TODAY'S SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, AUG. 23

Breakfast
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
11:00AM-12:15AM

Lunch Plenary
12:30PM-2:00PM

Breakout Sessions
2:15PM-3:30PM

Closing Session
3:45PM-5:15PM

Authors' Café
3:45PM-5:45PM

Not-So-Silent Auction
6:45PM-8:45PM

View the full schedule here

TODAY'S WEATHER

WHAT IS NLGJA?

Find out more about NLGJA at the official website.

MENTORS

A big thanks to our mentors:

Brett Zongker
The Associated Press

Caroline K. Hauser
The Washington Post

Mark S. Luckie
Entertainment Weekly

Larry M. Shaw
ABC

Dennis M. Powell
ABC

Doug Mitchell
NPR

Attendees expect success at 5th annual media summit

by David Reinbold

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's Media Summit is celebrating its fifth year, jump starting the 2008 National Convention: NLGJA Goes to Washington.

The summit, which began at the 2004 New York convention, provides a unique opportunity for the gay press to share ideas and network while providing a touch of local flare.

"I think it's an excellent, and really one of the only, opportunities for those working in the gay press to gather," editor of Southern Voice Laura Brown said. "We get together, we can brain storm, share strategies and put faces to the names that we read in each other's publications."

This year the media summit includes a live broadcast with Michelangelo Signorile, host of his own show on Sirius Satellite Radio. The summit also has several smaller breakout sessions centralized around various topics.

A large emphasis will be on election coverage and progression the gay press has made in Washington.

"There are signs that our community is being taken more seriously," editor of Washington Blade Kevin Naff said. "Our media outlets are doing better jobs at landing those big interviews."

Four years ago, smaller gay press didn't get interviews with presidential candidates. Today, they are getting those interviews and more, Naff said.

"I'm looking forward to the discussion on the White House and covering Washington," he said. "I'm also excited about looking at this question of having the gay media overly obsessed with celebrities."

In its short life, the media summit has proven to be a crowd pleaser, always drawing a large crowd.

"Last year we had more than 250 people attend," NLGJA deputy executive director Thomas Cashman Avila said. "It was a genuine statement on what people wanted to see and what they wanted to know."

The past year's media summit was the largest, Avila said.

Chicago Chapter President Rick Stuckey, who attended the 2007 convention, said he is looking forward to the media summit again this year.

"I think this is great because it brings mainstream and LGBT media together," Stuckey said.

Some may consider Washington a perfect fit for this year's convention, with the backdrop of political spotlight and issues like the economy that are having an impact on virtually every person.

"If everyone is feeling the pinch from the recession, it's important that they attend," Naff said. "People can exchange and learn best practices to help them save money on the job."

Brown said that prior to the existence of the media summit, the topics at the NLGJA conventions were a difficult fit for journalists working in the gay press; archaic topics like coming out in the newsroom were on display.

"Some of the topics were interesting and pertinent," she said. "But the summit has been wonderful because it gives us a chance to talk about focus issues."

Avila said that the idea behind the summit was the challenges LGBT people face in the media are different than what others might face.

"We want to acknowledge that," he said. "So now we can devote an entire day to say [that] what the LGBT media does is significant."