Thanks to Equitas Health, a regional nonprofit community healthcare system, Prizm was launched in 2017 as a statewide LGBTQ publication dedicated to uplifting the voices of an oft-overlooked community. Last year, Ken Schneck, author of Seriously…What Am I Doing Here? The Adventures Of A Wondering and Wandering Gay Jew, took over as editor with a determined focus to broaden coverage on LGBTQ people of color and more rural areas of Ohio. But earlier this month, Equitas Health announced Prizm would fold as a result of financial hardship due to COVID-19. We touch base with Schneck on his last year as editor, the importance of having a statewide LGBTQ publication and a new project that’s in the works.
Q: When you were asked to take over as editor in April 2019, how did you view that opportunity?
A: It was an immediate sense of responsibility that I wanted to lift up voices that were not being heard. I think the part for me was that when LGBTQ issues are covered statewide, it’s just so often white gay men in Columbus. And so my goal from Day One was to continue and to amplify the work to highlight the voices that were not being heard. Instead of having an article on Pride, like in mainstream media, about Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleveland Pride, I wanted to write about the 23-year-old in West Liberty or the Pride in Portsmouth, Ohio, organized by a church. I think the importance of Prizm was to tell these stories that are not being told by mainstream media.
Q: What was one of your most impactful stories?
A: At a Martin Luther King Day breakfast [earlier this year] that was sponsored by the city of Columbus, a couple queer protestors of color were physically dragged out by the police during a nonviolent vocal disruption to protest police brutality. So, when I saw that morning that they needed bail help, it was just getting in touch with the person who was organizing the GoFundMe for the bail. I heard someone had video of it, so I got in touch with that person. By the end of the day, and by writing it up really quickly with a Q&A with that person, it really raised the profile and that bail was met pretty quickly. That video was viewed many, many, many times. At Prizm, we were really amplifying what was happening and raising awareness of what people across the state weren’t necessarily hearing.
Q: What are some lessons you learned in the last year?
A: People are clamoring for those bullets at the end of stories where you tell them what to do. It’s about providing people the steps to make their voices heard. That was a really big piece, to provide people with the tools, to get more information, to do more. And another lesson I learned is that representation matters. How can you constantly be hearing from voices that are not being broadcast, and asking each person you talk to who else do you know is doing this work. Networking really is key, and people want to share their contacts, and they want to tell you about other LGBTQ people that are doing really cool things across the state. There’s a lot of energy out there.
Q: In your farewell letter, you said that it won’t be long before another statewide LGBTQ publication emerges. What makes Ohio the kind of place where publications like these thrive?
A: Journalism in Ohio is strong because we have so many different outlets, and there’s so many more LGBTQ people connected to those outlets. We also have this really beautiful history of dozens and dozens of LGBTQ publications in Ohio over the years. The fact that Ohio lives at that nexus of both conservative and liberal is a big piece of the puzzle. We have both these amazing places, these kind of safe havens, where you can be your authentic self but the contrast of repression and state lawmakers trying to actively restrict our rights creates passion. If we had just the second one, we would be completely in the closet. If it was just the first one, then we would be complacent.
Q: So, what’s next?
A: I’m putting together a board right now for a new nonprofit to launch a new publication. We’re going to start with online only and getting back into the mode of getting these stories out there in a way that Prizm did. When we announced the closing of Prizm, the outpouring was immediate and overwhelming. In particular, the people who reached out said, “I’m in rural Ohio and this was my only connection to the LGBTQ community.” So, as a connection point, losing Prizm is just not an option.