GLAAD Media Awards Selection Process

The GLAAD Media Awards have been held every year since 1990; they recognize and honor mainstream news and entertainment media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect our lives.

Nominee Selection
Nominees are selected by juries comprised of volunteers with interest and expertise in the particular media category they are judging. In 2005, approximately 80 volunteers served on 7 different Nomination Juries, selecting 159 nominees in 40 categories.

In addition to year-round media monitoring by the juries, GLAAD issues a Call for Entries in September, encouraging media outlets to submit outstanding work for consideration. GLAAD may nominate a media project even if it is not submitted as part of the Call for Entries.

Nominating Juries may select up to five nominees in each category. If no projects are deemed worthy of nomination in a particular category, the jury may choose to not award that category. At the end of the year, the Nominating Juries submit their list of recommended nominees to GLAAD's staff and Board of Directors for final approval.

All media projects with LGBT images are evaluated using four criteria:

1. Fair, Accurate and Inclusive Representations - Rather than portraying the LGBT community in broad stereotypes, the project deals with the characters or themes in a fair, accurate, and multi-dimensional manner. (This is different than a "positive role model.") Inclusive means that the diversity of the LGBT community is represented. This includes economic, geographic, and political diversity, as well as people of color, seniors, differently abled people, etc.
2. Boldness and Originality - The project breaks new ground by exploring LGBT subject matter in non-traditional ways and handles the LGBT content in a fresh and original manner. Is this project cutting-edge?
3. Impact - The project impacts society in a significant way. Does this project dramatically increase the cultural dialogue about LGBT issues? Or, does this project reach an audience that is not regularly exposed to LGBT images and issues?
4. Overall Quality - A project of extremely high quality adds impact and significance to the images and issues portrayed. Fair, accurate and inclusive images can sometimes be weakened when they are part of a poor-quality project.

Winner Selection
Over 700 GLAAD Media Awards voters contribute to the selection of winners in each category via online balloting. Voters are comprised of three groups: GLAAD staff and board, GLAAD Media Circle members, and GLAAD volunteers & allies (which includes previous Special Honorees, key media industry allies, volunteers from the Nominating Juries, and Event Production teams).

The votes of these three groups result in a final slate of winners, which is then given to GLAAD's Review Panel for certification. The Review Panel is comprised of the GLAAD Board co-chairs, senior GLAAD program staff, and media industry experts.

The members of the Review Panel are required to view all of the nominees in each category. The final slate of winners is certified by the Review Panel, based on the results of the online balloting and their own expert opinions.