21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards

Facts & Figures Tip Sheet

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOMINEES: 152
(116 English, 36 Spanish-language)

TOTAL NUMBER OF GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS CATEGORIES: 32
(24 English, 8 Spanish-language)

CRITERIA FOR NOMINATION:
GLAAD Media Awards nominees are selected by Nominating Juries using the following four criteria:

Fair, Accurate and Inclusive Representations – Rather than portraying the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in broad stereotypes, the project deals with the characters or themes in a fair, accurate, and multi-dimensional manner. Inclusive means that the diversity of the LGBT community is represented.

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.

Impact – The project has significant cultural impact. The media project dramatically increases the cultural dialogue about LGBT issues, or reaches an audience that is not regularly exposed to LGBT images and issues.

Overall Quality – A project of extremely high quality adds significance to the images and issues portrayed and draws more viewers or readers to the material. Fair, accurate and inclusive images may be weakened when they are part of a poor-quality project.

FACTS ABOUT THE NOMINEES:

In addition to the fight for marriage equality in states like Maine and Washington, as well as the continued fight in California, the media also focused on a variety of issues important to the LGBT community. Among the issues covered were Don't Ask Don't Tell ("Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach 'I Was Utterly Devastated' CNN Newsroom), LGBT immigration rights (Mike Swift's "Binational Same-Sex Couples Face Immigration Problems" in the San Jose Mercury News), the Stonewall Anniversary ("40th Anniversary of Stonewall" In the Life), the Uganda death penalty bill ("Uganda Be Kidding Me" The Rachel Maddow Show), and a 10-year-old boy who took a stand for gay rights ("Why Will Won't Pledge Allegiance" American Morning).

The lives and stories of LGBT youth received significant attention in the media this year. Nominees addressing the experience of LGBT youth include A Single Man, Phoebe in Wonderland, The Secrets, Skins, Beautiful People, Glee, GREEK, The United States of Tara, "Lisa Says" The Listener, Pedro, A Prayer for Bobby, The Amazing Race 15, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Making His Band, The Real World: Brooklyn, As the World Turns, "Hell to Pay – Gay Teen Exorcism" The Tyra Banks Show, "Sirdeaner Walker Interview" The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "40th Anniversary of Stonewall" In the Life, "Angie Zapata Murder Trial" InSession, "Bullied to Death" Anderson Cooper 360, "Gay Teen Mutilated" Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, and Benoit Denizet-Lewis' "Coming Out in Middle School" in The New York Times Magazine.

LGBT issues in sports were explored in "Either/Or: Sports, Sex and the Case of Caster Semenya" by Ariel Levy (The New Yorker), "Former College Football Captain Was Openly Gay" by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. (Outsports.com), "McMackin's Slur Reveals Larger Problem" by LZ Granderson (ESPN.com), "We Love You, This Won't Change a Thing" by John Buccigross (ESPN.com), and "AIDS Lifecycle: On the Road" by Derrick Shore (Advocate.com).

The transgender and intersex communities are represented in Taking Woodstock, Casi Divas, "Lisa Says" The Listener, "Wait and See" Private Practice, Be Like Others, Making His Band, The Real World: Brooklyn, RuPaul's Drag Race, "The Science of Intersex" The Dr. Oz Show, "Angie Zapata Murder Trial" InSession, "Reverend's Revelation: Minister Speaks Out About Being Transgender" The Early Show, "Total Transformation: Why Chaz Bono Decided to Change" Good Morning America, Christine McFadden's "Minister Kept Secret for 27 Years" in The Portland Tribune [Portland, Ore.], Carol Ann Alaimo's "Transgender Vets a Hidden Population" for the Arizona Daily Star [Tucson, Ariz.], and Ariel Levy's "Either/Or: Sports, Sex and the Case of Caster Semenya" in The New Yorker.

ABC received eight nominations in the following categories: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Daily Drama, Outstanding TV Journalism Segment, and dual nominations for Private Practice for Outstanding Individual Episode.

The New York Times received more nominations for the 21th Annual GLAAD Media Awards than any other newspaper or magazine, including a nomination in each Newspaper category: Outstanding Newspaper Columnist (Frank Rich), Outstanding Newspaper Article, and Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage.

Current nominees Brothers & Sisters, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, The Ellen Degeneres Show, As the World Turns, The Oprah Winfrey Show, In the Life, The New York Times, The Advocate, Newsweek, Leonard Pitts, Jr. (The Miami Herald), LZ Granderson (ESPN.com), and Tarell Alvin McCraney were all nominees at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards last year.
The Broadway production of Hair will receive a Special Recognition award in honor of their commitment to raising visibility for marriage equality. The show closed down production for a day in October so that the cast could attend the National Equality March in Washington D.C., and the show actively encouraged other people to attend the march.

MULTIPLE NOMINEES:

Broadcast Networks [17 total]
ABC (8)
CBS (4)
The CW (2)
NBC (2)

Cable Networks [23 total]
CNN (6) [includes HLN]
Logo (4)
MTV (3)
BBC America (2)
HBO (2)

Television Shows
Private Practice (ABC) (2)
CNN Newsroom (CNN) (2)

Print & Digital Journalism
The New York Times (3)
USA Today (2)
ESPN.com (2)
Newsweek (1) / Newsweek.com (1)
The Advocate (1) / Advocate.com (1)

Comic Book Publisher
DC Comics (3)

SPANISH-LANGUAGE CATEGORIES

Television Networks
Univision / Univision.com (12)
Telemundo (8)
MegaTV (2)

Television Shows
El Show de Cristina (Univision) (3)
Al Rojo Vivo (Telemundo) (2)

Newspapers & Magazines
People en Español (2) / PeopleenEspañol.com (1)

Contacts:
Mary Kaye Daniels
BWR
(212) 901-3938 (o)
marykaye.daniels@bwr-ny.com

Kelly Striewski
BWR
(310) 550-7776 (o)
kstriewski@bwr-la.com

Rich Ferraro
GLAAD
(646) 871-8011 (o)
ferraro@glaad.org

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