When NLGJA asked me to share what I have done to help
make my journalism students as LGBT-savvy as possible, I
was initially flattered. But when I started thinking about my methods,
I have to admit that I panicked. After all, when I began taking
a personal inventory of what I consider my LGBT successes in the
classroom, I realized that I have reached my goals in a passionate,
yet piecemeal fashion.
My immediate thoughts: Why had I not looked harder for
some sort of LGBT sensitivity roadmap for journalists? If I had
found such a document, could I have achieved more? After all,my
field is not queer studies; it is journalism. And just because I am
gay does not mean I know how to best sensitize my student journalists
to LGBT issues.
I certainly would not say that helping
my journalism students better understand
and cover LGBT-related issues has been as
easy as one, two, three. However, I seem to
have achieved many of my LGBT goals in
three main steps: By coming out, by conducting
LGBT-related lectures and by helping
my students gain real-life LGBT coverage
experience on campus and beyond.
Step One: A Giant Leap Out of the
Closet
It can be frightening coming out of the
closest during the tenure process due to
fears that a homophobic colleague could
suddenly come out of the woodwork and tip the tenure scale in a
negative direction. And this fear held true for me even though my
university is well known for its historic dedication to civil rights
and the LGBT community. But as it became increasingly difficult
for me to live my life with dignity without coming-out, I sought
out a lesbian colleague for advice. When she told me of her positive
coming out experiences, I decided to follow her example. And
she was right; administrative, faculty and student responses to my
sexual minority status have always been, and continue to be, overwhelmingly
positive. And by the way, I did earn tenure and a promotion
right on schedule, and I am now a full professor and the
director of my program.
Step Two: Journalism Lectures With an LGBT Twist
I always make sure that LGBT issues are equally represented
when coverage of minorities is discussed in my classes.
For example, in my beginning reporting class, when we discuss shortcomings in the mainstream media’s minority coverage,
I show my students examples of past and contemporary LGBT
coverage that missed the mark. Such examples almost always lead
to lively discussions in which an overwhelming majority of students
let fairness — a desire for accurate minority coverage – guide
them.
And in my advanced beat reporting class, I encourage interested
students to create an LGBT beat. Some of my most successful
journalism students not only do so, they also publish such
work in the student newspaper, which further informs and educates
my campus on LGBT issues.
I also create more academic, research-driven
electives for my journalism students
in order to offer them a deeper understanding
of minority issues, mainstream coverage
of them and how to improve such coverage.
For example, I created a “Women,
Minorities and the Media” class with a significant
emphasis on LGBT issues. Since I
could not find a main textbook with LGBT
content, I simply presented my own material
on this topic. I encouraged all of my journalism
students to take this course — male
and female, straight and LGBT. And before I
knew it, most of them not only took it, but
they began applying their newfound knowledge
to their campus media coverage.
Step Three: “Real World” Applications
I constantly search for ways to encourage my student journalists
to keep cultivating their LGBT insights and to apply them,
when relative, to their general coverage — not just their LGBT stories — during their student internships, off-campus projects and
future jobs.
NLGJA is the best resource I have found to keep me and my
students up-to-date on LGBT coverage issues. Its amazing Student
Project has enabled my LGBT students to move on to important
media jobs. In addition, NLGJA has helped my African American
students with newfound LGBT sensitivities cover issues related to
both groups with noteworthy maturity.
