Pink Triangle Press Announces the Appointment of Mel Woods

TORONTO , April 26, 2023 /CNW/ - Pink Triangle Press (PTP), Canada's leading LGBTQ2S+ media organization, announced today the appointment of Mel Woods as Senior Editor, Audience Engagement, of its culture magazine, Xtra.

In this newly created role, Woods will become a key connection between Xtra's thought-provoking journalism and audiences well beyond the digital walls of Xtramagazine.com. This will include hosting duties that bring content and advocacy to life on Xtra's social media channels, including a new TikTok channel, that will launch May 1, 2023. This allows Xtra to establish a strong presence in podcasting and more video-based storytelling moving forward.

A graduate of the University of British Columbia's Master of Journalism program, Woods' has a proven track record of creating journalism that questions and adds depth and perspective to conversations dominating public discourse. Woods joined HuffPost Canada in 2019 and earned the top honour for writing on gender and transphobia at the 2021 Canadian Radio, Television and Digital News Awards and earned gold for general news coverage at the 2021 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. They came to Xtra in 2021 and most recently led coverage of TV, film, music and video games as the Senior Editor of Culture. Their work has also appeared in The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, Vice, the CBC and Slate.

"As a queer and trans person who grew up (and came out) online, I know the power media has in making tangible change in peoples' lives," says Woods. "Xtra has been on the leading edge of those kinds of conversations for such a long time, and I'm so excited to transition into this new role and connect us further to our community."

Executive Editor Gordon Bowness says this appointment reflects Xtra's commitment to positioning its content in more spaces, "With their youthful passion, their urgency around trans issues and their wonderfully varied pop culture obsessions, Mel Woods is uniquely suited to spearhead our focus on expanding the reach of Xtra's advocacy and journalism via social media, multimedia storytelling and outside media."

Woods' appointment is effective May 1, 2023. 

Xtra online: (Website: http://www.xtramagazine.com), (Facebook: Xtra), (youtube: Xtra), (twitter:@xtramagazine), (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xtramagazine), , (TikTok:@xtramagazine).

About Pink Triangle Press (http://www.pinktrianglepress.com): Pink Triangle Press (PTP) is Canada's leading LGBTQ2S+ media organization. Founded in 1971, Pink Triangle Press produces LGBTQ2S+ journalism at Xtramagazine.com and through a variety of content distribution channels in Canada and abroad. The Press operates the gay adult dating website Squirt.org and has produced a number of television projects, including The Gayest Show Ever, the travel series Bump!  and the documentary Unnatural Disasters.

PTP's defining activity is LGBTQ2S+ journalism. Frustrated that there wasn't a voice representing the political and social concerns of gay men and lesbians, a group of Toronto activists launched the gay liberation newspaper, The Body Politic, in 1971. In 2008, The Body Politic was named by Masthead magazine as one of "Canada's 20 most influential magazines of all time."

Over 50 years, PTP grew from a small grassroots operation to one of the most diversified LGBTQ2S+ multimedia enterprises in the world, with a roster of brands ranging from the Xtra publications in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, to online publishing and television production.

PTP is a mission-guided community organization without shareholders, governed by a board of directors. The board entrusts the achievement of our mission to the executive director, who heads a workforce located in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

The chronology of Pink Triangle Press from 1971 to 2021 is available here.

Jennifer McGuire, David Walberg, Angela Mullins, Gordon Bowness, Heaton Dyer, Pink Triangle Press, Xtra, Xtra Magazine, DailyXtra.com, Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Activism, LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ2+, Xtramagazine.com, LGBTQ2S+, Media, Journalism, Audience Engagement, Social Media, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Podcasting, Video, Storytelling

SOURCE Pink Triangle Press