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market insight
Unmasking the pink press
by Markus Hill and Kotie Ferreira
The gay press has long been disregarded by the mainstream media. Was bigotry the reason for this, or did gay publications doom themselves? And why is it essential for the voice of the gay press to be heard in the new South Africa?
When looking to buy a gay magazine at a local newsagent, one is bound to find it in the skin section. Wrapped in plastic, up on the highest shelf, or perhaps even only available from under the counter, they seem to be branded pariah magazines.
The question might well be asked why gay magazines are not displayed next to their straight lifestyle counterparts. Is there a lack of regard for these magazines, or is society simply prejudiced against gays? Or does the gay press practise a low standard of journalism that warrants this attitude?
The perception that gay magazines are nothing but skin magazines might have much to do with the apparent disregard for this market. Nevertheless, the gay community represents a strong minority group that cannot be ignored. South Africa’s new constitution, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, has made the country one of the most gay-friendly in the world, in theory. In a free society like this, it is essential for the voice of the gay community to be heard.
"Now, more than ever, the business and advertising worlds have come to recognise the potential of the gay and lesbian market as vast and largely untapped. In an era of heightened attention to ‘niche marketing’, this offers the gay press the promise of transacting real business on real terms in a market that needs us as much as we need them," says Sarah Petit, Editor-in-Chief of Out, America’s highest circulation gay magazine. Gavin Hayward, editor of Exit, South Africa’s oldest and biggest gay publication, explains what makes the gay market such a viable one for advertisers: "Many gays and lesbians are highly qualified professionals, and they are unencumbered by family and children, and the expenses that go with them. DINKS, as they are known: Double Income, No Kids."
Various surveys have proved the power of pink money. In 1995 a survey by Outright, South Africa’s only alternative lifestyle magazine, showed that 25% of respondents earned more than R8 000 a month, while 24% earned between R5 000 and R8 000 a month.
Similar trends apply in America. A 1992 survey by Overlooked Opinions, an United States gay, lesbian and bisexual owned and operated survey firm, showed the market to be very lucrative. The average monthly income of gay households was R19 000 (41% above the national average), and that of lesbian households R15 500 (26% above the national average). Among gay households, 15% had an income higher than R35 000 a month, while this applied to 3% of lesbian households. The number of college graduates (62% in gay and 59% in lesbian households) also proved to be very high, while 47% of gays and 40% of lesbians held professional or managerial jobs. In total, the annual value of the gay and lesbian market there was estimated at over R2 200 billion.
"When Out was launched four years ago, few suspected that we would be able to secure more than a couple obvious major national advertising accounts. The magazine now has done the unexpected and broken most significant advertising categories, regularly competing with larger circulation books for premium ad schedules," reflects Petit on the success the magazine has in drawing mainstream advertisers.
In September 1995 a New York media firm, Mulryan/Nash, released a study which predicted a 16.2% increase in advertisement spending in the American gay press for the year. This was well ahead of the increase in mainstream magazines (13.3%), mainstream newspapers (6.8%), the Hispanic print market (6%) and the black print market (3%).
While mainstream advertisers in America seem to become quite involved in the gay press, the South African market struggles. Madeleine Rose, editor of Outright, says getting advertising when they started the magazine back in 1993 was incredibly difficult. While she admits to a dramatic softening of attitudes towards Outright, she says her magazine is still confronted by bigotry. "If they [advertisers] want to target the straight market, I don’t have a problem with that, but then don’t ask favours from the gay community. I’m very adamant that I’ll not support anyone who endorses any kind of discrimination," she says.
Companies who categorically state they will have nothing to do with the gay community are sure to be confronted, says Rose. Two-thirds of the respondents in the Outright survey said they would boycott companies which are not gay-friendly. She claims many readers have asked her to publish the names of companies who boycott the magazine for being a gay magazine. And she threatens action: "The time is coming that I’ll publish this kind of information in Outright. Then companies will understand the real buying power of the gay community."
Hayward also experiences trouble in luring the mainstream advertisers. "Of course, the gay clubs, sex shops and video dealers know where their market is, and they respond positively. But a big problem with the viability of the gay press in this country is the reluctance of big corporations (sellers of liquor, cars, cell phone networks, etc.) to advertise in the gay press. I have been told by, for instance, the major purveyor of cinematic entertainment in South Africa, that they cannot appear in a soft porn publication."
This begs the question: just how much skin is there in gay magazines? And can gay magazines simply be labelled as soft porn magazines? "Exit is much more than a skin publication," says Hayward, but he does admit that his newspaper "gets into some flesh." In his May 1996 editorial he launched sharp criticism against advertisers, whom he accused of being prudish. "What’s wrong with South African advertisers? Why are a few flaccid dicks perceived as being so offensive? And one can hardly not include them in a gay newspaper."
How then does Out manage to have the largest circulation in America, while it does not publish "skin" per se? "Our reputation for quality, the cover subjects, and the ability to have more scope and commentary per page than most magazines in the niche," claims Petit. She feels strongly that a magazine does not need to publish skin to be visually pleasing. "Any competitive magazine on the market has to devote a lot of time, talent, and money to visuals. At Out, we adhere strongly to this knowledge, as we do to the core belief that good magazines are good reading. One without the other is only half of what is called for."
Rose admits that her magazine did have skin. "What we perceived to be strong in terms of the need for a serious magazine was not necessarily commercially sensible. And I realised very quickly that our support was good because there was a need for a serious publication. But especially the gay male is visually stimulated - let’s not walk away from that." She believes the magazine has evolved to the point where it need not carry skin any more, and this type of visual material has therefore been steadily reduced since the first few editions. Categorically denying that Outright is a pornographic publication, Rose claims the magazine has never published explicit pornographic material. She says the magazine has gained considerable respectability from the mainstream media, and thinks the removal of skin has had a lot to do with this. Nevertheless, she contends that Outright never carried sufficient skin to warrant complaints from the public.
Putting the skin debate aside, the important role the gay press plays cannot be denied. Hayward believes the existence of a vigorous gay press is essential: keeping the gay community informed about social events, services and relevant political developments, it should provide entertainment and contribute to opinion-forming.
Exit, a 16 year old newspaper with a circulation of 10 000, covers local and international news, opinion columns, health and travel features. Theatre pages, as well as movie, book and video reviews are included.
Rose says she firmly believes Outright helps changing the stereotypical heterosexual perception of gays. Where many heterosexual people used to perceive the gay community as being interested in skin only, she likes to think a publication such as Outright makes them see another side of what being gay is all about.
Outright, with a circulation of 8 500, includes features, columns, interviews, news, reviews and photographs of gay events. Community orientated pages include the HIV-update, Doctor On Call and From The Couch pages. A newly added feature, News Makers, focuses on ordinary members of the local gay public. The high standard of the magazine’s fashion pages also attracts attention.
Petit also mentions the positive role the gay press has played to change stereotypical perceptions of the gay community. She claims the improvement of the straight media’s coverage of gay issues "is largely attributable to the persistence and ever evolving quality of the gay press."
This does not mean the American gay press does not come under close scrutiny. Criticising from within the community is Brad L. Graham, guest commentator for OutLook St. Louis, an on-line gay magazine. He takes on Out and The Advocate, a national American gay and lesbian newsmagazine that has existed since 1967. He brands The Advocate as "hetero as a monster truck show, devoting full colour covers and lengthy feature stories to straight folks. John Travolta and Jodie Foster got cover spots to assert their dubious heterosexuality, and just in time for the twenty-sixth anniversary of Stonewall, Madonna posed to declare, 'I am not a lesbian'." In the same month, Out did a feature on Keanu Reeves and dubbed its Pride month edition "The Straight Issue."
For Graham, this signifies that the American gay press has lost sight of its mission, when it should be the "first rough draft of [gay] history". He believes these magazines used to be all about pride, but are now all about denial. "They’re no longer about gay people and who we are, but about straight people and what they’re not."
Graham admits this might be a simple matter of economics. Putting a celebrity on the cover, makes copies fly off the shelves. "Madonna in lacy lingerie sells better than more deserving gay cover subjects. The openly gay educator Robert Birle’s obituary got two lines of type in the same issue as the Material Girl’s cover pose." He blames the gay community with its persistent curiosity: the general fascination with the "is he or isn’t he?" aspects of a movie star’s life. Graham wants the movie fan magazines to cover the stars and the pink publications to bring news of the ordinary gay heroes and heroines.
Where does this leave the South African gay press? Can the bridge, between bringing the mainstream advertisers in and keeping the gay readership happy, be built?
Part of the problem might be the fact that the South African market is too small to run a large, viable variety of gay publications, catering for different segments of the market. Petit disagrees: "I’m not sure that size of market determines focus of book. As far as I know, South Africa has almost played a leadership role in the world with some recent developments in rights of gay men and lesbians. I really don’t see how, in that environment, you can’t and shouldn’t aim for the highest goals possible for the gay press.
"I have no problem with skin mags, but they are not general-interest fare ever likely to be supported advertising-wise by the mainstream. This is not an issue of homophobia, but of rules that apply to all - conventional business wants conventional outlets. You don’t see that fare in GQ or Vanity Fair. So why would it make sense in a gay magazine that seeks the same advertising support?
"The main point here is not to mix apples and oranges. Make a skin mag but don’t expect American Express advertising in its pages and don’t expect that all gay people, especially lesbians for whom this will offer little, to buy it. Make a general interest magazine, do the best job on editorial possible, hire a great publisher and have him sell the world on why and how people should ‘want to reach your readers’. This is business, not politics, and so keep it at that level."
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