Ness networks

FCC Commissioner Susan Ness says "woefully few" women hold top jobs in the media.

To change the status quo, women must network better and insist that females are considered for the highest rungs of the corporate ladder, she told a crowd gathered for the American Women in Radio and Television convention in Los Angeles last week.

"It's hard to believe that it is three decades after the resurgence of the women's movement," she said, chagrined that none of the media companies in B & C's latest Top 25 Media Groups listing (Aug. 28) are led by women.

Her prescription for change: Tell headhunters and search committees about women qualified for senior posts; insist that trade groups pick female board members; and demand that companies demonstrate strong employment records for women.