From: MediAction@aol.com Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 15:36:30 -0500 (EST) Subject: MEDIAlert!/BRIEFS ["C"] - 03.21.97 ------------------------------------------------------------ INDEX: "MEDIAlert!" for 03.21.97 [PART "C" ONLY] -ITEM 4: "Singing Lessons" [Jewel; Pieces of You; Atlantic Records; Pedro Zamora AIDS Foundation; Stereo-Type]. -ITEM 5: "God Vs. Glamour" [Christian Broadcasting Network; 700 Club; Media Research Center; Glamour; Working Woman]. -ITEM 6: "Free At Last" [The Free Press; Gilroy High School]. -ITEM 7: ""Place Matt" [Melrose Place; FOX]. -ITEM 8: "Web Watch!" [Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition; Communications Decency Act; National Black ITL Calendar; Dyke TV; Hate Watch; LA Girl Guide; Alternative Press Center; FACTNews; News Watch]. -ITEM 9: "(Un)Sound Bites" [Rosie O'Donnell; Christianity Online]. ------------------------------------------------------------ M E D I A l e r t ! / B R I E F S _______________________________ March 16-31, 1997 Al Kielwasser [4] * * * * SINGING LESSONS . . . . In the galaxy of "rising stars," 22-year-old musician Jewel Kilcher shines a little brighter. Her Atlantic debut release -- "Pieces of You" -- has earned both critical and commercial success, and manages to take a swipe at homophobia too. The title track for "Pieces of You" is a meditation on bigotry. The lyrics describe four individuals -- an "ugly girl," "pretty girl," "faggot" and "Jew" -- each representing a group targeted by prejudicial slurs and bigoted assumptions. A pointed chorus asks bigots to consider how those they hate might, in fact, be "pieces of you." At the third stanza, Jewel sings: You say he's a faggot, does it make you want to hurt him? You say he's a faggot, do you want to bash in his brain? You say he's a faggot, does he make you sick to your stomach? You say he's a faggot, are you afraid you're just the same? CHORUS: Faggot, faggot, do you hate him 'Cause he's pieces of you? According to Atlantic's "official bio," each of the 14 songs Jewel performs on the album "possesses stark honesty and keen insight, balanced by an ability to absorb life's realities and tell a story that somehow makes sense of it all... if you listen closely enough to 'Pieces of You,' you may well discover a piece of yourself lying somewhere within the songs." Also to her credit, Jewel has performed at benefit concerts for such organizations as the Pedro Zamora Foundation (according to foundation president Brian Quintana, the benefit showcased artists who "are sensitive to the cause" or whose "music or philosophy advances our agenda of educating America's youth about AIDS"). Because of their appeal to younger audiences, queer-positive music and musicians are a favorite target of fundamentalist homophobes. C o n t a c t : Atlantic Records, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, e-mail web@atlantic-records.com; Atlantic publishes a free promotional bulletin, "Stereo-Type: The Atlantic Group's Gay & Lesbian Newsletter" (Peter Galvin, Editor, "Stereo-Type," 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, e-mail stereo-type@atlantic-records.com). "Jewel's Unofficial Home Page," http://www.cs.mun.ca/~colins/jewel.html. [5] * * * * GOD VS. GLAMOUR . . . . Media mogul and arch-homophobe Pat Robertson has called for a letter writing campaign to counter an evil source of leftist propaganda: "the popular women's magazines that grace America's coffee tables and grocery store checkout lines." Using his Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and syndicated "700 Club" as a platform, Robertson is touting a recent "study" of women's magazines, conducted jointly by Consumer Alert and the Media Research Center (actually a propaganda agent of the Religious Right). According to this "research," the nation's leading glossies are "a liberal pipeline to America's soccer moms." As reported in a CBN/700 Club "Fact Sheet" (February 4), all of the top-13 women's magazines "have a consistently liberal slant on public policy issues" and "they regularly promote liberal activism and politically correct ideology." Singled out as "two of the most biased" magazines are "Glamour" and "Working Woman" (No doubt, Robertson would prefer to read something like "Barefoot and Pregnant Woman"). Not coincidentally, both "Working Woman" and "Glamour" have provided positive lesbian coverage. Last year, "Glamour" featured two notable articles -- "My Lesbian Mom" and "The Contagion of Prejudice." This year, the Valentine's issue (February 1997) included a column on lesbian marriage, by Guinevere Turner. The "biggest concern," according to CBN, is that "women reading these magazines will begin accepting left-wing doctrine as fact." As a remedy, the right-wing faithful have been encouraged to contact the editors of women's magazines, and expose them to "alternative views." "If they don't hear from people who have a different point of view, they are going to think that they are doing exactly what they're supposed to do," says Dale Bourke, a CBN source and former editor of "Today's Christian Woman." "If you feel that a magazine is too liberal, write a letter, and ask your friends to write a letter," Bourke advises. "A dozen letters is a huge amount of volume on any one topic." C o n t a c t : "Glamour," 350 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017-3704, tel. 212-880-8062, fax 212-880-6922; Lynn Povich, Editor-in-Chief, "Working Woman," 6380 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048-5003, tel. 213-938-8042 or 213-653-8672, e-mail lpopvich@womweb.com (or wwedit@womweb.com), web http://www.womweb.com/sitmww.htm; Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., 977 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, VA 23463, tel. 757-420-0700, http://www.cc.org; Media Research Center, 113 S. West St., 2nd Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314, tel. 703-683-5004. [6] * * * * FREE AT LAST . . . . In the discouraging battle against homophobic censors, at least one student newspaper can claim a victory -- of sorts. A school board in California has rescinded a ban that prohibited Gilroy High School's paper -- "The Free Press" -- from publishing a paid advertisement for a local lesbian/gay youth service agency. The Billy DeFrank Gay and Lesbian Community Center, located in San Jose, provides a variety of counseling and support services for youth. Notices about such services were barred from "The Free Press" last year, in response to complaints by a few vocal bigots. The recent reversal of the ban is attributed largely to the efforts of the newspaper's editor-in-chief, student Laura Gonzalez. Gonzalez achieved her victory DESPITE a disinterested administration. Throughout the proceedings, Gilroy High's principal refused to offer any "public support" for running the ad. The school board's decision was similarly reluctant; a passion for press freedom did NOT motivate the vote of most board members, who explained that their primary interest was avoiding a lawsuit. The California Education Code (Section 48907) guarantees that "students of the public schools shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia, and the right of expression in official publications." The only exceptions are for material that is "obscene, libelous, or slanderous" or "which so incites students as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of school." C o n t a c t : Laura Gonzalez, Editor-in-Chief, "The Free Press" (http://www.gusd.k12.ca.us/schools/ghs/fpress.htm) and Basil Huffman, Interim Principal, Gilroy High School, 750 West Tenth St., Gilroy, CA 95020, tel. 408-847-2424, fax 408-847-3505; Mark Good, Governing Board, Gilroy Unified School District, 7810 Arroyo Circle, Gilroy, CA 95020, tel. 408-847-2700, fax 408-842-1158; Billy DeFrank Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 175 Stockton Ave., San Jose, CA 95126-2760, tel. 408-293-3040, e-mail bdfc@aol.com. [7] * * * * PLACE MATT . . . . On the March 17 episode of FOX's "Melrose Place," gay character "Matt" offers to raise his teenage niece, following the death of his brother in a plane crash. Matt's mother has a major homophobia relapse, and suggests that homosexuality would make Matt an unfit parent. As in past episodes, however, "MP" scriptwriters provided Matt with an effective rebuttal to the rant. Provided this storyline develops, the plot should thicken in favor of lesbian and gay parenting. That issue is a particular hot button, even for so-called "moderates" (who are comfortable with the idea of gay soldiers, but recoil at the thought of gay fathers). "Any future storyline will most likely feature a court battle between Matt and his mom for custody," says Scott Miller, a gay media watcher. "The important thing is that the issue of gay parenting will be brought to the surface and hopefully, like tonight (March 17), the forces of homophobia will look petty and foolish." C o n t a c t : Peter Roth, President, Fox Entertainment Group, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90123, fax 310-369-1433, e-mail foxnet@delphi.com. [8] W E B W A T C H ! *** FREEDOM OF SURF . . . . The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) provides a site for late-breaking news, actions and alerts concerning the "Communications Decency Act," which was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 19. The legislation was enacted by Congress last year but subsequently found unconstitutional by two lower courts. The Supreme Court's decision is expected in June. "The outcome of this legal battle will have far reaching implications," CIEC explains. "At stake is nothing less than the future of the First Amendment in the information age." [http://www.ciec.org]. *** LIFE TIMES . . . The "National Black ITL Calendar" is a nationwide roster "of specific interest to black people in the life," highlighting a diverse range of events (movies, lectures, social gatherings, activist meetings, and more), which have BOTH a black AND a gay or lesbian focus. "It is not a calendar that lists all the events that individual black lesbians and gay men might be interested in attending," the publishers are careful to point out, "since individual black lesbians or gay men might be interested in attending ANY black event or ANY lesbian or gay event." The most recent version of the calendar is now available at the "BLK" website. [http://www.blk.com]. *** A RARE MEDIUM, WELL DONE . . . "Dyke TV" can now be seen (VDOLive), heard (RealAudio) AND discussed -- all online. A new "Dyke TV Discussion Board" has been added to the Free Speech TV web site. [http://www.freespeech.org/dyketv/]. *** FACE THE HATE . . . HateWatch is a nonprofit organization that "monitors the growing and evolving threat of hate group activity on the Internet." The organization's web site provides links to other anti-violence organizations; it also catalogues hate group home pages, including homophobic efforts (such as "S.T.R.A.I.G.H.T" -- the Society To Remove All Immoral Godless Homosexual Trash). "Though the language and images on this site may be offensive to some," says HateWatch director Samuel Macy, "we believe the best way to combat this growing trend of intolerance is to face it head on." [http://hatewatch.org]. *** GO ON, GIRL! . . . "LA Girl Guide," a free bi/lesbian monthly, is now on the world wide web. Promising "more to be added every week," the magazine's new site currently features artwork, photography, band dates and club listings -- most with a Southern California focus. [http://www.girlguide.com]. *** ALTERNATIVELY SPEAKING . . . An online directory of alternative periodicals -- ranging from "The Advocate" to "Z Magazine" -- s available at the Alternative Press Center site, which also features numerous links to various activist groups, news services, and media-watch groups. Founded in 1969, APC remains "one of the oldest self-sustaining alternative media institutions in the United States. [http://www.igc.apc.org/altpress]. *** MATTER OF FACT . . . The latest copy of "FACTNews" -- a free digest "devoted to alerting netizens about freedom of speech, the right to privacy, and freedom of thought" -- is now online. Included in the March '97 issue are a report on university attempts at net blocking, and a briefing on FACTNet's "continuing court fight to keep the Internet free of controls." [http://www.factnet.org]. *** ON THE NEWS . . . "News Watch" is a new, progressive 'zine that "tries to critically analyze news and current events... to report important news stories that are ignored and correct 'errors' in stories that are mis-reported." Informally written and produced by editor Jake Sexton, "News Watch" is currently a bi-weekly publication. [http://members.tripod.com/~Antithesis/NW.htm]. [9] ( U N ) S O U N D B I T E S . . . A sampling of the e-mail messages, posted this month in America OnLine's "Christianity" forum, as part of an on-going debate over Rosie O'Donnell's rumored lesbianism: * "She is not gay... I watch Rosie everyday! She's a nice decent person! Just because she's nice, doesn't mean something has to be wrong with her. I love Rosie! Love always in the Lord, Elizabeth" -- EKaskeski@aol.com. * "The Bible says that being gay is an abomination to the Lord. I don't know if she is gay or not. I know that I like her show and she seems to be a nice, loving person. If she is gay, then we all need to pray for her. Love the sinner, hate the sin." -- RIOTnNC@aol.com. * "If Rosie was gay would she scream about how she has the hots for Tom Cruise? No! I don't think so...." -- Ohnewgirl2@aol.com. [End of Part "C;" Part "A" (News Style) and Part "B" (Ellen) posted separately] ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT MEDIALERTS Distributed as a community press service since 1992, "MEDIAlert!" [TM] is a biweekly, advocacy-oriented column of media criticism, primarily focused on lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender issues. Recipients may print, publish or post this material, in whole or part, under this or any title, without prior permission. When appropriate, attribution can be made to "Al Kielwasser" and/or "MEDIAlert!" File copies of publications using all or part of any "MEDIAlert!" are always appreciated. Next "MEDIAlert!" = April 4, 1997. [Regular subscribers, please note: Starting with this issue, "MEDIAlert!" will be sent out on the first and third Friday of each month, rather than the second and fourth]. Contact: A. P. Kielwasser, MEDIAction, 163 Park Street, San Francisco, CA 94110-5835, voice-mail/fax 415-826-5203, e-mail mediaction@aol.com. ---------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR NOTES Al Kielwasser is the editor of "Gay People, Sex and the Media" (New York: Haworth Press). His media criticism and research have appeared widely, in both mainstream and academic publications (including the "Journal of American Culture," "Journal of Homosexuality," "Journal of Popular Culture," and "Critical Studies in Mass Communication"); he was twice elected Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.