Susan Wright gave 63 Interviews (up from 52 in 2011), including:
E! Network, USA Today, Newsweek, The Lisa Ling Show, Washington Post, National Geographic, The Katie Couric Show, NY Observer, Globe & Mail, Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press, Hollywood.com, Denver Westword, 20/20, and 9 local news stations.
- 9 interviews took place throughout the year regarding FetLife-related incidents
- 8 were about NCSF projects and programs
- 8 were about 50 Shades of Grey
- 7 were about Folsom Street East, and the High Line park that overlooks the street fair
- 5 were about Ed Bagley
There were 32 media-related Incident Reporting & Response cases, many with multiple contacts (down from 37 in 2011):
- 11 involved discrimination because of BDSM behavior including: fighting a hotel trying to cancel a kink event contract; assisting Leather & Grace in their attempt to get a policy of inclusion for kinky people in UUA; and someone who was outed to their employer when a person sent their boss their FetLife profile.
- 8 involved mass media coverage including: the Detroit incident where a play party was filmed by undercover journalists and people were outed in the news promo until we got them to blur their features; protesting the sensationalized Canadian RCMP Cpl. Brown media coverage; and destigmatizing the cemetery suspension photos that were picked up by the media.
- 5 were media training/website prep for people who want to be able to give interviews to reporters.
Some other actions taken by the Media Outreach Program:
- Three NCSF Action Alerts were sent out: 1. calling for letters to the editor in the RCMP Cpl. Brown media case; 2. rallying people who had been exposed by the Detroit undercover journalists to contact the news station; and 3. calling for letters to protest the Advocate removing a pro-kink editorial.
- Several guest blogs were posted on the NCSF website toward the end of the year.
- Bo Blaze made a series of 10 PSAs for NCSF that are now posted on NCSF’s YouTube channel.
Report by Susan Wright