It started as ten. Twenty-seven years later, Radio Ink is proud to honor more than seventy as the Most Influential Women in Radio, and the June issue makes one thing undeniably clear: women are not just part of radio’s story. They are a cornerstone of what comes next.
From the organizations lifting women up to the voices who remind us of radio’s real-time human connection, here’s just some of what you’ll find inside:
Cover Story: AWM President Becky Brooks
The Alliance for Women in Media turns 75 in 2026, and its President is equal parts invested in celebration and continuation. Since joining AWM as Executive Director in 2015, Becky Brooks has refreshed the Gracie Awards category by category, grown a mentorship program built on the premise that one conversation can change a career, and pushed to put women in the rooms where decisions get made.
Editor-in-Chief Cameron Coats sits down with Brooks to explore leading an organization with that history and that mission: what’s changed in 75 years, what still needs to, and why, in Brooks’ words, “egos are checked at the door.”
The Most Influential Women in Radio
The women recognized in this issue are leading programming, driving sales, shaping ownership, building digital strategy, and elevating every corner of the industry. In their own words, they reflect on the people who bet on them, the culture they’re working to build, and what radio still owes to the women who have always given it so much.
Industry Report: Dead Air — Why Can’t Radio Figure Out How to Hire?
Radio built its identity on human connection. So why does the hiring process so consistently fail at it? Radio Ink surveyed both sides of the hiring desk anonymously, and the findings are as revealing as they are uncomfortable.
Talent coach and veteran programmer John Shomby and Media Staffing Network President Lisa Fields tackle this crisis head-on. If you’re a manager trying to find and keep great people right now, don’t skip this one.
Special Feature: Beasley Media Group at 65
George Beasley founded his broadcasting company in 1961 with a conviction as simple and durable as his first AM signal: radio is an act of community. Sixty-five years later, his daughter Caroline runs a digital-first media company across more than a dozen markets, but the premise remains the same.
Radio Ink talks with Beasley about legacy, inheritance, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts.
Publisher’s Beat: A Quiet Chorus of Change
Radio Ink President and Publisher Deborah Parenti reflects on what has — and hasn’t — shifted for women in radio since she started in the business. The progress is real. So is the work that remains.
PLUS:
- Roy H. Williams on radio measurement’s line of falling dominoes
- Dara Kalvort’s AI prompt for turning scattered emails, notes, and leads into an organized pipeline
- Grace Agostino makes the case for reclaiming LinkedIn
- Loyd Ford on radio’s generational handoff
- A Phoenix family reunion: Images and insight from the 2026 Hispanic Radio Conference
- The Signoff: Townsquare’s Meg Dowdy on ham radio grandfathers, bologna sandwiches, and Nick Saban
- People on the Move, Blast from the Past, and more
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