Categotry Archives: Media

Mike Salinas, a journalist who brought news of the gay community to the mainstream public’s attention, died on June 15. Cause of death is unknown. Police have ruled it an accidental heroin overdose, but a preliminary coroner’s report suggests it was a heart attack. Salinas was 46.
In the 1980s, Salinas wrote for the New York Native and the Village Voice. While he had a passion for theatre — and was the founding editor of Theater Week magazine — Salinas put most of his energies into covering issues of importance to the gay community. He investigated AIDS organizations he thought were corrupt, covered the Catholic Church sex scandal and published stories about the murder of a gay U.S. soldier.
In 1998, Salinas published a story in the Bay Area Reporter bearing the headline: “No Obits.” It was the first time in 17 years that the San Francisco-based weekly newspaper did not publish an AIDS-related obituary.

Alberta Constance Chapman Wells, a controversial broadcaster and best-selling author, died on June 24. Cause of death was not released. She was 78.
Although she was an American, Dee Chapman served in the Canadian Women’s Army during World War II. Instead of returning to the states when the war ended, she moved to Paris, got a job at the American embassy and married Al Wells, a diplomat. They were posted in Burma, but divorced two years later.
Wells then moved to London and began freelancing for several newspapers. In 1958, the Sunday Express made Wells its books editor. Two years later, Wells married philosopher Freddie Ayer. Their on-again, off-again relationship would also involve a divorce and a second wedding in 1989.
During her journalism career, Wells established herself as a “progressive” writer. When she started making appearances as a commentator on television, her outspoken nature and controversial opinions earned her both fans and critics.
In 1973, Wells published the novel, “Jane,” a semi-autobiographical story about a tough, American movie critic living in London and juggling three men. “I was idle and I had a perfectly good typewriter and half a box of paper,” Wells once said. The book sold 2 million copies.

Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian photojournalist who was beaten into a coma for shooting pictures outside of an Iranian jail, has died. She was 54.
Kazemi was arrested in Tehran on or about June 23 and accused of spying. According to various news reports, Kazemi was tortured by police until she was unconscious and then hospitalized for her injuries.
Kazemi, who was born in Iran, spent the past 10 years living in Canada. She had joint Canadian and Iranian citizenship, and frequently took freelance assignments for Recto Verso Magazine and Camera Press in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Iran.

Tom Kelley, who spent 35 years shooting pictures for The Washington Post, died June 25 of a stroke. He was 88.
Kelley joined The Post in 1938, and shot everything from hard news to sporting events. A member of the White House News Photographers’ Association, Kelley covered six presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon). His coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s funeral was featured in a three-page spread in National Geographic.