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Michael Key on Muck Rack

Michael Key

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Washington, D.C.
As seen in: National LGBT Media Association, The Washington Blade, BiggerPockets, The Marshall Project, The Gospel Coalition, Jefferson City News Tribune, RED HERRING, Georgia Voice, Los Angeles Blade, Make-Up Artist magazine, Watermark, Empowering Pumps and Equipment and
Covers:  LGBTQ community news, politics, nightlife
Photo Editor of the Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade. Photographer for the National LGBT Media Association.

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Michael Key’s Biography

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I am a photojournalist, writer and editor working primarily in Washington, D.C. I have directed music videos, I have been a voice actor in a popular Dungeons & Dragons podcast, I have written SPJ-DC Dateline Award-winning news articles, but my main focus over the past 16 years has been in photography. Currently, I serve as the photo editor of the Washington Blade.

Articles

PHOTOS: Miss Gay Old Bay

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By Michael Key Verified
| The Washington Blade Verified
The Miss Gay Old Bay pageant was held at The Lodge in Boonsboro, Md. on Friday, Aug. 29. Vanya Varushka was crowned the winner. Glitter Douglas was named first runner-up. Both Varushka and Douglas qualify to compete in the Miss Gay Maryland pageant in October. (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Actor Tim Curry dies at 80

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By Michael Key Verified
| The Washington Blade Verified
Dolly Parton (Photo by s_bukley/Bigstock) I don’t want to say goodbye. To be honest, my first impression of music icon Dolly Parton was similar to the scathing look the demur Jane Fonda gave the boss’s secretary in one of my favorite funny feminist films ever, “9 to 5.” Fonda’s aghast up-and-down scrutiny was pure unspoken tsk tsk condescension toward this bubbly dumb-blond wigged white trash colleague — until she looked down at her own flat chest.
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Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards

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By Michael Key Verified
| The Washington Blade Verified
(Photo by Sergei Gnatuk via Bigstock) A Germantown, Md., man arrested by D.C. police on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation for allegedly assaulting a gay man while using “homophobic slurs” has agreed to an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to simple assault without the hate crime designation and with the promise of having the charge dismissed if he completes, among other requirements, 48 hours of community service work.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

I started out as a freelance photographer and assistant video editor for the (now defunct) Window Media newspapers in 2009.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

I used a typewriter in my youth, though they were obsolete by the time I was a teenager.

How is social media changing news?

The photo, headline and subhead is everything . . . even more so that it always has been.

Awards

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2023 - Photography Story

Society of Professional Journalists: D.C. Pro Chapter Dateline Award for Photography Story. “Activists stage ‘smoke-in’ at Russian embassy to protest Griner incarceration”

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2023 - Breaking News

Society of Professional Journalists: D.C. Pro Chapter Dateline Award for Breaking News. “Va. Students stage mass walkout over anti-LGBTQ policies”

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GLAAD Media Award

2023 - Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media

The Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade was presented with the special recognition.

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2017 - Breaking News

Society of Professional Journalists: D.C. Pro Chapter Dateline Award for Excellence in Breaking News "Pride protest ignites stormy debate in D.C.’s LGBT community" *(I contributed to the report and served as the photographer, the main author was Joey DiGuglielmo)

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2017 - Photography Story

Society of Professional Journalists: D.C. Pro Chapter Dateline Award for Breaking News. “No Justice No Pride protesters disrupt Capital Pride parade”

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2015 - Excellence in Photojournalism

Society of Professional Journalists: D.C. Pro Chapter Dateline Award for Excellence in Photojournalism "Five Years in the LGBT Movement"

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D.C. Shorts Film Festival

2014 - Official Jury Selection

I co-directed "Bears" by Tom Goss.

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American Graphic Design Award

2013 - Booklet

Issued by Graphic Design USA. Awarded for the 2012 Capital Pride Guide. I served as the photo director of the booklet.

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