[From a Press Release]
New York, NY – After 20 years in production, In The Life Media (ITLM) announces that December 2012 will mark the last broadcast of IN THE LIFE. Though legally dissolving the organization is a process that will continue into 2013, all regular ITLM operations will conclude with the final broadcast.
At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were virtually invisible in media, ITLM became the first to bring real stories, struggles and issues about the LGBT experience into living rooms across the country through its public television show, IN THE LIFE.
Beginning as a variety show in 1992, IN THE LIFE evolved into its current newsmagazine format throughout the years, becoming the most honored and respected source for LGBT journalism along the way. In addressing difficult, critical issues, the show regularly gives voice to marginalized individuals, profiles unsung heroes of the LGBT movement and documents its most historic moments. It was the first major, national media outlet to expose the alarmingly high rates of homelessness among LGBT youth, epidemic rates of suicide among LGBT children who are bullied and the discrimination of transgender individuals in the workplace.
“ITLM has had the extraordinary privilege and responsibility of being the only newsmagazine to reflect the diversity of the LGBT communities, daring to tell stories other media outlets – both mainstream and LGBT – did not touch,” said ITLM Interim Executive Director Ellen Carton.
Much has changed since IN THE LIFE first premiered. LGBT people now figure prominently in television news and media. A majority of Americans, including the President, now support marriage equality. Studies show that visibility is the driving force behind this rapid shift in cultural attitudes toward the LGBT community. “As the media organization that pioneered LGBT visibility on television,” says ITLM Co-Chair Jayne Sherman, “we believe ITLM played a significant role in this historic progress.”
ITLM is coming to an end, but its vision is not. The organization will pass the baton onto communities, networks and individuals in the form of an online hub featuring thousands of hours of incomparable and never-before seen ITLM footage. Users will view, share and build on the archive with their own stories, using the power of open source, interactive technology to create a new wave of compelling LGBT media that will break down barriers to lasting social and political justice.
ITLM has entered into conversations with other organizations with the potential, passion and infrastructure to create and lead this project.
“Creating high quality, in-depth journalism is expensive, but digital technologies provide a new way forward,” said Board Co-Chair Henry van Ameringen. “I am immeasurably proud of our legacy and the critical role we’ve played in the movement. We are committed to preserving our invaluable archive chronicling the evolution of LGBT rights in America with an online product that will continue to advance equality in new and innovative ways.”
ABOUT IN THE LIFE MEDIA
For twenty years, In The Life Media has been a leading media organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement. One of the nation’s most honored and influential LGBT groups, In The Life Media creates social and political change by examining issues critical to LGBT individuals and providing audiences with powerful ways to advance equality within, and beyond, their communities. Produced by In The Life Media, the Emmy-nominated series, IN THE LIFE, was the first—and remains the only—LGBT newsmagazine on public television. IN THE LIFE is a two-time Emmy Award nominee, a Lambda Legal Liberty Award honoree, a Seigenthaler Award recipient from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and a Ribbon of Hope Award recipient from The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: www.ITLMedia.org.
