REWRITING THE SCRIPT: THE ROLE OF FAITH & MEDIA IN PROMOTING WOMEN'S ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Many of the attendees at this session were members or representatives of WACC, World of Association for Christian Communication.

The discussion began with Glory Dharmaraj, retired director of mission theology for United Methodist Women, she explained her role in moderating mainstream media content and encouraged us to take a look at whomakesthenews.org, where we could better understand her work and the work of her colleagues. Dharmaraj urged us to recognize that "the face is female", meaning that the face of worldwide Christianity is female, and yet women have not attained high level positions in church structures. Through media, we can shift and engage this admission.

The next speaker, Carrie, explained the importance of switching the views of churches from a charity based model to a purpose and justice based model. She asked us to consider how we look at healing and transformation systematically. Carrie renounced, "We aren't going to pray this away. We need to move to the concrete. Love is concrete. Love is active and effective; it is a matter of systematic relationships". Her words urged proactive behavior from faith communities. It's about being part of a larger conversation and connecting with other groups and organizations; such as, the CSW. Through collaborations and recognizing the seriousness of healing as a multi-step process change can be made.

Yvette Moore, editor of Response Magazine, defined the difference between mainstream press and minority press. Minority media is for a specific people with a specific concern, there's a culture to it. She explained that women are not a minority, but many times women are categorized as a minority because they are underrepresented in powerful roles and positions of importance. The internet has changed everything, and it's worth utilizing social media in a transformative way to create conversations and foster change.

The final panelist was Patricia Phillips, an independent practitioner in human development. Similarly to Dharmaraj and Moore, Phillips exclaimed, "women are missing in the space of media and power". Building upon that, almost every faith is interpreted as women being subordinate to men. For this reason, "the faith and the movement are not friends". It's key that we seek to be agents of change and bridge the divide between the women's movement and the women of faith.