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‘Columbia Journalism Review’ and transgender people

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Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) is an American media watchdog organization that monitors and reports on media issues. The coverage of trans topics has been fair and accurate.

Background

Columbia Journalism Review was founded in 1961 and is published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The magazine’s stated mission is to serve as a watchdog of the press, promoting professional standards and ethical practices while examining the strengths and failures of news organizations.

CJR covers a wide range of topics, including media ethics, investigative reporting, newsroom practices, press freedom, and the impact of technology on journalism. Its reporting often analyzes coverage of major political, social, and economic events, as well as structural issues within the media industry such as ownership, labor conditions, and financial sustainability. The publication is known for in-depth critiques of mainstream media outlets and for highlighting underreported or mishandled stories.

Originally published as a quarterly print magazine, CJR has expanded its digital presence and now publishes frequent online articles, essays, and reports.

Leadership

  • James Boylan (1961–1969)
  • Alfred Balk (1969–1973)
  • Elie Abel (dean at Columbia ~1970–1979)
  • Spencer Klaw (1980–1989)
  • Suzanne Braun Levine (1989–1997)
  • Marshall Loeb (1997–1999)
  • Michael J. Hoyt (2000–2011)
  • David Laventhol (publisher and editorial director)
  • Elizabeth Spayd (2014–2016)
  • Kyle Pope (2016–2024)
  • Sewell Chan (2024–2025)
  • Betsy Morais (2025–)

Transgender topics

CJR has published a number of pieces involving opinion, criticism, and analysis of transgender coverage in the media. They have also covered trans journalists and those seeking to improve coverage, including Samantha Allen and Zackary Drucker. They have also commissioned a number of pieces by trans journalists.

They have published pieces on fair and accurate coverage that uses gender-neutral and value-neutral language, as well as several ethical issues, including:

  • misgendering and deadnaming trans victims of crime
  • Caleb Hannan’s outing of trans golf entrepreneur Essay Anne Vanderbilt, which contributed to Vanderbilt’s suicide
  • criticism of a New Yorker story on anti-trans “feminists” by Michelle Goldberg
  • criticism of an Atlantic feature on the “ex-trans” movement by Jesse Singal
  • highlighting exemplary journalists covering trans topics, including Steve Rothaus of the Miami Herald and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s coverage of a transgender athlete controversy
  • highlighting work by the Trans Journalists Association and the Trans News Initiative
  • the ethics of covering breaking news in the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk

Jesse Singal

Anti-trans activist Jesse Singal wrote three pieces for CJR in 2013, and CJR interviewed Singal when New York magazine launched the Science of Us blog in 2014. After Singal wrote When a Child Says She’s Trans for The Atlantic in 2018, Alexandria Neason noted the core problem with Singal’s feature:

Controversial stories like Jesse Singal’s cover story for The Atlantic, on how parents of transgender teens approach their desire to personally or medically transition, come to mind. The story was fact checked, but according to many readers, journalists, and activists in the trans community, was transphobic—and all wrong. The difference between fact and truth is yet another example of why newsrooms, and publishing houses, desperately need to invest in employing and representing diverse writers, editors, agents, and fact checkers alike.

References

Mullin, Benjamin (April 23, 2025). Columbia Journalism Review Faces the Kind of Crisis It Usually Covers. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/business/media/cjr-sewell-chan.html

Ad Fontes (2025). Columbia Journalism Review Bias and Reliability. https://adfontesmedia.com/columbia-journalism-review-bias-and-reliability/

Hoyt, Mike (November 15, 2011). In Our Time: CJR’s editor takes stock. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/reports/in_our_time.php

Selected writing by CJR

Nagy, Ivan L. (September 16, 2025). Liveblogging Through It: Vetting, “transgender ideology,” and the race to fill a breaking-news void in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/liveblogging-through-it-charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-misinformation-transgender.php

GalvĂŁo, Carolina Abbott (November 17, 2025). Visualizing Trans Coverage: A new tool, the Trans News Initiative, draws from data to reveal patterns and proportions. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/news/visualizing-trans-coverage-data-journalism.php

Petrin, Kae (November 20, 2024). Covering the Actual Story of Trans Lives: After an election in which trans communities featured heavily, guidance from the Trans Journalists Association. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/criticism/covering-the-actual-story-of-trans-lives.php

Morais, Betsy (June 29, 2023). Moral panic, queer expression. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/pride_month_bachelor.php

Massara, Graph (May 25, 2023). The complexities and nuances of transgender coverage. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trans-coverage-guide-suggestions.php

Massara, Graph (September 5, 2023). How a local paper grappled with an anti-trans firestorm. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trans-student-athlete-controversy-california.php

Neason, Alexandra (December 20, 2021). Truth-Telling: A new journalism podcast looks to history to counter ‘objectivity.’ Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/60th/truth-telling-lewis-raven-wallace.php

Allsop, Jon (June 15, 2020). The movement for Black trans lives. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/black-trans-lives-matter.php

Wallace, Lewis Raven (September 30, 2019). Five tips for journalists on covering trans and nonbinary people. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trans-nonbinary-subjects-tips.php

Lang, Nico (April 26, 2019). The journalist telling the complicated, hopeful truth about LGBTQ life in red states. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/samantha-allen-real-queer-media.php

Sultan, Zainab (March 26, 2019). Increasing visibility of non-conforming gender communities in stock photos. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/stock-photos-vice-transgender-nonbinary.php

Neason, Alexandria (January 25, 2019). The perils of publishing without a fact-checking net. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalism-book-fact-checking-jill-abramson.php

Perlman, Merrill (January 22, 2019). How the word ‘queer’ was adopted by the LGBTQ community. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/queer.php

Vernon, Pete (August 9, 2018). Q&A: Steven Thrasher on what queer experience adds to any newsroom. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/steven-thrasher.php

Lang, Nico (May 25, 2017). A ‘disgusting slap in the face’: Reporters must stop misgendering trans murder victims. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/criticism/transgender-murders-news-journalism.php

Grimaldi, Christine (September 1, 2016). I tripped up while reporting on gender and sexuality. Here’s what I learned. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/gender_sexuality_reporting.php

Nesmith, Susannah (April 6, 2016). How the Miami Herald’s Steve Rothaus became an LGBT pioneer in mainstream journalism. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/miami_herald_steve_rothaus_lgbt_coverage.php

Perlman, Merrill (December 7, 2015). Un-gendered. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/language_changes_were_fond_of.php

Perlman, Merrill (March 23, 2015). Why ‘transgender’ is preferred over ‘transgendered.’ Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/opinion/transgender_transgendered.php

Truiit, Jos (August 6, 2014). Why The New Yorker‘s radical feminism and transgenderism piece was one-sided. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/new_yorker_feminism_transgenderism_jos_truitt.php

Truiit, Jos (February 11, 2014). The ‘don’ts’ of interviewing trans people. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/interviewing_trans_people.php

Pring, Nicola (March 12, 2014). Journos weigh in on covering trans people: A panel at CUNY on Tuesday night offered advice. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/transgender_coverage.php

Friedman, Ann (January 23, 2014). The difficulty of sticking to a story. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/realtalk/realtalk_012314.php

Vanasco, Jennifer (May 3, 2013). How not to report on a transgender victim: Cemia Acoff identified as a woman in life and should have been in death, too. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/how_not_to_report_on_a_transge.php

Vanasco, Jennifer (April 26, 2013). Where is the media on ENDA? An important bill that would protect gay workers from discrimination gets little media coverage. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/where_is_the_media_on_enda.php

Vanasco, Jennifer (May 24, 2013). More than just marriage: A guide to covering other issues that affect the LGBT community. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/minority_reports/more_than_just_marriage.php

Perlman, Merrill (July 17, 2012). En-gendered: Terms for sexual identity. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/en-gendered.php

Resources

Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org)

  • Transgender [tag]
  • https://www.cjr.org/tag/transgender

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

InfluenceWatch (influencewatch.org)

AllSides (allsides.com)

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Bluesky (bsky.app)

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