Last Sunday's Observer included a short little piece about a minor scandal at the NME, that hallowed bastion of British rock music criticism and snobbery. The scandal itself is worth discussing, but it's particularly relevant to this music obsessed blogger in no small measure because of the mag's impending expansion into the American market.

The gist of the scandal is that the NME's annual cool list includes a large number of women, including several in the top 10. Three of these ladies, including pop star du jour Lily Allen, indie rock chanteuse Kate Jackson of the superb Long Blondes, and larger-than-life Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto were supposed to be the coverstars for the Cool List issue, but were passed over without explanation in favor of the band Muse. Already upset with NME over a separate issue which she believed to be gender related, Allen took up the cause on her blog, generating nearly 700 comments in the past few days with a cogent response to what she perceives as the magazine's institutionalized sexism.

The crux of Allen's beef is not simply that she and the other women were passed over for the cover, but that this was done within a broader context of gender favoritism at what is undoubtedly the most significant pop-cultural outlet in the UK. Turns out that NME's editor Conor McNicholas had also issued a press release hailing the femme-heavy cool list by saying: ""From Beth to Lily to Karen, they've brought new energy to a scene dominated by men. They're also living proof that you can still rock a crowd when you're wearing stilettos."

While a patronizing comment and a bungled cover don't make a conspiracy, it has struck a nerve. The story resonates because women are still playing second fiddle (pardon the crappy music pun) to men in popular music in terms of press coverage, prestige and earning power.

And so long as music remains the lingua franca for popular culture (and culturally-oriented marketing as well) we are all well-advised to take a moment and think carefully. Are we doing all we can to be inclusive of everyone? Has a new generation of critics and fans simply inherited the prejudices of the past without questioning them?

Sorry to get so heavy here on a Friday evening, but we at EMERGE feel that its high time that media start taking a moment to assess whether commercial considerations like those alluded to on Allen's blog are interfering with their primary purpose, which is to educate, entertain and inform their audience.

Let's hope the American NME finds it in their hearts to get some more women on staff to ensure that bungles like this don't follow the mag across the Atlantic.

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