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Adult Entertainment Today Editor Nabs Runner Up in Sex-Themed Publications (news and features)
The board and judges of the Sex-Positive Journalism Awards (“Sexies”) are proud to announce the winners of the 2008 Sexies. Selected from over 100 entries submitted by both writers and readers, the winning entries cover subjects from sex in nursing homes, prostitution, and sex in Iran to Kink.com and panics over Internet sex. The winning articles were published in a dozen states in all corners of the United States (and one Canadian province), and represent a range of genres, from news to advice columns.
What they all have in common, however, is that they succeed in embodying the Sexies criteria for sex-positive journalism (http://www.sexies.org/criteria.html) far better than the vast majority of their counterparts, helping to improve the quality of dialogue around sex and create a more well-informed reading public.“Too many mentions of sex in the media recapitulate our culture’s biases about sexuality and sexual 
diversity, especially as far as ‘controversial’ topics are concerned,” says Sexies judge (and writer, Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist, and Center for Sex & Culture founding director) Carol Queen, Ph.D. “Publications’ editors are too often afraid to let their writers show all sides, and certainly the sex-positive side, of a story. The Sexies give us a forum to highlight the exceptions, and hopefully shine a light by which all journalists can see more clearly.”The first-place winners are:
- News or feature (daily newspapers):
“Never Too Old for Sex,” by Jill Bauer, Miami Herald - News story (other general-topic news publications*):
“Hysteria, Exploitation, and Witch Hunting in the Age of Internet Sex,” by Debbie Nathan, Counterpunch
- Feature (other general-topic news publications*):
“Naughty Nursing Homes,” by Daniel Engber, Slate
- News or feature (sex-themed news publications):
“Sex in Iran,” by Pari Esfandiari and Richard Buskin, Playboy
- Opinion (all news publications):
“Abstinence 1, S-CHIP 0,” by Amanda Robb, New York Times
- Column (all news publications):
Between the Briefs, by Alysha Rooks, Res Gestae, University of Michigan Law School
Adult Entertainment Today Editor Tom Johansmeyer took the Runner Up honors for Sex-Themed Publications (news and features). The award was for his article, War Games, in AVN Online, which addresses an illegal search that led to the confiscation of dildos from civilian contractors serving in Iraq. According to the judges, “This is the sort of story that ought to find its way into the mainstream, but is instead consigned to the adult press specifically because of the biases we’ve started the Sex-Positive Journalism Awards to address.”
A list of all the winners, with links to online versions of their stories where available, and comments from the judges, can be viewed at http://www.sexies.org/news/winners08.html. All entries were read by at least two members of the Sexies judges panel, including at least one with a journalism background. Copies of those winning stories not available online can be provided to the media upon request.
The Sexies board thanks all the writers and readers who sent in entries, and encourages all of the writers who entered or were nominated to keep up their crucial work. Submissions for the 2009 Sexies are open and they will be accepted through March 2009 at www.sexies.org/submit.php.Awards will be presented at a cocktail party open to the public in New York City in October. Details will be announced shortly. The Sexies are seeking volunteers to help with the event and donors for a raffle to be held there. Raffle proceeds will help defray the costs of starting and maintaining the awards, the only journalism awards to exclusively address sex-positive coverage. For more info, contact us by replying to this e-mail.
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