"In an age of satellite television, digital communication technologies and global information structures, what scope exists for independent citizen action in media and cultural policy formation? How can audiences effectively voice critiques of media content? In an increasingly market-centred and consumer-oriented media world, what is the potential for monitoring, lobbying and advocacy?" "Gender Setting argues that despite the growth of international media industries and the breakdown of traditional patterns of media regulation, there is a role for local action to promote diversity in media content. It focuses on media portrayals of gender - the critique of which has been fundamental to the modern international women's movement. That critique has centred on the media's role in and reinforcing patterns of discrimination against women in society. Its central axes have been the paucity of women in decision-making roles and the deficiencies in women's representation in media content. Research and activism, as this book shows, have now come together in the form of gender media monitoring - systematic data collection aimed at policy critique and practical change." "Margaret Gallagher assembles research findings and monitoring experiences from both North and South to demonstrate how women's groups have developed monitoring models that can be effective in widely different media contexts. These approaches can be relevant to everyone concerned about media democracy and diversity in the new information age."--Jacket.