Introducing The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project
This year, we're commissioning queer writers to write about how queers are represented across the media. This humble newsletter just got some funding, BABY!!!!
I have such incredibly big and exciting news - my friends, we’re being FUNDED. We’re gonna EXPLODE, in a GOOD way.
Which means you’re going to see a lot more from this newsletter starting from March. Before I get into it, I want to thank everyone who’s come along for the ride on this newsletter - your support has been overwhelming, and has motivated me to keep investing time and money into it (I was paying contributors out of my own pocket last year), and is what ultimately led me to apply for this grant to expand our scope, because I just adore writing and editing pieces for ya’ll.
So - I’m thrilled to let everyone know that we’ve received a grant from Meta and the Walkley Foundation to help support public interest journalism.
Unfortunately I did not get the full $15m like I asked for (my pitch was to turn this newsletter into a pirate ship and prey on the spanish navy) but that’s fine - what we’ve been given is a budget to pay amazing writers what they deserve for excellent articles, and that’s super exciting to me.
What is The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project?
An online newsletter publication edited and written by editor and journalist Patrick Lenton, and platforming a roster of brilliant freelance LGBTQIA+ journalists who report on LGBTQIA+ representation and coverage in mainstream media, providing investigation, context, mythbusting and debunking, in the form of articles and social media first reporting.
The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project is an expansion of the reporting already done on All The Heterosexual Nonsense. All The Heterosexual Nonsense began as a reality TV recap newsletter written by comedy writers Patrick Lenton and Bec Shaw, and over the past year, expanded to cultural analysis and news. In 2023 we reached a paid subscriber number which has allowed us to expand again and commission feature and news articles from freelance writers, focusing on LGBTQIA+ issues and politics, with a defined mission to platform trans journalists writing about transgender issues and other underrepresented portions of the community.
The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project is an addition to the broader newsletter (more on that later), which includes the recaps with Bec Shaw, pop-culture and comedy articles, and my column Stupid!
We’ll also continue working with the perfect Natalie Feliks as a regular columnist, as well as introducing some new regular faces. Oh the mystery. The anticipation.
Why? Good lord why???
LGBTQIA+ issues have become a common, lucrative and often sensationalised topic for media coverage in Australia. However this is almost always from cisgender/heterosexual perspectives, and often boosting uninformed voices and spreading misinformation. Our media can be pretty shit at a lot of things (Palestine, for a massive example) and queer issues has been particularly dire for a long time.
Homophobia and transphobia are currently emboldened in Australia by politicians, biased and unethical media practices, and organised far-right campaigns from overseas, leading to a documented increase in hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ Australians. You only need to look at the coverage of anti-trans campaigner Posie Parker’s nazi-ridden trip to Australia to understand why our media is out of their depth and perpetuating harm.
My newsletter All The Heterosexual Nonsense has been a home for my writing and reporting on LGBTQIA+ culture and news. In the past year I have expanded that remit and used it as a platform to commission, edit and publish journalism and writing from freelance LGBTQIA+ journalists.
The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project is not only a succinct and easy title to say out loud, but it also provides an online platform for LGBTQIA+ journalists, including specifically from trans and gender diverse backgrounds, to write about their own communities. The LGBTQIA Media Watch Project will use this platform and the expertise of me and a pool of writers to hold mainstream media to account from their position of lived expertise, and investigate LGBTIQA+ representation in the media. This will include:
News and topical original reporting on LGBTQIA+ issues in the media
Commissioned feature articles which debunk misinformation in the media, explainer articles on LGBTQIA+ discourse, interviews with relevant people, and opinion pieces from experts.
Social media first reporting, including video and tiles, aimed to summarise or distribute the above articles for bite-sized social media formats.
While we’re always going to be proudly queer for queer, this newsletter and project in general are very much aimed at the allies too - and should also be considered a resource for allies, especially in the media space, who want to benefit from queer-led expertise.
So what can we expect as subscribers?
What you will be able to enjoy as subscribers is a new feature article every week, from some of the best and brightest queer writers from Australia and New Zealand, and around the world.
As mentioned, these articles will be focusing on media representation of the LGBTQIA+ community - so it could be anything like this article that dissects what the ABC got wrong in their coverage of the Brianna Ghey trial, to this article which examines Channel 7’s use of detransitioners and places it within a broader context. It will be a mixture of reactive features, responding to the latest cooked thing happen, to more evergreen content that really looks at WHY these cooked things keep happening .
It’s also not just about what news and mainstream media gets wrong- there’s also scope to look at LGBTQIA+ representation in cultural media, things like queerbaiting and bury your gays - and also fun, good news pieces, such as this piece on why the asexual representation in Heartstopper works.
There’s also going to be short social media pieces, both based on our articles and as social-first reporting in their own right - hosted on the new Instagram account for the newsletter. This will be both posts and videos (we’re not pivoting to video, but we are shifting slightly towards it).
This is all in ADDITION to the content you enjoy - I’ll still be writing my column, we will do recaps, etc.
The LGBTQIA+ Media Watch Project will be a mixture of free and paid articles.
So can I write for you?
Yes! I will be doing an official callout as we roll out the launch of the Project, so subscribe, follow the Insta when it exists, and I’ll guide you through pitches. We pay $400 (minimum) per feature article, which is good!
So what next?
We’re getting a full newsletter rebrand (including a funky new name), we’re launching an Instagram, and over March we’re officially launching the Media Watch Project in several stages, so that’s cool.
We’re also launching with some BRILLIANT writers, who I’m so excited about, including a timely and necessary piece from Hiero Badge (one of my favourite writers in this field) about the cops at Mardi Gras issue.
While this is all very exciting, we also have goals we have to meet to hit our funding targets (including a certain amount of paid subscribers), which I’ll need some help with, and will really appreciate whatever you can do.
What you can do:
If you are a paid subscriber, please consider renewing or purchasing an annual subscription
If you are a free subscriber, please considering supporting the project and signing up for a paid subscription - it means we’ll hit our goals, and also be able to afford more writers, more articles, and even more recaps
When the Instagram is launched, please follow it!
Please spread the word about this newsletter and this project! Word of mouth is so powerful. Please share articles! Please give me a little kiss on the forehead!
If you are a PR person for personalities and brands and shows, someone involved in queer advocacy or queer organisations, similar politics, other sympathetic publications, and you want to talk about collaborations or features on the newsletter or just want to say hi, please reach out: patricklenton@gmail.com
How do you feel about this, Patrick?
I’m so excited. From my days as an editor at Junkee and The Conversation, to my freelancing coverage of queer issues, I have always tried to boost queer voices and help carve a space in our stunted and unwell media ecosystem. One of the first projects I did at Junkee was a column called ‘Gender Euphoria’, which was an attempt to get trans writers to write about trans joy, and I feel this project is a cousin of that.
I feel like the remit of this project has incredibly capacity for public interest journalism, as well as more entertaining and fun stuff.
The fact that I get to focus on doing that this year, and pay amazing writers well, is really a dream come true. I also have MORE exciting personal news to share, but more on that later.
I’m excited! Hope you all are too!
Awesome news!
I’ve just subscribed - it is so important to support these projects. Keep up the great work!