AP 09/12 22:33 EDT V0374 NEW YORK (AP) -- A panel of news executives agreed Sunday the American media are still struggling with such issues as "outing" gay newsmakers and whether journalists should take part in gay marches and other political activities. The question of whether the AIDS crisis is adequately covered by U.S. newspapers and broadcasters also arose during the sometimes-heated panel discussion that wrapped up the three-day National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Conference. Some 500 gay editors and reporters from around the country attended the group's second annual meeting. Panelists agreed the news media should not aggressively "out," or reveal the homosexuality of newsmakers, but efforts should be made to persuade individuals to reveal that information if it is relevant to the story. "My own predisposition is that we need to be very careful about keeping things out of the newspaper, but I don't think we should make a point of identifying someone as gay or lesbian unless there is a special point," said Geneva Overholser, editor of The Des Moines Register. Pearl Stewart, editor of The Oakland Tribune, said that in cases where sexual orientation is pertinent to the story, "it seems to me some pressure should be brought to bear on the person" to disclose that information. But "if he chooses not to, I don't see taking it any further," she said. Members of the panel wrestled at length with the issue of whether homosexual journalists should be allowed to join in public events such as the recent gay pride march in Washington, D.C. William Ahearn, executive editor and vice president of The Associated Press, said the AP has no rule against homosexual reporters covering gay-related stories. But he said journalists were barred from the march because of a long-standing company policy against political activity. "When you are a journalist, as far as I'm concerned, you check some things at the door," Ahearn said. "I have a problem when personal beliefs are allowed to get in the way of coverage." Stewart said she would "have a hard time telling a member of my staff that he or she could not march in a civil rights demonstration, so it would be difficult for me to tell them they couldn't march in a gay or lesbian parade." On AIDS coverage, Overholser said the failure of newspaper obituaries to mention AIDS as a cause of death was one reason why the public did not recognize the threat sooner than it did. Ahearn said public indifference is a factor that must be overcome in getting information out. "I have not been in one newsroom where I haven't seen aggressive coverage of AIDS. The problem is getting people to read it," Ahearn said. "It is incumbent on us to come up with ways to tell the story, to get it read and get it into the newspaper."