Dissertation Reconsidering Randy Shilts
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DISSERTATION RECONSIDERING RANDY SHILTS: EXAMINING THE REPORTAGE OF AMERICA’S AIDS CHRONICLER Submitted by Andrew E. Stoner Department of Journalism and Technical Communication In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2013 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: James C. Landers Joseph E. Champ Patrick D. Plaisance Michael J. Hogan Richard Breaux Copyright by Andrew E. Stoner 2013 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT RECONSIDERING RANDY SHILTS: EXAMINING THE REPORTAGE OF AMERICA’S AIDS CHRONICLER The role of openly-gay reporter and author Randy Shilts (1951-1994) is examined related to his use of journalistic practices and places him on a continuum of traditional reporting roles as considered in the context of twentieth century philosophers Walter Lippmann and John Dewey. Reporter functions demonstrated by Shilts are examined, including those dictated by expectations of either strong journalistic influence over society and media consumers, or those more aligned with democratic practices where education and participation emphasize strong roles for society and media consumers. Using a biographical approach including 17 primary source interviews of former colleagues, critics, sources and family/friends, the examination of Shilts’s work as both a reporter and noted author is presented as being heavily influenced by his forthcoming attitudes about disclosure of his sexual orientation from the start of his career and his desire to explain or unpack aspects of gay culture, and ultimately the AIDS crisis, to heterosexual audiences. Careful examination of the posthumous critique of Shilts’s work – including his construction of Patient Zero – is undertaken. The study concludes that Shilts fully engaged a Lippmann-esque approach embodied in an authoritarian role for journalism that sought to change the world in which it was offered, and did so perhaps most influentially during the earliest days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in America. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the support of various organizations and individuals in the completion of this work, including the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, Timothy Wilson, curator; the GLBT Historical Society of San Francisco, Calif.; Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, San Francisco, Calif.; the family of Randy Shilts; Gary Shilts; Eric Marcus; Colorado State University and the Department of Journalism & Technical Communications and Morgan Library; the University of Oregon, School of Journalism & Communication, and the Office of Alumni Relations; The San Francisco Chronicle; KQED-TV, San Francisco, Calif.; the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive, Leonard Library, San Francisco State University; and all of the interview subjects who participated in this work, including Linda Alband; Dr. Marcus Conant; Dr. William Darrow; Belva Davis; Michael Denneny; Dr. Don Francis; Wes Haley; David Israels; Cleve Jones; Duncan McDonald; Alan Mutter; Steve Newman; George Osterkamp; Gary Shilts; Dr. Mervyn Silverman; Urvashi Vaid; and Rita Williams. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................... iii Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 6 Journalistic Role and Function.............................................................................................. 6 The Shilts Review ................................................................................................................ 12 Methodology and Research Approach ....................................................................................... 19 Report of Findings ..................................................................................................................... 25 Shilts’ Formation as Journalist............................................................................................. 25 Shilts Moves to Mainstream Journalism .............................................................................. 51 Arriving at The Chronicle .................................................................................................... 59 Making the Transition to Mainstream Journalism ............................................................... 77 Understanding ‘Randy Being Randy’ .................................................................................. 94 Shilts as Author .................................................................................................................... 115 Shilts as Chronicler .............................................................................................................. 122 Shilts Strikes up the ‘Band’ ................................................................................................. 150 Challenges Stump the ‘Band’ .............................................................................................. 166 Shilts ‘Conducts’ His Own Last Words ............................................................................... 172 Shilts as Journalistic Expert ................................................................................................. 182 Analysis and Interpretation of Findings ....................... ............................................................. 193 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 205 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 208 Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 229 iv INTRODUCTION As Randy Shilts prepared to wrap up what he had dubbed a year spent as “an AIDS celebrity,” he offered a revealing first-person essay for a March 1989 Esquire magazine in which he expressed frustration of coming off the author’s circuit, and returning to his duties as a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. “The bitter irony is,” he wrote, “my role as an AIDS celebrity just gives me a more elevated promontory from which to watch the world make mistakes in the handling of the AIDS epidemic that I had hoped my work would help to change” (Shilts, 1989-a, p. 124). Sounding bitter and more than a little defeated, Shilts added, “If an internationally acclaimed best seller (And the Band Played On) hadn’t done shit to change the world, what good would more newspaper stories do?” (Shilts, 1989-a, p. 133). Shilts’ words provide valuable evidence of his understanding of his role as journalist, author, and writer – as the oft-acknowledged “chronicler of AIDS.” But was Shilts’ own understanding of his role(s) consistent with the history his remarkable career provides? Some context is valuable. The coverage of HIV and AIDS, spanning a remarkable period that coincided with Shilts’ reporting career, evolved immensely over time. During its earliest days, when Shilts and a small handful of others began reporting on the AIDS pandemic, the disease actually had no name because of its many manifestations resulting from the compromised immune systems of its victims. Over time, the term AIDS was born to reflect Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) that emphasized its communicable and global nature, and replaced more pejorative names earlier adopted, such as Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, gay pneumonia, or gay cancer. Shilts was there from the start, his May 3, 1982 inside page 6 article in The San Francisco Chronicle exploring an outbreak of exotic and troubling diseases impacting gay men widely acknowledged as the genesis of AIDS media 1 coverage. It only made sense – during the waning years of the 1970s sexual revolution, Shilts was first to the story (working at that time for The Advocate) about the growing tide of sexually- transmitted diseases flowing from newfound sexual freedom and expression. Bardhan (2001) examined AIDS and HIV coverage via five transnational (but solely western) news services, including the Associated Press, through the 1990s and noted that a shift occurred away from the bio-medical nature of reporting evident in 1980s on AIDS to more emphasis on socioeconomic, public policy and human rights themes. Story themes regarding AIDS prevention and education remained constant in both eras, Bardhan noted. Along with this change in trend or focus of AIDS story, however, was a noteworthy decline in the overall volume of stories produced about AIDS, suggesting as Barnhan noted, “ideation of AIDS as a moral tale has diminished” (p. 283). Further driving this change in reporting on AIDS has been the stabilization of AIDS rates in most of the developed nations of the world who have the means to support research, prevention and treatment for people with AIDS. A comprehensive Kaiser Family Foundation survey of more than 9,000 news stories found shifts in AIDS coverage as well, finding that story topics shifted overall from a 1980s-era emphasis on HIV prevention, education and awareness, to more stories in