Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda lobby Obama to stack media regulators with women

A report in the New York Times this week made waves for drawing attention to President Obama's male-dominated inner circle of advisers.

Actress Jane Fonda along with feminist activists Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan respond in a column at CNN.com, calling for Obama to appoint women to head up media regulators, including the FCC:

Media companies have some of the most powerful resources at their disposal in shaping attitudes and culture. But media culture, from our TV shows to advertising, is often deeply sexist and normalizes roles that limit everyone. There is a powerful "bully pulpit" effect to having women at the head of these agencies. ...

We're glad to say there has been one black FCC chair, William Kennard, and he made a top priority of closing the digital divide for African-Americans and for Americans with disabilities. It's unfortunate that there has been only one, though we live in a diverse country in which white Americans are about to become the minority. Never in the 80 years of the FCC has a woman of any race or group been its chair, though women have been the nation's majority for a long time. ...

We thought President Obama wanted women in his inner circle. Right now, the makeup of that inner circle looks nothing like the country.