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Gay Newsmen - A Clearer Picture: Paul Mueller

As a part of AfterElton.com's Gay Newsmen series, we will be providing daily interviews with gay newsmen here on the blog.

Like other gay journalists covered for this series, Mueller too said the unique perspective of a being a gay man may be a part of a “sense of compassion” he taps into that “takes away that boundary of skin color or sexual orientation, or whatever it is that sets the reporter apart from the person being interviewed.”

Mueller said he’s been out in every one of the seven newsrooms in which he’s worked, and never found “being gay, and being out” a problem with employers or colleagues. That includes the small conservative town of Tyler, Texas where Mueller won an Associated Press investigative journalism award for a series on alleged racism in the local police department.

Mueller said he’s always answered the question on sexual orientation when asked, and did his first press profiles mentioning being gay while in Boston. And ultimately he can see the connection to that kind of honesty with his mission as a journalist. “I think the fact that journalism is all about truth and honesty … and letting people know what’s really going on, I think there’s a parallel there to me letting people know who is delivering that truth to them.”

Now, helming prime newscasts from 5-7pm, and 8:30pm for RNN, Mueller did get some resistance early on. Ten years ago, at the start of his career, Mueller saw an agent – who gave Mueller a long list of superficial things he had to change about himself, telling him he was never going to make it in this business. “I was completely crushed,” remembered Mueller. “I went outside of this 50 floor office tower in Manhattan, and literally cried my eyes out.”

But Mueller, who said all he’s ever wanted to do was be in news, gave himself what turned out to be great advice: “I said, forget that. I’m just going to go on like this never happened, and just keep pushing on. That’s exactly what I’ve done.”

As for being honest about his sexuality and career concerns, Mueller has faith the work will speak for itself. “I think what will be judged … is who did the better job of piecing together the story. Whose story was more compelling. Not who was gay, and who was straight.”

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