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From the program: There are plenty of good reasons to work in the mainstream media: you can get your ideas out to a wide audience; you can establish a name for yourself; and you might just be able to make a living (or at least finance some of your less well-paid writing). This panel will explore the different reasons why women might want to work in the MSM and how they can get a foot in the door. We’ll debunk some stereotypes — like the one that says the MSM is adverse to stories about feminism - and we’ll talk about our experiences trying to get stories about “women’s issues” publishd. This session is geared towars anyone who would like to write for the MSM, though it will probably be particularly helpful for those who already have a background in journalism.

Speakers:
Ada Calhoun, editor-in-chief of Babble.com and freelance writer
Lynn Harris, award-winning journalist for Glamour, The New York Times, and other publications
Kara Jesella, writer and editor for The New York Times and other publications
Rebecca Traister, senior writer at Salon.com and author of forthcoming book on women and 2008 election

“[Salon publishes] really long pieces, pieces any consultant will tell you is too long for the web. Even though it’s a medium that’s celebrated for being easy and in-and out, online journalism is actually a medium that lends itself to length.” -Rebecca Traister

“A lot of times people ask, how can i follow up with editors without being annoying? And my answer usually is, ‘Don’t be annoying.’” -Lynn Harris

“You’re not going to only write about things you care about. The problem with going down that road is thinking of your work as only some sort of art. It’s work. The problem with thinking of it as some sort of art is that it enables people to pay you less for it. When you’re a journalist, you’re running a business. Other people in other businesses do things they don’t like and it’s somehow okay, but when you think of your work as artistry, then that allows people to pay you less.” -Lynn Harris

“Work really hard to make an impression on people. If you’re making coffee, make really good coffee.”-Rebecca Traister

“I remember the day I had to come out as a feminist [at The New York Times Style section]. They were working on a story about fat politics. And I had to say, well, no you’re kind of getting it wrong and I actually know about these things. After that, more people came to me because I somehow became the feminist expert. There is a lot more space [in mainstream media] now.” -Kara Jesella

“[Salon gets] a lot of submissions, and a lot of them are for Slate. I think the same thing happens to Slate.” -Rebecca Traister

“Talk to women’s magazines about their website, because I swear to god, they just figured out the Internet last week.” -Lynn Harris

“There were lots of ways to get feminist messages into makeup copy. The thing I found most problematic was not actually the words, but the pictures. The stories I often thought were extremely feminist, though a little consumerist as well, but there were still the pictures. There’s a photo of Beyonce and most girls are never going to look like that and it will make them feel bad. It was something I struggled with a lot.” -Kara Jesella

Ada Calhoun, Babble.com EIC, says the future is online magazines with a “lean, mean model of small staff, mostly freelance.”

“I have been in prochoice marches with other beauty editors. There are feminists within the mainstream media.” -Kara Jesella

“Taking my GQ money funded my super feminist articles at Salon. Doing those articles lets you afford to do the articles you care about.” -Lynn Harris on the financial reality of working for glossy mags

“People think you’re a writer so they’re like, ‘Oh, do you go to the park and have ideas? Do you journal?’” -Lynn Harris, Glamour contributing editor

Columnist Rebecca Traister says she created her own feminist beat at Salon. She references Ariel Levy doing the same thing at NY Mag.