AJR.com – By Lindsay Kalter – AJR Editorial Assistant.
Although they have a long way to go, news organizations are beginning to report with more sophistication about transgender issues.
In April 2007, the byline of a well-known Los Angeles Times sports columnist changed from Mike Penner to Christine Daniels. In her column announcing the transition, Daniels asked a question that reflects a significant void in media coverage: “How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried…to a world whose knowledge of transsexuals usually begins and ends with Jerry Springer’s exploitation circus?”