PHOTO: after going out of business a few months ago, Portland, Oregon's longtime gay newspaper has come back to life with the June 2012 issue of "Just Out" in a glossy magazine format. (See JO Editor, "Just Out Hits the Stands," justout.com blog posted on May 31, 2012 )
Reports of the death of gay newspapers due to the internet have been greatly exaggerated. I am sure "Just Out" will prove there is still a demand for old fashioned print publications that are also available online with value added features.
The new "Just Out" Web page has also done a fairly good job making their new publication more accessible via the internet. I was glad to be able to select and print out HTML text at a bigger size to read because I have low vision (Doing this was nearly impossible with the old Just Out Web site). I haven't had time to check out all of the accessibility features that are supported by their publishing software, but it is way better than it was before.
I've sent "Just Out" the suggestion that they send a stack of copies to the OSU Pride Center and the Grassroots Bookstore in downtown Corvallis. The previous publisher, Marty Davis, did this for years until she couldn't afford to do it anymore. I am sure that many of the magazine's advertisers would want to reach OSU students, most who are from Portland and who often go home for the weekends to Portland. (See the link to places to Pick up your copy of Just Out at these locations) The link to the first PRIDE issue is View "Just Out" June 2012 issue online.
The main electronic copy of the full magazine is displayed with the ISSUU reader viewer that is also used by the OSU Barometer student paper. Unfortunately, it lacks good accessibility features, but it is cool to use. I also appreciated a link to Just Out June 2012 PDF COPY that had the full magazine available for downloading and the file was usable with the standard Adobe low vision reader accessibility features. It looks like all of the articles are also being posted in HTML so that the text can also be selected, printed at any size or read via the other standard accessibility features built-in all Apple and Microsoft internet browsers.
