We’ve written before about the importance of gay media such as local newspapers, broadcast outlets, national Web sites and magazines and blogs. So I’ve been saddened to read speculation this month that one of the big players in this space – PlanetOut, publisher of The Advocate, Out, and Out Traveler and owner of sites such as gay.com – might not survive. If PlanetOut follows-through on their previously stated consideration of a sale of the company, I hope another company steps in to purchase its assets and to continue bringing us an independent, gay perspective on the world around us.
As a professional communicator, I rely on the media to do my job. As a member of the LGBT community, I rely on gay media to report on the issues that directly affect and interest me as a gay man. While so-called “mainstream” media may be omnipresent, it doesn’t do a very good job of covering most of the issues LGBT people care about on a personal level. Gay media, has a much smaller footprint, but is often much more in tune with the issues that most affect our community – particularly if you count gay media online including blogs and Web sites.
It’s generally gay media that first reports on gay bashings, hate speech, and other local issues that matter to individual groups of gay people. It’s usually gay media that provides a gay lens through which to view the news of our world and the people – both straight and gay – who impact that world. It’s gay media that profiles the LGBT people, places and things that most media simply ignore.
Gay media is important to who we are as a community, how we communicate, what we know and why we care. Without it, we lose a common connecting thread that is vital to our sense of community.
I’ve been amazed when I have read comments online and in print from gay people who say that losing The Advocate and its sister publications would be no loss for our community. I’m no apologist for the often wrongheaded editorial choices The Advocate and Out make, but I recognize that our community is so much richer for having these outlets representing us.
Gay media is so much more than just an outlet to sell more designer goods, cars and liquor. In the coverage it delivers, it provides insight into our souls and gives voice to our collective consciousness. All of it is important and we should all recognize the significant role local gay outlets, broadcast outlets, national magazines and Web sites and blogs play in shaping the role we play in the world around us. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I still think our futures are shaped by what we know, how we know it and who tells it to us. Gay media matters.
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I agree that gay media is very important to the LGBT community, but at the same time I do think there is a degree of laziness and complacency in how some publications treat their readers – assuming that all gay men are interested in are tanning booths and saunas, for example!Thats an extreme example perhaps, but it seems we do get pigeonholed by the very publications that are supposedly representing us.
Hi Milly. You make a good point: there are numerous examples of less than stellar journalism among the publications and outlets that comprise the gay media. I often cringe at the types of assumptions you mention and get frustrated by the insular nature of some local gay coverage (e.g. quoting only the same folks over and over again and failing to follow-up on key issues). I did not mean to imply that there was not room for improvement in the media that represent us: only that we’d be worse off without them. In an ideal world, we’d have a healthy, vibrant gay media landscape that was also top-shelf in every aspect all the time. We’ll have to keep working together to support the gay media and to hold them accountable for their coverage. Thanks for your comment – I hope you’ll keep reading and commenting.
You make a persuasive argument, Ben (as usual). As a professional media analyst, I can also state without hesitation that mainstream media outlets rely heavily on the big players like The Advocate for subject matter and background on gay issues, making these independent gay media outlets extremely influential in terms of mainstream reporting.
Hi Mary. Thanks for your comment. It’s great to see you here. You make a good point too (also as usual!) – the fact that The Advocate and other publications serve as “feeders” for “mainstream” media should not be overlooked. In helping to set the agenda, LGBT outlets help to ensure that we are part of the agenda.