Poynter.org – By Keith M. Woods – Poynter Dean – Contributors: Lane DeGregory
A Florida city manager who will undergo a sex change was fired from his job. Poynter Dean Keith Woods interviews a St. Petersburg Times staff writer who captured his story.
Steve Stanton, the city manager in the Tampa Bay city of Largo, was fired Feb. 27 after announcing he would undergo a sex change operation to become a woman.
St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times staff writer Lane DeGregory, with reporting help from Lorri Hefland, profiled Stanton 10 days later. She has an interest in transgender issues and has written about the subject previously.
DeGregory recently won the Ernie Pyle Award for human interest writing and finished second for the third straight year in the National Headliners Awards feature writing competition.
I interviewed DeGregory via e-mail to find out more on how she handled the story.