Windy City Times Commemorates 30 Years with Souvenir Edition
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ChicagoPride.com News September 25, 2015 Windy City Times commemorates 30 years with souvenir edition, community celebration By Ross Forman September 25, 2015 https://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/71661600 Publisher Tracy Baim writes about the LGBT community like no other CHICAGO, IL -- A new issue of the Windy City Times arrives across Chicago and the suburbs every Wednesday morning, carrying the legacy of the city's LGBTQ community. Featuring award-winning reporters, amazing photography and produced under the scrupulous, tireless, super-knowledgeable eyes of its iconic publisher, the Windy City Times is truly part of Chicago's LGBTQ community – not just the lone surviving weekly gay newspaper in the city and one of only 11 LGBT papers in the nation. The Windy City Times is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week – with a glitzy, 88-page retrospective walk into the past now available around the city, suburbs and online, plus a Sunday afternoon party at Sidetrack in Boystown to commemorate the collector's item edition and honor the paper, truly known as the voice of Chicago's LGBTQ community since 1985. "It is kind of unbelievable to think I started in LGBT media for GayLife newspaper in 1984, at age 21, and then helped co-found Windy City Times a year later, at age 22. I feel like it was another lifetime ago," said WCT publisher Tracy Baim, 52, a Chicago native who graduated from Lane Tech High School and now calls her home the South Loop. "I feel very fortunate to have been able to do what I love for all these years. It has been a constant struggle, but worth every minute of it ...well, most of those minutes. "I wanted to be a journalist from age 10, so to be openly lesbian and a journalist, I had to make my own path. I am so happy I did." But the path to Baim's profession of choice has been anything but a smooth, paved road. Rather, it's as if she drove from O'Hare International Airport to, say, Lakeview during the afternoon rush hour, on a Friday, coupled with a snow storm and limited visibility. A second-generation journalist following in her mom's industry footsteps, Baim started working at GayLife newspaper in 1984 for publisher Chuck Renslow, yet in 1985, Baim split off to start Windy City Times in 1985, along with co-founders Bob Bearden, Jeff McCourt and Drew Badanish, plus several staff and freelancers. "When Bob Bearden died of AIDS complication in early 1987, I decided I could no longer work with Jeff McCourt, his partner, because of disagreements in style," said Baim, who then co-founded Outlines with several investors and about 90 percent of the staff from the Windy City Times. For 13 years, Outlines and Windy City Times battled. Outlines also started BLACKlines, En La Vida, OUT! Guide and other media, but Windy City Times was still the stronger business, benefitting from the stereotype that Outlines was a women's paper, which it wasn't, and McCourt was a more aggressive businessman. But that led to another staff walkout in 1999, "and as a result of his battling those people, we actually were able to buy Windy City Times in 2000 from McCourt," Baim said. "There have been a lot of splits and mergers in LGBT media over the years, much of it personality driven, but also based on the approach to coverage of the community." Gay media has long been a battle for resources, or lack thereof. And that's just a start of the woes gay media has had to overcome. Of course there was the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, plus hate crimes, discrimination, internalized homophobia, and more. "To keep going as a newspaper, it always comes down to time and money. We could do so much more if we had more resources, but we do a lot with little," Baim said. "During the years I was doing Outlines, and McCourt was doing Windy City Times, he actually was making a lot of money. But I saw how that money actually corrupted, so in many ways I may have had the slower, better path to doing this work. We never saw the gravy years." The mainstream media vilified the gay community in the 1980s and when they were not doing that, they were ignoring it, Baim said. "So, there was so much riding on LGBT media getting [out] the full story, and covering all aspects of the community. AIDS also was starting its devastation of the community, so it was important to document what was going on, to tell people about events, protests and more. There was no Internet [at that time], so the newspapers were how people found out about everything." Baim said there is no way to accurately estimate the impact HIV/AIDS had on the gay community, or the role of the newspaper and groups. "We lost many colleagues at Windy City Times, Outlines, BLACKlines and En La Vida. Our friends, our family, our community suffered tremendous loss," she said. "I felt as if I was dropped into a war zone at age 21 and have never been off the field of battle. We owe a lot to those warriors who acted up and fought back. "As the mainstream media finally [started to] cover our community more, we had to adjust how we did things. The Internet helps, because we can break news daily online and scoop the daily papers. But what is interesting is that because the mainstream media is also suffering through staff cuts, in many ways they are not able to fully cover any one segment of their readership, including LGBT. So the LGBT media is just as needed now as it has ever been." Gay media in the U.S. was at its peak in the mid-1990s, Baim said. In fact, there was a time when there were there were three weekly newspapers in Chicago, but that was just for a year. The Chicago Free Press was the last local weekly publication to cease operation, yet a few Free-Press boxes still linger around the city even now, some five years after its last paper was printed. There was a time in the U.S. when there were hundreds of publications, and yet now it's down to just over 100 – and only 11 weekly gay newspapers. "Being in this work for the community—not the money or some craving for power—is one key to surviving," Baim said. "Those who were in it for the money or a notion of power left a long time ago. It's really about loving the work and having passion for the community and its news." Another bit of luck for Baim and the Windy City Times hit in 2008, sort of by accident. The paper closed its Edgewater office, and has remained a virtual office ever since. "Our timing [for the virtual office] was perfect because two months later the economy collapsed," Baim, said. "We did it because of the reality of running a newspaper—most of our people worked from the field or at home already. So it was a waste of money and time running an office. [Closing the office] really helped us weather the recession." Baim also reflected on the importance of events back in 2000 – when her publication merged with the Windy City Times. She tagged it, "the most important decision to survival of the company, of both companies," she said. "Going to a virtual office was key [to surviving]. But really, it's a bunch of steps along the way, not being afraid to tackle new ideas and new ways of doing business. For example, we have always been free, so when the Internet came along, we were not afraid to go online with content. We were among the first LGBT media to do so." Baim, no doubt, has a trophy-case of accomplishments she is proud of -- in print, for print and from print. The Windy City Times has weathered the worst of Chicago winters and shined under a summer sun's glare that brings hundreds of thousands to Lakeview annually on the last Sunday of June for the Chicago Pride Parade. Baim singled out seven aspects of the paper she is most proud of: * The diversity of its staff and coverage. "We have always covered all aspects of the LGBT community," she said. * Hundreds of staff, writers, photographers, delivery drivers and others help make Windy City Times possible. "I am very proud to have known these people," she said. * "The community is very divided, but there have been times when we have come together, and I have been very proud to be a leader for some of those times, including Gay Games VII in 2006, and the March on Springfield for Marriage Equality," Baim said. * WCT writers have done some investigative, award-winning series that have make Baim proud, such as series on trans violence, youth homelessness, the criminal legal system, and AIDS. * "Individuals within our community that have done this work have inspired me most," she said. "Not those in it for a career, but those who just do the work for very little reward. When I get close to burning out because of petty infighting, I look to those individuals to get re-motivated. Including to those people we have lost—I feel very committed to carrying on the work in their names." * "We could not have survived without our initial investors in the newspaper, and the advertisers who have stuck with us for these 30 years.