Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 14:57:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Rex Wockner Subject: Out Magazine Web Site press release To: Wockner, Rex Inet For Immediate Release Contact: Michael Kaminer, Shelley Bates World Wide Web Watch! Michael Kaminer PR 212/627-8098 or e-mail mkpr@aol.com APPLE COMPUTER INC. SPONSORS OUT MAGAZINE'S LAUNCH OF GAY INTERNET SERVICE *National Gay Communities Get Wired for Pride *More Than a Web Site, OUT.com is Beginning of Gay Online Service New York City, June 1995 -- With groundbreaking sponsorship from Apple Computer Inc., Out magazine is about to do for cyberspace what it's done in print. The magazine today announced it will launch OUT.com, a new kind of World Wide Web service, the first week of June, the start of Gay Pride Month (http://www.out.com). According to Out editor and president Michael Goff, OUT.com will be the first commercially sponsored gay site on the Internet, with Apple Computer as the sole sponsor for the site's first month online. Out is America's bestselling gay and lesbian publication, with a circulation of more than 120,000 worldwide. *By Unifying Local Papers, Site Aims To Connect Gay Americans With contributions from the magazine and a network of local gay newspapers, OUT.com will be the first timely national source for information of Gay Pride month and beyond. Eventually, OUT.com will become a one-stop place on the Internet for gay/lesbian people providing quality and up-to-date news, gossip, travel, style, and event information from across the country. Goff also hopes to unify and connect gay and lesbian Americans at both a national and a grassroots level. "That's the power of this medium," he said. America's leading gay newspapers will participate in OUT.com, including The Washington Blade, Miami's The Weekly News, Seattle Gay News, Philadelphia Gay News, New York's HomoXtra, San Francisco Bay Times, and the Lesbian News. In a unique arrangement, each newspaper will submit calendars of gay pride events in their coverage areas to OUT.com. Users can access information by "clicking" on a series of menus to find their own cities. Each newspaper's logo will appear across the top of its respective pages. Partners have been encouraged to be creative; The Washington Blade, America's largest gay weekly, not only provided Pride parade lisitings, but also a map of the parade route and links to its local Pride organization's Web page. Content to Cover Local Pride Events, National Issues OUT.com's content will fall into six categories, which the magazine will update three times weekly. PRIDE '95 EVENTS lists the 1995 parades, parties/political and cultural events, and film festivals. READER FORUMS will let users share opinions in more than 30 bulletin boards on anything from the content of the latest Out to developments in legislation; ENTERTAINMENT will provide reviews and discussions on books, film, music, television and other sites on the Web; OUT MAG. offers selections from the current issue of Out, writer guidelines, ad information, and special offers; CONTEST will let users enter and win a Pride CD, Out in America book, and other prizes; a virtual GUEST BOOK for users to sign; and an INDEX of OUT.com with hypertext links throughout the site, as well as to related areas in cyberspace. "Right now, the gay areas on the 'Net are much like the gay community -- segmented," said Goff. "With Out.com, we aim to consolidate the information and become a reliable source for everything from pride parades to civil rights updates to where to go out on a given night in a given city." "The level of community involvement in OUT.com will be unique -- there isn't a site on the 'Net this interactive," said Carl Pritzkat, principal of Mediapolis, Inc, which designed the site. "This site evolved out of Out's sense of how the gay community works -- people don't want to watch from the sidelines. That's why the service has built in so many ways for users to participate," including a contest and guest book to a wide range of reader forums from current books and films to hot button issues like unsafe sex and gay marriage. According to Pritzkat, the service is consistent with the high-quality standards set by Out magazine, offering some of the best technology, content, and opportunities for reader interaction anywhere on the net. Mediapolis has also engineered Web pages for RCA Victor, Zoo Entertainment, ECM Records and Production Arts Lighting; its gay-oriented Data Lounge site carries information from several not-for-profit groups, including AIDS Project LA, Hollywood Supports and GLAAD. "This service is about issues and culture, but more importantly it's about bringing America's gay communities together," Goff said. "Locally is where anything is going to happen for gay/lesbian rights with the current regime in Washington. And locally is where true changes are happening -- people coming out in their own communities." Even conservative estimates place an enormous gay/lesbian presence in cyberspace; in a recent survey of Out magazine readers, nearly half who own/use computers (or 70% of the readership) said they use an online service, many times the national average. Goff said, "Gay and lesbian Americans are one of the first non-nerd groups in America to embrace the wired world and a lot of that has to do with the ability to connect and get information without having to reveal one's identity." *Goal: Higher Quality, Low "Get-A-Life Factor" OUT.com, he added, is expected to raise the standard of gay offerings on the 'Net -- just as Out has been credited with elevating quality in gay publishing. "People are sick of surfing the Web for low-quality information with a high get-a-life factor," he said. "This is centralized, filtered, edited, high-quality content from the most trusted name in the community." OUT.com's launch comes as Out celebrates its third anniversary. Since its 1992 launch, the magazine has risen to become America's best-selling gay/lesbian publication. Out's foray into cyberspace crowns a long list of achievements this year, including the hiring of former New York Times Company executive Henry Scott; groundbreaking ads from Saturn, Nike, and Saab; and a dazzling gallery of cover stars and exclusive stories, including Greg Louganis, Glenn Close, Ricki Lake, and Sophie B. Hawkins. July's Out -- the much-anticipated "Straight People" issue with cover star Keanu Reeves -- hits newsstands June 25. # # #