As I write this, I am at 33,000 feet on a packed American Airlines flight to Chicago to attend several LGBT media conferences, among them the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists, the LGBT Media Summit and two publishers’ conferences. And, once again, PGN will take home yet another award for journalism, this for a story that has now been getting a lot of attention, our 12-year coverage of the mysterious homicide of Nizah Morris. So what is so new?
This week, once again, PGN has had to take legal action to gain information. We’ve done this on a number of occasions over this 12-year period, and each time it happens, our thought in the office is, What are they hiding?
The hold-up and lack of information from public officials this time falls squarely on District Attorney Seth Williams. His office under his direction is refusing to hand over files that might help us make sense of the senseless death of a popular transwoman in our community.
Seth, you’ve stated you’d run your office with transparency. It’s time to step up to the plate. Our community is watching.
As for Chicago and that award … Once again, it’s always an honor to have a chance to gather with my fellow publishers, and at this conference we will witness a group of new publishers entering LGBT media. I’m eager to see their enthusiasm as they contribute to our growing LGBT media. Yes, you read that read that correctly. LGBT media from coast to coast is growing in every way: more blogs, websites, apps, podcasts and even new newspapers. There are new LGBT media conferences, and the standard conferences like NLGJA, Netroots and Haas Media Summit are bursting at the seams. This is an exciting time for LGBT media.
And these new publishers join a profession that has been at the vanguard of activism to create rights and equality. They take up the mantel of helping this community communicate with each other and try to find answers in that discussion of complex problems. It will be a joy to hear their views and see what their ideas are for the future of the community, and the important role they play in it.