From: MediAction@aol.com Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:36:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: MEDIAlert! [Part "B"] - 7.22.97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 FamPhoto@aol.com, 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 GLPCINat@ix.netcom.com. [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 charles6@aol.com; 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 listserv@listserv.aol.com; send subscription requests to the same address, with the command "SUBSCRIBE Wombat Your Name." Any other questions about the list should be directed to wombat-request@listserv.aol.com. "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
" to majordomo@queernet.org; to receive postings in digest form, send the command "subscribe glbso-digest
." For more information (or help with subscribing), e-mail the list owner at: owner-glbso@queernet.org. [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 aaa@tmn.com. [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 alternet@alternet.org, 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"] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT MEDIALERTS Distributed continuously since 1992 as a community press service, "MEDIAlert!" [TM] is a biweekly, action- and advocacy-oriented column of media criticism, 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!" = August 5, 1997. Contact: MEDIAlert!, 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; he was twice elected Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.