Word for Word

9 Jan 2016

Gay Publishing and its Checked Past – Bill Calder

LGBTI Community, Society & Culture

Bill Calder is arguably the only Gay Media Publisher in Australia to have made any money – not once but twice.  His introduction to Melbourne’s gay community began in 1980 when he was active in the group Young Gays.

During the eighties Bill worked as a journalist in the mainstream media, but by the end of the decade he became the part-time news editor for OutRage magazine.

After a stint editing the gay newspaper Melbourne Star Observer, Bill joined a group of dissidents in 1992 to launch BrotherSister newspaper in direct competition.

In 1999 he sold BrotherSister and its Queensland sibling to Satellite Media, who were buying up much of Australia’s gay media before floating their company on the stock exchange.

Satellite Media went bust, barely 12 months after the float. Bill Calder reemerged under a new masthead, Bnews and later Melbourne Star before again selling both in 2005.

Unfortunately this owner also went bust three years later. Star Observer has since filled the niche that Bill’s newspapers once held here in Melbourne.

Having just completed his PhD on the history of gay publications in Australia, Bill Calder joins Dean Beck to discuss the checked history of gay publishing, ahead of his 2016 book launch.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:49 — 51.1MB)

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