The current issue of Press Pass Q (“A Newsletter and Trade Publication for the LGBT Media Professional”) spotlights the 2010 NLGJA convention and LGBT media summit in San Francisco.
Here’s an excerpt:
Of interest to those in LGBT media, the annual LGBT Media Summit is in its seventh year.
“Each year, there is this lingering question: Is the summit still needed?” said Matthew S. Bajko, chair of the one-day event, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 1. “Many of the issues that mainstream and LGBT journalists face are similar,” added Bajko, an assistant editor at the local weekly Bay Area Reporter [BAR).
And yet there are differences. “Some issues overlap with mainstream media, but in a different way,” he said. “[LGBT media] respond in a very different way because we don’t have the same kind of resources as the mainstream. So to have a special day, where people within the LGBT media industry can talk and share best practices and meet [colleagues] who can relate to and share the everyday struggles, there is value to that.”
Another benefit, Bajko said, “is the opportunity for ‘our’ people to share ‘our’ knowledge with members of the mainstream media,” insofar as any number of convention panels, workshops and plenary sessions include participation of LGBT media professionals.
The issue also spotlights the winners of the 2010 Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Also in the issue is an article on ad revenues in the LGBT media:
In spite of the current economic recession, advertising revenues at gay press outlets hit a record high, a truly remarkable feat considering the economy’s overall adverse effect on the media industry.
The recently released “2009 Gay Press Report” found that spending in LGBT publications indeed rose 13.6 percent, topping off at $349.6 million in ad revenues, a new record. Revenues the previous year were $307.7 million.
By way of comparison, revenues in consumer magazines dropped off 15.6 percent, falling to its lowest level since 1998.