AWRT Changing Name to Alliance for Women in Media

American Women in Radio and Television rebrands ahead of 60th anniversary

By Melissa Grego -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/8/2010 2:51:14 PM

Ahead of its 60th anniversary, American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) is changing its name to Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) to better reflect the industry it serves.

"As we were seeing our membership change and expectations of our membership change, our name really needed to reflect that," says Sylvia Strobel, 2010 chair of AWRT's National Board of Directors and the Foundation of AWRT.

Established in 1951, the organization's membership was historically comprised of women working in traditional radio and TV, in local markets and on a national level. There are 30 chapters now, and men--whom Strobel says generally join to network and support women in business and in their lives--currently account for about 10% of membership.

"It's now broad-based," Strobel says of the group. "It's cable increasingly; we're now seeing an influx of folks from new media, the Internet and bloggers, and we're even frankly starting to see folks from the newspaper industry as they're moving into the digital environment. We're all creating and distributing content. We want to represent all of the women who work in the media industry."

Strobel, who is also a partner in the law firm Lehmann Strobel, was scheduled to unveil the name change over the weekend at the organization's annual business meeting. The change was approved by an overwhelming majority vote of the membership earlier this year. The new name and logos will be rolled out over the next several months.