Recommendation from Kevin Naff (Washington Blade boss 2006-2020
Oct. 16, 2020
To Whom it May Concern:
Joey DiGuglielmo is an exceptional candidate for employment. Joey spent 14 years at the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, serving in various roles, including news editor and features editor. He reported directly to me for the entirety of that time.
Unfortunately, due to coronavirus-related advertising losses, we were forced to lay him off in June. He remains eligible for re-hire and I would do so if the opportunity presented itself.
Joey was hired as news editor in 2006 and immediately distinguished himself as a hard-working journalist with an impeccable attention to detail and smart instincts. He helped guide our coverage of the critical 2008 presidential election and supervised the Blade’s local and national reporting team. We cover an array of complicated stories, including local hate crimes, national political news, court rulings, and international developments important to our LGBTQ readers.The Blade has a White House presence — the only alternative outlet in the brie ng room — and we are members of the White House Press Pool and Correspondents’ Association. Staying on top of local, national, and international news is an overwhelming task, but Joey tackled the job with aplomb. Our work has won scores of awards from regional and national groups like the Society of Professional Journalists, GLAAD, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and more. Joey has not only edited much of that winning work, but himself been honored with many awards.
After several years of running the news division, I asked Joey to bring his tireless work ethic to our features section to revamp and expand it. He dove in and led a transformation that brought our features team a trove of awards for arts criticism. His many celebrity interviews have generated national headlines, as Joey has a natural ability to connect with sources and encourage them to open up. One such interview with Melissa Etheridge became the lead story on the “Today” show, after Joey got her to open up about her breast cancer diagnosis and related matters.
In his role as features editor, Joey supervised an assistant editor and dozens of freelance contributors. He also served as a passionate mentor to dozens of Blade interns, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in journalism. He also served as my backup when I was out of the of ce. In addition, Joey was known as the of ce historian, keeping detailed records on stories we’d done, special sections we’d published and much more. He has a welcome ability to forge friendships across departments, including in sales and production, which helped foster teamwork and collaboration. Joey took on massive research projects and lengthy reports, including our annual salary survey of national LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS non-pro ts, and in-depth enterprise reporting on the plight of transgender athletes.These projects were traf c magnets for the Blade, generating tens of thousands of site visits and social media shares.
Joey is poised, smart, deadline-driven, ethical, organized, tenacious and tireless, often working weekends, evenings and holidays without being asked. I can’t recommend him more highly for a position in journalism or other related eld. Feel free to contact me with questions.
Regards,
Kevin Naff
Editor
Washington Blade [email protected]