LOS ANGELES—Here Media has named Jon Barrett editorial director for the newly formed The Advocate Group. Barrett will oversee the editorial voice for the brand’s numerous extensions, including The Advocate’s print, online and television iterations and the HIV Plus brand as well as SheWired.com and PlanetOut.com, which also now operate under the Advocate Group banner.
“For 40-plus years The Advocate has grown, evolved and transformed, becoming the LGBT community’s news source of record,” said Here Media Executive Vice President and General Manager Stephen Macias. “As editor in chief, Jon Barrett injected a fresh and distinct editorial voice into The Advocate and Advocate.com. As The Advocate continues to embrace technological advances, we created The Advocate Group to encompass the new dimensions and platforms for delivering the award-winning content produced by our outstanding staff of writers and editors. We look forward to Jon’s innovative leadership extending to the expanded The Advocate Group.”
In his new role Barrett will grow the brand as it continues to break and report news multiple times a day online. The group also plans to debut a monthly hour-long television magazine turning The Advocate’s lens on issues important to the LGBT audience.
Barrett also will lead the editorial team for the HIV Plus brand, which will continue to provide advice, tools and personal stories to motivate readers to make the best of their friendships and relationships, work and leisure time, treatment and overall sense of health and wellness.
Additionally, Barrett will guide the editorial direction of PlanetOut.com, which provides entertainment, travel and lifestyle news, and SheWired.com, a leading women’s website providing exclusive, informative content about everything from pop culture and politics to travel, health and lifestyle.
With more than 15 years’ experience as a journalist and in publishing, Barrett most recently served as editor in chief for The Advocate and Advocate.com. Prior to that, he was features director for O at Home, an Oprah magazine published by Hearst. He also has worked as senior editor for Cargo, from the Condé Nast group, and as senior editor for Real Simple, a Time Inc. publication. Barrett served as The Advocate’s senior news editor from 1997 to 2003. He also has served as an assistant editor at the Windy City Times, an LGBT weekly newspaper in Chicago.
Barrett’s writing credits include three books. He authored Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham (Alyson Books, 2002) and worked as a writing collaborator on Evan Wolfson’s Why Marriage Matters (Simon & Schuster, 2004) and Judy Shepard’s memoir The Meaning of Matthew (Hudson Street Press, 2009).
The Advocate is available to consumers as a monthly print publication and online. Websites under the group’s umbrella include Advocate.com, PlanetOut.com, SheWired.com and HIVPlusMag.com.
