Media Matters for America has weighed in on TLC’s decision to invite — and then uninvite — me to participate in a podcast about the reality show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska. (My previous two blog posts have discussed what I originally agreed to talk about on the podcast, followed by my response to my segment being scrapped.)

Media Matters’ post is headlined, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska cancels non-political guest’s podcast appearance, fearing politics (Yeah, right).” MM’s Jamison Foster writes:

If you’ve been paying attention to Sarah Palin’s Alaska, you probably know that the folks behind the show are obsessed with pretending that the show doesn’t have anything to do with politics. That obsession took an amusing turn this weekend as media critic Jennifer Pozner, author of a new book about so-called “reality television,” was invited to participate in a SPA podcast — then abruptly un-invited.

Foster quotes from podcast host Brian Reich’s explanation for the segment’s cancellation, and his statement that “Sarah Palin’s Alaska is not a political show.” (Reich’s comments are printed in full at the bottom of yesterday’s Reality Bites Back blog post.) Foster concludes:

Earlier today, I announced that I was invited to be a guest on TLC’s podcast about Sarah Palin’s Alaska, the new reality show starring and executive produced by the former Governor, GOP VP nominee, and potential future POTUS candidate. I wrote to give you all a sneak peek into what I planned to talk about on the show, which — as I blogged — was exactly what I had discussed with the podcast’s rep prior to being booked for the segment.

Turns out, dear reader, that your sneak peek is to be your only peek: my segment has been canceled specifically because of that blog post.

I was first told that my “tone” in my blog post made the podcast and show’s powers-that-be uncomfortable. I reminded the booker that I hadn’t said anything in the blog post (other than my thoughts about the show’s sop to the NRA, which I hadn’t been asked about and had forgotten to mention) that I hadn’t previously, honestly and clearly stated before she booked me. I explained that I reserve my snark especially for you, my lovely readers, but that I am always professional and appropriate when I offer media commentary in broadcast forums — as the dozens of TV, radio and podcast interviews listed on the media page attest.

UPDATE: This segment has been canceled–specifically because of this blog post. I may still participate in the TLC podcast and/or blogs in some other capacity, and will discuss in a blog post to come.

Am I being Punked? Perhaps. But at 10:20 EST, I’ll be a guest on TLC’s TalkBack Live podcast to follow tonight’s new episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, the new reality show starring — and executive produced by — the 2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee, former half-term Gov. of Alaska, and Fox News contributor. In the episode, the Palin family and the Gosselin family (Kate Gosselin and her “plus eight” kids, stars of another flagship TLC series) will go camping together in Alaska.

I’m not sure TLC understands who they’re getting as a guest. I didn’t try to hide it: “You know I’m a media critic, and not a cheerleader for reality TV, right?” “Yeah. That’s ok,” the booker said. “You know I just wrote a book called Reality Bites Back, right?” “Yes. That’s not a problem.” Well, ok then…

Tonight in Washington, D.C.,

I’m holding my last official reading on the Reality Bites Back book tour. It is listed in the Washington Post’s “Going Out Guide Blog,” and their “Going Out Guide.” There’s also a brief interview with the Express.

Tonight, the final official book reading will be held at Busboys & Poets on 14th & V in Washington, DC from 6:30-8pm. RSVP on Facebook (though walk-ins are fine, too). If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come out for a lively discussion about gender, race and class in entertainment media — and support a fantastic local independent DC bookstore and cafe.

This month has been incredible. Journalists from Newsweek, Macleans, Ms. magazine, AOL TV Squad, the St. Petersburg Times, the Denver Post, B*tch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, The American Prospect, and many more have written about the book. That was never a given for a feminist, anti-racist analysis of corporate media which includes extensive critique of product placement, advertising, and media consolidation — not to mention a conclusion featuring strategies for making

change from more than a dozen media activists.

Quick hit from the road: All you MA-area TV fans — there are two chances to catch Reality Bites Backin Boston. Hope to see you at one of these events:

WHAT: Book reading and signing

WHEN: Nov. 19, 7pm

WHERE: Wellesley Booksmith

Why is reality television built on such blatant gender and race stereotypes? Why are women and people of color represented so harmfully, and with so much bias, in popular culture? What is “Frankenbite” editing, how many hours of tape are shot for every hour of reality TV aired, and how much cheaper is it to produce a reality show than a scripted program? Is it true that networks are simply “giving people what they want,” or is reality TV really the result of media consolidation, media economics, and stealth advertising? Find out at Wellesley Booksmith on 11/19!

And it is a HUGE honor and with great pleasure that I invite you to Trident Books on Saturday, where I’ll be sharing the mic with one of my formative influences and intellectual role models, pioneering ad critic Jean Kilbourne:

WHAT: Book reading and signing with Jennifer L. Pozner and Jean Kilbourne

WHEN: Nov. 20, 7pm

BAY AREA EVENT REMINDER from WIMN and the International Museum of Women:

Nov. 16: Whose Reality? Exposing Gender, Race and Commercial Biases in Reality TV

11/16/2010: 12pm – 1:30pm

A conversation with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentarian, actress and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner, Executive Director of Women In Media & News, media critic, author, Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV, on November 16th.

Purchase tickets now>>

The International Museum of Women is thrilled to be hosting a noontime conversation between Jennifer Siebel Newsom, actress, filmmaker and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner, media critic, author and Executive Director of Women in Media & News, on November 16th.

Just how real is reality television? With video clips of popular prime time TV shows and a trailer for the forthcoming film, Miss Representation, Newsom and Pozner will shed light on sexism and racism in entertainment media. Please join us for this important discussion about misrepresentations of women and people of color in reality TV, and ways you can demand media accountability.

Quick hit: I’m going to be on The Callie Crossley Show today, Monday Nov. 15, from 1:00 – 1:40 EST, talking about the issues raised in my book, Reality Bites Back.

Knowing Callie (which makes this interview a treat, as she’s smart, politically savvy and funny) we’ll likely focus in particular on gender and race in reality TV, and on the economic factors that drive production and are responsible for regressive representations within the genre. Here’s the description on the show’s WGBH page:

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but what if fiction is passing for the truth? From “America’s Next Top Model, to “Flavor of Love”, to “The Bachelor” (and MANY more)- what’s real with hyper-realism? We talk with journalist Jennifer L. Pozner at the top of the hour about her book, Reality Bites Back.

Tune in to The Callie Crossley Show, WGHB, at the top of the hour — and call in at 877-301-8970!

Quick hit (more details when I’m not deadly exhausted): I’m doing two events in San Francisco and one in L.A. this week. Hope to see you there!

• Monday, Nov. 15, 8-10pm: “Project Brainwash” lecture at the Academy of Art Institute, 491 Post St., San Francisco, CA.

• Tuesday, Nov. 16, noon: “Whose Reality? Exposing Gender, Race and Commercial Biases in Reality TV,” a conversation with Jennifer Seibel Newsom, actress, filmmaker and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner,

  author

  of Reality Bites Back and founder and director of Women In Media & News. Held at San Francisco’s International Museum of Women. Tickets: $15 regular, $10 members, $5 students & low-income To purchase tickets, please visit http://imow.org/calendar/index

• Wednesday, Nov. 17, 7:30 – 9:30pm: “Sh*t My TV Says: Revealing Gender and Race in Reality TV,” a Reality Bites Back reading and public discussion with entertainment journalist Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, moderated by activist Morgane Richardson. Held at Stories bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd (in Echo Park), Los Angeles, CA.

More details mid-day Monday

Quick reminder from the events calendar: if you’re at the National Women’s Studies Association conference, there are two chances to catch me and Reality Bites Back on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Denver, CO.

I’ll be talking shop, saying hi and signing books at a Seal Press-hosted wine and cheese reception for Reality Bites Back, from 5:10 – 6:10 in the Seal Press booth. Bring your questions, your feedback, your critiques, your love-hate relationship with your favorite guilty pleasure…whatever you’ve got, if you’re at NWSA, I want to hear it!

And earlier, at 9:25am, I will be moderating “Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Documentary Filmmaking,” a panel held in the Plaza Concourse Level / Plaza Court 8 AV. Participants and presentations include:

Documenting Ourselves: Creative Scholarship on the Margins
*Theresa Renee White (California State University, Northridge)

Iltezam and the Women’s Contingent in Budrus: Documentary Film as Feminist Intervention and Solidarity Praxis
*Jessica Devaney (Just Vision)

Of Rights and Representation: A Transnational Feminist Analysis of “Lakshmi and Me.”
*Swati Bandi (State University of New York, Buffalo)

Queering the Good Book: Analyzing Itineraries of Emotion in “For the Bible Tells Me So”
*Elizabeth A Gailey (The University of Tennessee)

As a long-time media critic, I can tell you that

this is not a sentence I’m accustomed to writing: Corporate media gave me a huge gift yesterday.

As I traveled to Denver (to moderate a panel and have a wine and cheese reception for my book at the Women’s Studies Association conference), Newsweek’s Jessica Bennett reviewed Reality Bites Back in a lively feature headlined, “Everything I Learned About Women I Learned From Reality TV.” Her subhead that says it all: “Which means I must think they’re all desperate, competitive, plastic-surgery-obsessed bimbos. The problem? Today’s reality entertainment is a lot more like fiction.”

I couldn’t be happier with Benett’s take on the book and the issue of representation of women in this genre throughout the last decade. She writes:

If your main source of knowledge about women came from reality TV, this is how you’d see the world: a place where your mom is a conniving, deceitful gold digger, your sisters and girlfriends vicious and catty. You would learn that “sisterhood” is a thing of the past, as Pozner puts it—and that girl friendships are not powerful but spiteful. And you’d understand that women were put on this earth to compete for male attention—when, of course, they’re not busy pulling each other’s hair out or lounging half naked in a hot tub.