Every year a cable programmer, operator or affiliate is recognized with the Golden Beacon award, the highest honor in cable communications, for its role in producing a communications or public affairs initiative that has left a mark on audiences or effected change in some way. Hosted by the Association of Cable Communicators and judged by peers within the cable industry, the Beacon Awards serve as good reminders of the large influence that cable operators and programmers have on audiences–and their ability to shape perceptions and mobilize change simply by sharing inspiring stories across their platforms. Earlier this week at the Beacon Awards ceremony in New York City, MTV Networks took the Golden Beacon honor for its Transgender Awareness Week initiative. In light of recent tragic events, it seems like an important time to highlight the work that goes into producing a campaign like this and the message that it sends to not just transgender people, but to audiences who might know little about the issues that the LGBTQ population grapples with day in and day out.
The initiative took place during national Transgender Awareness Week during November 16-20 and was part of MTV’s broader Look Different campaign that goes on year-round. Look Different aims to inform audiences of the hidden racial, gender, and LGBTQ discriminations inherent in society through a combination of website, social media, and on-air content. Throughout Transgender Awareness Week, MTV posted first person narratives on the Look Different site by people who identify as transgender as well as gender nonconforming, and also aired the documentary “True Life: I’m Genderqueer,” which followed two gender nonconforming people. More people than usual took to the Look Different website on the night of the documentary premiere. MTV reported positive web viewership stats during that week, with the website getting twice as many page views than average on the night of the premiere, and 87 percent more unique visitors to the Look Different website throughout Nov 16-20.
MTV also took it a step further by having one of the leads from the documentary, Jacob Tobia, take over the network’s Tumblr to interact with audiences directly for an “ask me anything” session, helping to diffuse myths about genderqueer and transgender people by explaining what it’s like to struggle with one’s gender identity. And, to fully promote its support for transgender awareness, MTV changed all of its logos across its social platforms to the transgender flag of pink, white and blue during the entire week, a first for the network. MTV ended transgender awareness week with an online vigil for transgender victims of hate crimes and by issuing a call across its platforms to end the violence against transgender groups.
During the Beacon awards ceremony in New York City, MTV representatives read aloud a few words from Tobia, in which the “True Life: I’m Genderqueer” star commented that MTV’s campaign was “television done right.” When we as a society experience a calamitous event like the mass shooting in Orlando earlier this month, “remember the role of storytelling and the opportunity we have to change hearts and minds,” wrote Tobia.
For more information on communications and public affairs campaigns taking place throughout cable, here is a comprehensive list of all of the 2016 Beacon winners.