Strengthen your reporting with the Trans News Initiative
What does coverage of trans communities look like across the U.S.? The Trans News Initiative answers that and more.
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Using the Trans News Initiative in your reporting
The Trans News Initiative, or "TNI" for short, offers journalists, media researchers, and community organizers a new way to examine how trans communities are covered in national media, using a database that highlights and aggregates reporting trends that illustrate coverage patterns.
Built in partnership with the University of Miami School of Communication and the data studio Polygraph, the tool pulls from a growing base of more than 195,000 articles dating back to 2020 from national news outlets. TNI is updated monthly and organizes coverage into the following 13 thematic categories:
Public demonstrations, protests, pride events, and other acts of resilience and resistance
Dangerous and damaging acts directed at the trans community, including but not limited to: harassment, hate speech, and fatal violence
The debate around parental rights and child autonomy — this includes conversations about data privacy, K-12 education policy, and conflicts between which parents' rules preside
Philosophical, moral, religious, and cultural arguments surrounding transgender communities
Actions, policies, legislations, and rulings taken at the federal level by federal representatives — this includes rhetoric and threats, too
Censorship of supportive trans-related speech and use of harmful anti-trans rhetoric under the guise of free speech
Access to healthcare and the ability to make one's own decisions in regard to gender affirming care, abortions, and other medical care
Both the celebration of identity through protective laws or personal expriences — and the suppression of it through measures such as laws restricting legal identification
International events and laws, transnational conversations about gender policy, and policies around trans migrants
Representation across pop culture, the arts, and other creative fields
The ability to exist in public regardless of how you identify — this includes the right to nondiscriminatory employment, bathroom access, marriage, voting, entertainment, and more
Gender inclusivity and bans in sports spanning youth, school, collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels
Actions, policies, legislations, and rulings taken at the state level or by state representatives
For journalists and media researchers, TNI offers something increasingly valuable in a fast-moving news environment: context.
Journalists and media researchers can explore how certain stories become national narratives, which issues receive sustained attention, and which issues disappear quickly from national media conversation. Importantly, the inclusion of categories such as “pop culture & creativity” alongside categories focused on legislation and violence reflects a broader philosophy behind the project: trans communities should not be understood solely through conflict and trauma.
Rather than treating disparities in media framing solely as an industry critique, the tool helps articulate opportunities for more expansive and inclusive journalism.
Reporting questions to consider:
As you explore the tool, use these questions to help direct your curiosities and reporting instincts:
- What types of stories about trans communities appear missing or undercovered?
- Where is the biggest focus of media attention over a certain timeframe on any trans-related topic? Why?
- How does your reporting or the reporting of your outlet compare with the tool's insights?
- How can you incorporate more trans voices into your reporting.
Journalists and media researchers also can use the tool to:
- Generate story ideas rooted in measurable coverage gaps
- Track the direction and dominance of national narratives
- Compare framing across outlets
- Support media criticism or meta-reporting
- Locate examples of solutions-oriented reporting
TJA encourages independent exploration of the tool. Consider how it might support more contextual, nuanced, and human-centered reporting involving trans communities.
Further reading from our Stylebook and Coverage Guide
- Five tips for journalists on covering trans and nonbinary people from Columbia Journalism Review
- The complexities and nuances of transgender coverage from Columbia Journalism Review
- Reporting on the transgender community from NBCU Academy
- How journalists can improve their coverage of the trans community from NBCU Academy
- Transgender Coverage Topical Guide from The Associated Press [requires login]
- Making Your Writing and Reporting Transgender-Inclusive from The Open Notebook
Stylebook & Coverage Guide
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