would have very much liked to personally listen to the one hour call, but with a 21-month-old baby, I don't have the luxury of an extensive, uninterrupted telephone call. I'll admit that I really know little about CLASP, who runs this conference series. But they have managed to snag a couple of senators, including Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D-LA), to participate in some upcoming discussions. Maybe when those news-making individuals are involved, the media will cover the sessions.

But without the press, it's like it never even happened.

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like a worthy conference, something that shouldn't be under the radar. Mothers & More would be interested in knowing about it, perhaps? It's a wonderful network that I joined last year. Check them out at http://www.mothersandmore.org/index.html.

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