Subject: MEDIAlert! [Part "B"] - 7.22.97
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:36:50 -0400 (EDT)

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INDEX:  "MEDIAlert!" for 07.22.97  [PART "B" ONLY]

-MEDIA/BRIEFS-
-ITEM 1:  "Photo Opportunity" [Love Makes a Family].
-ITEM 2:  "Moving Pictures" [CAD; Oprah Winfrey].
-ITEM 3:  "E-Media Watch" [WomBAT; GLBSO].
-ITEM 4:  "NEA Savers" [NEA; American Arts Alliance].
-ITEM 5:  "Time Lines" [Lavender Magazine; New York Times].
-ITEM 6:  "Shelf Help for Media Activists" [We The Media; IAJ].
-ITEM 7:  "Second Helping" [Race, Multiculturalism, and the Media].

-WEB WATCH-
-ITEM 8:  "Information Super-Biways" [Bisexual Options; Bi.org].
-ITEM 9:  "Directory Assistance" [CyberQueer Lounge].
-ITEM 10: "New Arrivals" [PRIDE Youth].
-ITEM 11: "Making A Zine" [Sapphic Ink; Visibilities].
-ITEM 12: "Cyber Crusade" [Crusader's Corner].
-ITEM 13: "Change of Address" [GALAH Home Page].

[Part "A" (Items 1 - 3) posted separately]
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M  E  D  I  A   /   B  R  I  E  F  S
____________________________

M  E  D  I  A  l  e  r  t !    [Part B]

July 22, 1997         Al Kielwasser

[1]

***  PHOTO OPPORTUNITY . . . .    "Love Makes A Family:  Living in Lesbian
and Gay Families" is a unique photo-text exhibit, which has been touring the
nation.  Produced by Family Diversity Projects, Inc., the exhibit next opens
in Provincetown, MA on August 3 (and will run through September 1).  This
event coincides with a celebration of "Family Week" (August 3-9), sponsored
by the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International.

C o n t a c t:  Family Diversity Projects, e-mail [email-masked], web-site
www.javanet.com/~famphoto; GLPCI Administrative Office, 4938 Hampden Lane,
#336, Bethesda, MD 20814, tel. 301-907-2647, fax 301-907-4739, e-mail
[email-masked].

[2]

***  MOVING PICTURES . . . .    Citizens Against Discrimination (CAD), a
grassroots activist organization, has called for a entertainment boycott of
North Carolina -- "due to a passage of recent anti-gay resolutions in several
counties of the state."  CAD founder Charles Merrill is appealing to leaders
in the film and television industry, hoping "to make producers aware of the
homophobia existing on the books in North Carolina and existing in the U.S.
Senate from Senator Jesse Helms and Senator Lauch Faircloth."  CAD's ultimate
objective is the rescinding of those anti-gay laws and, according to Merrill,
business in the state has already "declined dramatically."

"Major television networks and motion picture studios have collectively
canceled many films which were scheduled for production in North Carolina,"
said Merrill.  "Currently, we're encouraging Oprah Winfrey to relocate the
production of her new feature, 'The Wedding,' which is scheduled for filming
in Wilmington, NC."

C o n t a c t :  Citizens Against Discrimination. P.O. Box 519, Edneyville,
NC 28727, tel. 704-685-9673, e-mail [email-masked]; Oprah Winfrey/Harpo
Productions, tel. 312-633-1000; Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, 129 West Trade
Street, Charlotte , NC 28202-2143, tel. 704-378-1300, web-site
www.charlottechamber.org.

[3]

***  E-MEDIA WATCH . . . .    "WomBAT" is a list service "specifically for
bisexual women, but any woman is allowed to join."  For general information,
e-mail the command "INFO WOMBAT" to [email-masked]; send
subscription requests to the same address, with the command "SUBSCRIBE Wombat
Your Name."  Any other questions about the list should be directed to
[email-masked].

"GLBSO" -- the list service "for networking and information sharing between
members of student (high school and collegiate) les-bi-gay organizations" --
has been newly relocated at Queernet.  To subscribe, e-mail the message
"subscribe glbso <address>" to [email-masked]; to receive postings in
digest form, send the command "subscribe glbso-digest <address>."  For more
information (or help with subscribing), e-mail the list owner at:
 [email-masked].

[4]

***  NEA SAVERS . . . .    In what has become Congressional ritual, the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has been threatened with defunding by
homophobic politicians.  Various right-wing organizations have fallen in step
with the politicians, producing a spattering of op-eds and broadcast
editorials on the evils of "government-funded obscenity."

Useful for countering these goose-steeping critics, the American Arts
Alliance (AAA) offers a variety of advocacy resources -- including a handy
outline of the "Myths and Facts about National Support of Arts and Culture."
 As defined by in its mission statement, the AAA is specifically dedicated to
"advancing arts support before Congress and other branches of the Federal
government."  To achieve this goal, the alliance "informs legislators and
policy makers of the vital role of the arts in American society, and
advocates the development of national policies which recognize, enhance and
foster the contributions that the arts make to America."  Currently, AAA
members represent over 2,500 nonprofit arts organizations.

C o n t a c t :  American Arts Alliance, 1319 F Street, NW Suite 500,
Washington, DC 20004, tel. 202-737-1727, fax 202-628-1258, e-mail
[email-masked].

[5]

***  TIME LINES . . . .   Among the features in a recent issue of "Lavender
Magazine" is David Bianco's historical gloss on why "Media Coverage Inhibited
Early AIDS Awareness."  In all of 1982, Bianco reports, the venerable "New
York Times" ran just seven articles on AIDS.  By contrast, the newspaper
carried more than 50 articles on the "Tylenol scare" -- though only seven
people had actually been poisoned by the cyanide-laced pills.

Based in Minneapolis, "Lavender Magazine" is a biweekly publication for "the
Twin Cities Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgendered Community."

C o n t a c t :  "Lavender Magazine," 2344 Nicollet Avenue South, Suite 130,
Minneapolis, MN 55404, tel. 612-871-2237, fax 612-871-2650, web-site
www.lavendermagazine.com.

[6]

***  SHELF HELP FOR MEDIA ACTIVISTS . . . .    This Fall, the Institute for
Alternative Journalism will publish "We The Media:  A Citizen's Guide to
Fighting for Media Democracy."  Edited by Don Hazen and Julie Winokur, the
new guidebook covers everything from basic jargon (an "essential glossary of
media lingo") to the basic issues (media "Concentration," "Synergy,"
"Deregulation" and "Monopoly").  These diverse, critical strands are united
by a simple, constructive premise:  "As we keep a watchful eye out on the way
it is -- corporate media ownership, commercialization, bias and distortions,
public demand, and the 'next frontier' of cyberspace -- we're finding and
creating methods to achieve the way it should be."

C o n t a c t :  IAJ/Alternet, 77 Federal Street, San Francisco, CA 94107,
tel. 415-284-1420, fax 415-284-1414, e-mail [email-masked], web-site
www.alternet.org (or www.igc.apc.org/an/). 

[7]

***  SECOND HELPING . . . .    Now in its second printing, "Race,
Multiculturalism, and the Media" [Sage, 1995] is an examination of Latino,
Asian, African and Native American portrayals in both news and entertainment.
 Written by Clint Wilson (Department of Journalism, Howard University) and
Felix Gutierrez (The Freedom Forum, Pacific Coast Center), the book also
includes a chapter on "Advocacy: Pressuring the Media to Change."

C o n t a c t :  Sage Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA
91320-2218, tel. 805-499-9774, fax 805-499-0871, web-site www.sagepub.com.

W  E  B    W  A  T  C  H
_____________________

[8]

*** INFORMATION SUPER BI-WAYS:    Two of the "largest websites for bisexuals"
have embarked upon a fresh collaboration, providing a mix of services that
organizers say "will span the whole bisexual world!"  Both sites will offer
several new features, including "City-Bi-City" -- local news and information,
"city-bi-city, country-bi-country, covering the entire world"
[http://bi.org/bicities/] -- and "Bisexual Options," an expanded North
American (US, Canada, Mexico) resource base [http://www.bisexual.org/].
 Fritz Klein (owner of Bisexual Options) and partner Nick Smith (owner and
webmaster, bi.org) invite browsers to:  "Visit these sites and see how
different web organizations are able to help each other for the good of all
Bi communities."

[9]

*** DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE:    Does your "information superhighway" seem more
like a "straight and narrow path?"  Try widening the road at CuberQueer
Lounge, which offers a collection of "gay and gay-friendly" search engines
for navigating the net [http://www.cyberzine.org].  Currently, over 20
queer-specific search engines can be found at the Lounge and "there are also
many general search engine links as well" says CyberQueer's Tom Hicks:  "If
you are looking for anything online related to LGBT/AIDS you can find it via
the CyberQueer Lounge search facility."

[10]

*** NEW ARRIVALS:    Recently launched onto the world wide web, a new "PRIDE
Youth" site reflects the group's mission; PRIDE Youth is an organization
"which provides support and acts as a resource for gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and questioning teens of suburban Chicago"
[http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/usa/illinois/youth].

[11]

***  MAKING A ZINE . . . .    A number of lesbian magazines are now published
on the world wide web -- some exclusively so.  Among such titles:  "Sapphic
Ink," a lesbian literary journal [http://www.lesbian.org/sapphic-ink/] . . .
 "Visibilities," which is touted as "The On-Line Lesbian Magazine"
[http://www.qworld.org/Visi/visib_home.html] . . .  and (perhaps for more
esoteric tastes) "Dead Jackie Susann Quarterly" -- a "queer dyke zine
inspired by the writings of Jacqueline Susann."

[12]

*** CYBER CRUSADE:    Combining witty activism with biting commentary,
Crusader (aka Andrew Exler) recently launched his own web site -- "Crusader's
Homo Page."  The new site features the activist's long-running column --
"Crusader's Corner" -- which is described by the author as "a no-holds barred
discussion on civil rights, gay rights, AIDS, censorship, men cruising for
sex, condom crusading, legalization of all drugs, and prison rights
[http://home.earthlink.net/~mrcrusader/].

 In 1980, Exler was ejected from Disneyland "for dancing with another male in
Tomorrowland;" he subsequently sued, and successfully overturned the park's
27-year-old ban on same-sex dancing in 1984.  

[13]

*** CHANGE OF ADDRESS:    The Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists (GALAH)
home page has moved.  The new site includes an overview of the organization,
newsletter articles, and tips for "Things People Can Do to Fight the
Religious Right" [http://www.serve.com/tgkindc/galah.html].

[end Part "B"]

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Distributed continuously since 1992 as a community press service,
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media criticism, focused on lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender issues.

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 Next "MEDIAlert!"  =  August 5, 1997.  Contact:  MEDIAlert!, 163 Park
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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; he was twice elected Chair of the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.