New year, new site for members to interact with the TJA — plus upcoming events and dreams for 2024

Announcing the brand-new TJA members platform!

We've built a one-stop shop for all upcoming public and private TJA events, membership information, job postings, links to our online communities, reporter directories, and more.

We're excited to see all of the longtime members who've already joined the platform! Thanks for putting up with yet another long signup form — we’re trying to make sure we have all the information we need to serve you better. And extra thanks to those of you who tested the site, flagged things that were confusing, pointed out that we'd failed to add "photography" as a medium, alerted us about newsroom security software blocking access to the site, or requested we add an FAQ about site privacy. (Oops.)

We've created a new membership structure, adding options similar to other journalism organizations' "affiliate" or "supporter" tiers.

The journalist membership welcomes journalists of all genders who want to create more pathways to success for trans journalists and produce fair, accurate, and nuanced coverage of the issues that affect trans communities. The community membership creates ways for former journalists and allies outside of journalism to follow our work, while keeping certain resources and spaces reserved for journalists.

And as always, we'll continue to build spaces for trans journalists.

You'll find it all at https://members.transjournalists.org.

What's on the website?

• Our upcoming public events
• Members-only events calendar
• Private directory of freelancers
• Private directory of journalists interested in receiving press releases and inquiries
• Public news blog to keep up-to-date with TJA events, partnerships, and more
• Notifications (both via email and on the site directly) about upcoming volunteer opportunities, professional events, TJA programs, and more

Most of the site is private to members. (Check out our privacy FAQ and our directories FAQ for more info.)

How do I access it as a TJA member?

• If you're already a TJA member, check the listserv or Slack for onboarding info and sign up for an account following those instructions — you'll be added faster that way.
• If you're not a TJA member or you've been holding off on joining, join now.

What resources can I access without joining?

• If you're an editor commissioning freelancers or a PR person looking to reach trans journalists, you can request access to our directories.
• If you're a hiring manager, you can post paid job listings on our new public-facing jobs board.
  • You can still reach a smaller subsection of our membership with a free job posting by emailing it directly to jobs@transjournalists.org.

What are the TJA's plans for this year?

Our board and other volunteers are thinking about the best ways to do a lot with relatively little money and no paid staff. But as a newer group that is just formalizing its structure, we're fortunate to not be weighed down by a lot of organizational precedent.

Some of this might work! Some of this might not!

We're excited to see what works and what doesn't, and think about ways to grow.

Our main goals include:

1. Launch a "peer career network" to help trans journalists find qualified journalists willing to chat through "mentorship office hours" as we investigate funding and other opportunities for more formal mentorship programs
2. Gather a critical mass of trans journalists at IRE 2024 in Anaheim, where we plan to offer a series of panels on investigative approaches to covering the upcoming 2024 elections and implementation of anti-trans legislation — and highlight our members' expertise across other coverage areas
3. Experiment with models for a trans coverage funding program, similar to the Society of Environmental Journalists' Fund for Environmental Journalism or the Fund for Investigative Journalism
4. Establish a professional development stipend fund like OpenNews' Scholarships+ to support trans journalists attending journalism industry events and trainings (like our own gathering at IRE)

And we'll continue offering the core services we already provide: member events, trans coverage trainings, newsroom trainings, conference panels, informal quick-response conversations with newsrooms, workshops on trans coverage, and more. We'll also be creating more resources for the industry to better understand how to cover trans people and communities with accuracy and nuance.

Want to sponsor a specific program? We're working on ways to enable that. Email us at contact@transjournalists.org to discuss. Or donate directly.

If you want to volunteer as a mentor, we're looking for journalists of any gender identity willing to volunteer 1-2 hours a month to share their expertise. Let us know at contact@transjournalists.org.

Register now for a TJA members chat with Melissa Gira Grant

The New Republic's Melissa Gira Grant will speak on reporting driven by legal filings, using as a case study her story "The Mysterious Case of the Fake Gay Marriage Website, the Real Straight Man, and the Supreme Court." She'll also discuss reporting with public records more broadly, as well as how to approach stories around sensitive public records, how to focus your reporting efforts when planning a larger records-driven project, and general tips and tricks.

TJA board member Adam Rhodes will moderate the conversation.

⏰ Wednesday January 24, 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET
📍 Online
✍️ Register now through the TJA members site [members-only link]

If you haven't joined the new site yet, please sign up here before registering.

Join the TJA in Baltimore!

The TJA is programming three panels at Investigative Reporters & Editors' NICAR 2024 conference in Baltimore, MD.

• Finding and using data about LGBTQ+ people
• Trans data: How we can do better
• Undercovered stories about trans people and communities

If you're a TJA member and you'll be at NICAR, you can let us know by registering for the TJA @ NICAR event on our members site. We'll send out emails about panel scheduling and are planning a small TJA members meetup at the conference.

Opportunities for TJA members

Fellowships

The Society of Environmental Journalists and The Uproot Project are partnering to offer diversity fellowships (worth up to $2,800) to support journalists’ attendance at #SEJ2024 in Philadelphia.

TJA members are eligible to apply. Deadline is January 5.

Community and book clubs

An official NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Book Club is on the horizon. Trans Journalists Association membership is helping to organize and welcome to join!

Beginning in February, the virtual book club will be centered around books that delve into the rich history of the LGBTQ+ community. The club will offer members an excellent opportunity to share perspectives, make new friends, and have meaningful conversations.

Stay tuned for more details, including the date, time, and book selection for the inaugural meeting. Complete this interest form to let NLGJA know what you'd like to read and when you'd like to meet.

Journalism programs

• The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT is taking applications for two major fellowship programs:
  • The Victor K. McElheny Award for Local Science Journalism honors outstanding local and regional journalism covering issues in science, public health, technology, or the environment in the United States. Submissions due January 31, 2024.
  • The Knight Science Journalism Program fellowships offers academic-year fellowships to 10 science journalists from around the globe, giving them an opportunity to explore science, technology, and the craft of journalism. Applications open until January 15, 2024.
• The National Press Club has opened scholarship applications for high school seniors and undergraduate or graduate student journalists. Applications are due between February 18 and April 14, depending on the opportunity.

☀️ TJA in the spotlight

Translation troubles

TJA member and style guide contributor Valen Iricibar writes on the nuances of translating culturally specific terms for gender identity:

As per the TJA guide, assuming that gender identities are equivalent across languages may lead to a simplistic translation that could be both offensive and inaccurate. For example, almost all press surrounding the Google Doodle of Diana Sacayán described her as a trans woman instead of the proud travesti pioneer that she was: the terms are simply not synonymous.

Read more in the Buenos Aires Herald.

We're in Nieman Reports' Top 5 Interviews of 2023!

Nieman Reports’ Top 5 Interviews of 2023 | Nieman Reports

Over the past year, Nieman Reports has engaged with influential figures in journalism, highlighting transformative efforts and addressing critical challenges in the field. The discussions have ranged from innovative newsroom initiatives to in-depth strategies tackling issues like media representation, press freedom, and the evolution of local journalism. Here are five of Nieman Reports’ most thought-provoking […]

Nieman ReportsInts Kalnins/Reuters

Predictions for trans journalism in 2024: Too many news orgs adopt right-wing frames about trans people

If 2023 is anything to go by, I predict 2024 will continue to see many mainstream news organizations unwittingly and unquestioningly accept and adopt those right-wing frames and talking points in their coverage, contributing to falling public support for trans rights, and more broadly for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized communities.

I hope desperately that I’m wrong. But I fear I’ll be right.

What the public needs — in a pivotal election year — is more, and better, coverage of the forces and motivations behind this single-minded legislative onslaught and the real-world impact of the hateful rhetoric and bills already passed — on trans and cis people, institutions, companies and communities. And about how the methods and tactics employed in this battle are already being deployed in other campaigns.

—Gina Chua, TJA board member

Read more in Nieman Labs' 2024 Predictions for Journalism, 2024.

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What we're reading & watching

Her story fueled anti-trans bills. Now, she’s fighting them. from The Washington Post

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From drag bans to sports restrictions, 75 anti-LGBTQ bills have become law in 2023

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School clubs for gay students move underground after Kentucky’s anti-LGBTQ law goes into effect - The Hechinger Report

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The real story on Europe’s transgender debate

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Infertile people, gay and trans couples yearn for progress on lab-made eggs and sperm

An experimental technology that might someday allow infertile couples, as well as gay and trans couples, to have genetically related children stirs hope. So far, the technique has worked in mice.

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Activists link US nonprofit to anti-LGBTQ laws in Africa. The group says it’s only promoting ‘family values’ | CNN

For months, CNN has investigated whether Family Watch International has helped promote a raft of homophobic bills in Uganda, Kenya and Ghana – allegations it denies.

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