Woman’s Hour audiences

Where can WH be listened to?

BBC website, BBC sounds, BBC app

What is the audience of WH?

ABC1, female, 18-35, 55+ considering that radio listenership is in decline, housewives

What are some content aimed at an older audience?

-Discussion of de-retiring with Dame Esther Rantzen who returned to work in her 70s

-Artificial wombs, exam stress, celebrating role of grandmotherhood

What are some opportunities WH give audiences to interact with it?

-Listener week: tummies, late in life lesbians, long COVID: topics chosen by listeners through link

What contact options does WH provided on its website?

WhatsApp

Email: [e-mail]

Twitter/IG: @BBCWomansHour

How is the serious and globally impactful Israel Gaza conflict reported?

-Israel woman Adele teary about her grandchildren hearing the bombs, almost losing her grandchildren when people tried to infiltrate her house, ‘never apologise for army for keeping her safe after the traumatic event’

-2 thousand 12 hundred died in Israel, 350k displaced in Gaza since Israel blockade

-Gaza Humanitarian worker Lyse: people from communities suffer the most, describe weapons hitting gaze, need to call for humanitarian passage, night of evacuation experience like carry slippers and sleeping kids, panic

What is the content of the My boyfriend lives with my husband story that is novel to audiences?

-guest Caroline talks about a ‘hard time with romantic partners’

-unconventional approach ‘pick someone who will be a good ex’

-‘maybe inspire somebody listening to this’, especially people listening who are ‘forced to be in the situation you are in’

What is the content of an interview with Laura Linney and how does it relate to women?

-talking about the female experience in shame in leaving lives behind in projects: mother giving daughter complicated love, women in communities with an Emory’s influence on their lives

-she talks about her latest film featuring a trio of women who were inter generational and travelling from Ireland to Lorde

How is the allegations of sexism in the Welsh rugby story informative?

-Charlotte a former general manager says that a male colleague says in front of other colleagues he wanted to rape her, culture of making sexual jokes as part of banter, and that sexist guys aren’t spoken to in independent investigations

-MP says it’s heartbreaking for women to know what happened to Charlotte let alone that it happened to more than 1 person, Welsh rugby being independently regulated is an issue, heartbreaking that a woman is planning her own suicide because she can’t bear the work environment, which is ‘desperately sad, awful’

-MP solutions: culture, women need to have a go to point for issues, toxicity, WRU need to put out an apology statement and do better, ‘if you feel unsafe you can’t lead change’

How does the targeted ads story reveal gender stereotypes?

Hanna Tomes: getting egg donation ads after clicking on one accidentally, engagement rings, mother care ads which isn’t what she was searching, feeling unnerving as it is a massive decision to donate an egg

Zoey Clienman: create a TikTok account, only interest was tech yet she got makeup and parenting adverts just becuse she said she was a woman

How does the targeted ads story educate audiences by Zoe Clienman?

-can try filters to filter away unwanted ads

-companies losing revenues after opt out process as many are unwilling to have their data tracked, so ad companies aren’t making money

-You can get adverts from other users who use the same WiFi

-more targeted ads can be useful so can be seen as a service rather than an annoyance

How are audiences addressed by WH?

-direct address ‘you’ repeated across the programme, reinforcing the idea that WH is one with the audience

-‘you can text the programme to update changes’

-‘we’ll be back tomorrow at ten’

What is the ideological positioning of WH?

-challenges dominant ideology of women as mothers

-pro women

-encoding ideas how women have to go through hardships that men don’t

How are the audio codes informal and accessible?

-laughs from presenter makes programme more informal and approachable

-upbeat music ident to draw audiences in

What is the structure of WH stories?

It often starts with heavier topics to increase audience engagement, catering to short attention spans

What kind of hardships of female artists are revealed in the story absence of female artists in 2023 Brit awards?

-female artists had to weigh themselves daily and send photographs of scales to label everyday because they are put on diets

-female artists pressured to have plastic surgery which male artists don’t face

-only 20% artists were female as record labels rarely sign them

-most record labels are run by men

-women not allowed to bounce back when they don’t achieve hits as they are put in dance category

How does the what is the best age to become a mum story educate audiences?

It states that the average age is 30.9 to become a mum since 1930s, and now 2x more women over 40 are having babies

What are some messages that are sent to WH during the mum story?

-‘i felt pressure to perform in an accepted way as a mum’

-‘I had my first at 37 and was made to feel very old by Physicians’

-‘I was the only child of older parents, I was embarrassed by my parents as all my friends had energetic parents’

-‘you can’t win as a woman, I had one at 17, was seen as too young, had another at 27, was judged for taking time off career, thought about having another at 37 and now I’m too old’

What was Lucy Baker’s experiences as an older mum?

-negativity from medics

-over the moon to be pregnant at 43

-55% women say they were called a geriatric mum on IG

-age didn’t stop her doing anything

-advice for older mums to talk to midwives about pregnancy concerns, and think of it as a blessing

What is Lauren Crosby’s experience as a younger mum?

-feeling like she’s lagging behind in journalism compared to those that are childless and she’s trying to catch up

-‘do what’s best for you’, ‘no perfect time to have children’

What are the guests chosen in the Isreal Gaza episode?

-award winning actress Laura Linney from Love, Actually

-Comedy writer Dawn French

-regular listener Caroline, her ex husband Neil

-Israeli grandma Adele

-Gaza humanitarian worker Lyse

Who are the guests chosen in the rugby league episode?

-Charlotte a former rugby league manager

-MP Tonia Antoniazzi, former Wale rugby international, Labour

-journalist Laura Snapes the Guardian music editor, Vick Bain who worked in industry for 25 years

-BBC tech editor Zoe Kleinman

-listener Hannah Tomes

-Lucy Baker geriatric mum blog owner, Lauren Crosby freelance journalist