TAI News (formerly The American Independent) is an American media organization. Their coverage of trans issues is consistently fair and accurate.
Background
Founded as Blue Nation Review in 2014 and known as Shareblue Media, In 2015 the site was sold by Moko Social Media Limited to Media Matters for America founder David Brock. The American Independent later rebranded as TAI News.
The American Spectator is a conservative American media organization that publishes consistently anti-transgender articles.
For the British newsmagazine that publishes a US version, see The Spectator.
Background
The American Spectator was founded in 1967 by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., who remains its editor-in-chief, with Wlady Pleszczynski its managing editor since 1980.
Contributors
The following authors have published anti-trans pieces.
Lou Aguilar
Elyse Apel
Bruce Bawer
Adam Carrington
Itxu Díaz
Daniel J. Flynn
Ellie Gardey
David Keltz
Libby Krieger
Melissa Mackenzie
Scott McKay
Mary Frances Myler
Evan Poellinger
Tom Raabe
Debra J. Saunders
Irit Tratt
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
References
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. (ed.), Orthodoxy: The American Spectator’s 20th Anniversary Anthology, Harper & Row, 1987. ISBN0-06-015818-2
What Is a Woman? is a 2022 American anti-transgender propaganda piece distributed online by conservative media outlet The Daily Wire.
Hosted by anti-trans extremist Matt Walsh, the piece was released to subscribers in June 2022, soon followed by a companion book, What Is a Woman?: One Man’s Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation.
Background
Walsh and the project’s producers created an anti-transgender front group called The Gender Unity Project in order to lure trans participants in under false pretenses. Using the name Makenna Lynn, Daily Wire associate producer Makenna Waters would contact potential interviewees. Associate Rebecca Dobkowitz also contacted people using a false name.
People who said they were contacted include MMA fighters Fallon Fox and Alanna McLaughlin, Miss Nevada USA winner Kataluna Enriquez, and Debi Jackson, parent to trans youth Avery Jackson.
Trans activist Eli Erlick revealed the scam in February 2022. The Gender Unity Project site was registered in 2021 to Justin Folk of Project Veritas.
The film was produced by Justin Folk, Dallas Sonnier, and Charlotte Roland. Folk directed.
Free Speech TV (FSTV) is an American media organization. Its coverage in consistently progressive and fair to trans and gender diverse people. They are known for shows inlcuding Democracy Now!, The David Pakman Show, Gay USA, and The Last Sip with Imara Jones.
History
Public Communicators Incorporated (PCI) is an American nonprofit founded in 1974. PCI launched Free Speech TV in 1995 following the success of the long-running series The 90’s and The 90’s Channel, a network of seven cable channels. Free Speech TV Program Service was originally a distribution arm.
Founder Ron Unz maintained The Unz Archive online until 2012. In 2013, Unz launched The Unz Review.
Unz describes the blog as “a collection of interesting, important, and controversial perspectives largely excluded from the American mainstream media.”
Authors
Authors who have commented on trans issues include:
The Advocate is a prominent American publication for sex and gender minorities. It is left-leaning and consistently neutral to positive in its coverage of trans topics.
Background
The Los Angeles Advocate was founded in 1967 following police raids on gay bars. One of the founders bought the others out, and In 1969 the newspaper was renamed The Advocate and distributed nationally in gay bars and bookstores. In 1974, investment banker David B. Goodstein bought the publication and transformed it into a bi-weekly national news magazine. In 1985 it twitched from a tabloid format to a magazine format.
In the 1970s, The Advocate expanded into coverage of politics, culture, and national activism. In the 1980s, it played a critical role in reporting on the AIDS crisis. In the 1990s, they began covering celebrity culture more, presenting notable LGBTQ people and allies on the cover.
In the 21st century, The Advocate changed owners through several mergers and acquisitions, including Planet Out, Here Media, and Pride Media. While Here Media acquired the publication in 2010, the website and print publication were split into separate entities, with Grand Editorial contracted to print Out magazine and The Advocate. During this time it featured coverage of the fights for LGBTQ military service and marriage equality.
“Recommended reading for anyone interested in the study of gender identity and sexual orientation…. It is written, however, in a style that makes it easily easily accessible to any reader.” — Out Magazine [review by Duncan Osborne]
256pp., 6″ x 8.5″ hardback ISBN 0-309-08418-0 $24.95 To order: Call toll-free 1-888-624-7651 or Browse before you buy – preview a full-text, searchable version or buy a downloadable, PDF online at www.nap.edu
Calpernia Addams and I called up the editor that day and got a perspective piece printed in the next available edition. After reading the book, the editor assured us the ad would not run again.
There’s work to do. For example: J. Michael Bailey, a professor who claims to be a friend of our community, has just put out a very defamatory book. In The Man Who Would Be Queen, he links transsexual women to The Silence of the Lambs and notes that we work as “strippers and prostitutes, as well as in many other occupations.” Because we believe in fighting unjust media depictions wherever we find them, we took time from our other projects to address and counter this insidious book.
Criticisms
Trans activists criticized the publication’s coverage of trans topice from the 1970s through the 1990s. Others criticized its overfocus on white gay men and gay conservatives. The Advocate also came under fire for not being consistent in editorial policies around outing, especially for closeted anti-gay public figures.
Clickbait and call-out culture (2014)
As the publication moved to digital-first, the website advocate.com came under criticism for moving away from deeply reported journalism to click-bait focused stories that centered on celebrities and outrage.
In 2014, editor Lucas Grindley hired transgender “call-out culture” ringleader Parker Molloy to cover trans issues for the website. Molloy quickly began promoting friends and disparaging trans and drag entertainers whose views differed from Molloy’s, including Laverne Cox, Candis Cayne, Our Lady J, Jen Richards, Calpernia Addams, and RuPaul. Molloy was eventually suspended and left the website in late 2014 after calling out colleagues publicly. Grindley left The Advocate in 2018.
LGBTQ&A podcast (2016–)
In August 2016, Jeffrey Masters began hosting the LGBTQ&A podcast, produced by The Advocate. Trans and gender divser guests have included Miss Major, Zeke Smith, Laverne Cox, Alok Vaid-Menon, Gigi Gorgeous, Kate Bornstein, Danica Roem, and Mariana Marroquín.
Bendix, Trish (January 25, 2019). Does LGBT media have a future?BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/trishbendix/future-of-lgbt-media-out-advocate-autostraddle-into-grindr
Gadd, Christianne A. (2012). “The Advocate” and the Making of a Gay Model Minority 1967–2007. Lehigh University Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1340 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228641708.pdf [archive]
Saucier, J. A., & Caron, S. L. (2008). An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines. Journal of Homosexuality, 55(3), 504–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918360802345297
Moses, Lucia (December 19, 2008). The Advocate to Go Monthly.Adweek http://www.adweek.com/news/press/advocate-go-monthly-110784
Highleyman, Liz September 28, 2007). What Is the History of The Advocate? Past Out. Letters From CAMP Rehoboth http://www.camprehoboth.com/issue09_14_07/past_out.htm [archive]
Joseph Henry Press (June 10, 2003). [ad for The Man Who Would Be Queen]. The Advocate
Addams C, James A (July 22, 2003). Transformations. The Advocate. http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/894/894_transformations.asp [archive]
The American Conservative was founded by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos in October 2002.
In February 2003, Ross Douthat co-founded the standalone group blog The American Scene with Reihan Salam and Steven Menashi. It was associated with The American Conservative and had a less formal style. After Douthat and Salam left, the blog was rebranded in 2007 and was slowly absorbed back into The American Conservative.
Mark Bowden, Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Fallows, Franklin Foer, Hanna Rosin, Graeme Wood
Senior Editors
Ross Andersen, Yoni Appelbaum, David Barber (Poetry), Ronald Brownstein, Krishnadev Calamur, C. Michael Curtis (Fiction), Ellen Cushing, Richard Florida, Caitlin Frazier, David Frum, Kathy Gilsinan, James Hamblin, Kate Julian, Jane Yong Kim, Corby Kummer, Christopher Orr, Christi Parsons, Yvonne Rolzhausen, Rebecca J. Rosen, Adam Serwer, John Swansburg, Alan Taylor, Derek Thompson, Lauren N. Williams, Gillian B. Whit
Washington Editor at Large; Editor, AtlanticLIVE Steve Clemons
Staff Writers Russell Berman, Natasha Bertrand, McKay Coppins, Rachel Donadio, Ashley Fetters, Conor Friedersdorf, Uri Friedman, Megan Garber, Sophie Gilbert, Hannah Giorgis, David A. Graham, Rosie Gray, Emma Green, Adam Harris, Olga Khazan, Spencer Kornhaber, Alexis C. Madrigal, Robinson Meyer, Vann Newkirk, Elaina Plott, Alana Semuels, David Sims, Alia Wong, Ed Yong, Sarah Zhang
Art Creative Director, The Atlantic: David Somerville Art Director: Paul Spella Associate Art Directors: Katie Martin, Arsh Raziuddin
Production Director: John Kefferstan Associate Director: Jennifer Adams
Executive Staff Manager Kim Jaske
Contributing Editors Marc Ambinder, Peter Beinart, Ian Bogost, Kate Bolick, Bianca Bosker, David Brooks, Andrew Cohen, Eliot A. Cohen, Michelle Cottle, Wayne Curtis, Ross Douthat, Gregg Easterbrook, Garrett Epps, David H. Freedman, Lori Gottlieb, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Michael Hirschorn, Nancy Jo Iacoi, Wendy Kaminer, Robert D. Kaplan, Mary Louise Kelly, Adam Kirsch, Toby Lester, Sandra Tsing Loh, Annie Lowrey, Thomas Mallon, Charles C. Mann, B.R. Myers, Moisés Naím, P.J. O’Rourke, James Parker, Virginia Postrel, Jonathan Rauch, David Rohde, Jeffrey Rosen, Reihan Salam, Eric Schlosser, Jeffrey Selingo, Ellen Ruppel Shell, Burt Solomon, James Somers, Alison Stewart, Sage Stossel, Jeffrey Tayler, Dominic Tierney, Chuck Todd, Jerry Useem, Robert Vare, Alex Wagner, Emily Yoffe, Fareed Zakaria, Ben Zimmer
Fellows
Sarah Elizabeth Adler, Jordan Bissell, Catherine Daniels, Isabel Fattal, Abdallah Fayyad, Lena Felton, Rachel Gutman, Taylor Hosking, Steven Johnson, Tori Latham, Elijah Lee, Annabelle Timsit, Kevin Volkl
Atlantic Studios Executive Producer & General Manager: Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg
Senior Producer: Ashley Bloom Kenny
Production Manager: Brian Jimenez
Art Director and Animator: Jackie Lay
Producer: Jeremy Raff
Associate Producers: Daniel Lombroso, Nicolas Pollock
Foundation Relations Executive Director: Blake Truitt
Director of Strategy and Planning: Caroline Jarboe
Data & Growth Senior Director: Emilie Harkin
Director, Audience & Data: Harris Cullinan
Manager, Customer Insights: Sera Herold
Operations Coordinator: Carson Trobich
Customer Experience Associate: Anna Hoffman
Fellows: Laith Elkurd, Lora Kelly
Digital Products & Technology Executive Director, Digital Product & Technology: Betsy Cole
Director, Product and Planning: Clarissa Matthews
Senior Product Managers: Anika Gupta, Andrew McGill
Product Design Lead: Dwight Brinkerhoff
Product Designer: Chris Sullivan
Product Design Fellow: Thanh Do
Director, Product Engineering: Josh West
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Platform Developers: Obssa Bizuwork, Colin Fleming
Lead Front End Developer: Jeremy Green
Front End Developers: Kevin Mahoney, Joey Nichols, Rekha Tenjarla
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Senior Counsel: Marisa M. Johnson
Atlantic Media, Inc. Michael Finnegan, President Emily Lenzner, SVP, Global Communications & External Relations Aretae Wyler, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
