April 2000 Cover
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To publish a gay newspaper or magazine means facing daily-- summer or autumn, rain or shine-- a veritable snowstorm of faxes and press releases from the many fine lesbian and gay organizations and firms competing for
the pink eyeball and dollar. The Guide regularly sacrifices cows, figuratively speaking, on the altar of journalistic objectivity and thoroughness. Nonetheless, we know that we cannot but fail to do justice to the
bovine steadfastness and output of these hard-working gay groups, who themselves have sacrificed so much on the altar of public relations. The first of April seemed like a good time to set matters right and offer straight-up a few
of the press releases we've received recently, presented exactly as the darn things got ripped coming out of our antediluvian thermal-paper fax machine.*
A sample of the releases,
Please, some sympathy
Doubtless, some readers will complain (some always do) that publishing unadulterated press releases-- without context, spin, or P.O.V.-- reflects just laziness on our part. And to be honest,
The Guide's editorial department was at a loss for what to put in the magazine this issue. Our sales rep who covered Gay Green Bay this month found the Wisconsin city so much to his liking he decided to quit and stay there for good (hint: a lot
of Green Bay "housewives" are keeping a secret from hubby packed in their
lederhosen). And while we have received his left ear by international courier, we are still waiting for the rest of our man in Bogota to return with
his copy on the fine gay dining and quaint bed-and-breakfasts in that undiscovered gay vacation hotspot. (Commandante Raśl, if you're reading this, look for the unmarked bills stuffed, as requested, in the box of Felchon
Video's Latin Scat.) Our staffer assigned the story "Amputation: The Ultimate Gay Fetish?" has been much slower than usual typing out his article with his remaining big toe. But irregardless of these difficulties,
The Guide's senior proofreading and editing staff feels that our readers are grown-ups who don't need our editorial spoon-feeding all the time. We believe that you, the reader, are discerning enough, even in the dim light and alcoholic haze of
a popular gay watering hole, to form your own opinions about what is, after all, the raw material for almost all gay journalism today: the press release.
Editor's Note: * To contribute to The Guide's Fax Machine Capital Improvement Fund, please send unwanted cash, securities, and/or loose postage, to Fidelity Publishing, Dept. of Information Services, PO Box
990593, Boston, Massachusetts 02199 USA.
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