Re: female djs

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>Joe P. wrote--
>And let's not forget WHER in Memphis..."All Girl Radio"!
>
>   1,000 BEAUTIFUL Watts!
>
>Some may remember the great profile NPR did on that station.

I'd rather forget it, since it was hype, bought and paid for by Sam 
Phillips, of Sun Records fame.  It made me furious, because it is a 
well-known fact that WHER was NOT the first all-female radio station, and 
from what  I have read about WHER, the women were mainly a gimmick for Sam, 
who called the shots at the station.   During World War 2, there were about 
15 all-female stations, some of which actually did very well in the 
ratings.  But long before that, here in Boston, in 1927, WASN (All Shopping 
News) was the first all female station, and I sent all of my documentation 
to NPR, which never even gave me the courtesy of a reply.  So much for 
accuracy...  (Shameless plug for my book-- WASN, WHER, WOMN and the idea of 
"all girl" stations is among the things I write about in "Invisible 
Stars:  A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting."  But since I 
can't be an underwriter for NPR the way Mr Phillips can, I guess my 
research won't make it onto NPR.  Too bad...)