Though for years I’ve played around in the weird space of being an Interesting Person Worthy of Media Attention and a media maker, this little dance has gotten increasingly interesting since I’ve become editor of the Village Voice sexuality blog.

I’ve been writing the blog in the first person – none of that editorial we stuff – and I haven’t been afraid to express my opinions. After all, the Voice hired me for me and my whole thing (I’m gesticulating wildly, FYI). However, I’ve also been leaving myself out of the picture more often than not. Though you’ll hear my voice overs in the weekly Naked City TV episodes, I haven’t yet done an on camera appearance. I like being in the spotlight sometimes, and I’m good at doing the media thing. But I don’t want it to be overkill, I want other people’s voices to come to the forefront, in a way that isn’t totally mediated by the Word of Audacia. I know that all media I produced is tainted with my perspective (tainted I say!), which is fine, cool even – but it doesn’t all need to be about me.

While I don’t want Naked City to be all fangirly posts about people I think are awesome, I’m also acutely aware of the stresses of being interviewed and trusting someone else to represent you. I’ve been asking thinky and sometimes tough questions in my Four on the Floor interviews, but I also strive to represent people at their best. Shooting and editing weekly video episodes has been challenging in this regard – sometimes people are bad on camera. Sometimes they say dumb things or things that make them look crazy. I edit that stuff away as an attempt at paying it forward.

I hope this doesn’t make me a less critical member of the media – I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. But there are still some stories I cringe away from. For example, in my first week of blogging at Naked City, I was offered a set of nude photos of a reality show star. These images had been made a few years ago, and would be upsetting to the star if they were leaked. Part of me was excited about the potential for breaking a story, getting lots of traffic, etc. Overwhelmingly, though, I had a sense of dread with pangs of creepiness. That’s not at all the kind of editor I want to be. I didn’t have to make this tough choice since there weren’t any releases for the images and I wasn’t going to tangle with that. I’m sure other stuff like this will come up. I do love me some gossip – but I like to hear it, not publish it. Is it even possible to maintain that party line and have a successful blog? Time will tell, I suppose.

I know it seems like I have a hundred million different projects – and I do. Naked City, however, takes top billing (though at the moment it’s part time so I have some room for other stuff). Because it’s a paid gig, it will give me the opportunity to cover sexuality in a much more in depth, consistent, and wide-ranging way than I do through my other outlets. It also means that my coverage in other places will be a little more sparse, but I’m excited to deliver cool stuff on Naked City that will complement the other sex media that is already online.

Naked City’s main beat is New York, as that’s the home of the Village Voice and I’m shamelessly New York-centric, but I’ll also be taking it with me when I travel to far away (and not so far away) lands. For instance, I’ll be reporting on Sex 2.0 in Atlanta this coming weekend.

So far I’ve got four posts up, and over the next week I’ll be adding a variety of columns and features to the blog. We figured that leaping in and sorting it out while the blog is live isn’t the worst thing in the world. Feedback is welcome.

One of the things I’m most excited about doing is Naked City TV, a weekly video show which will document and explore the personal and professional lives of people for whom sexuality is central. I’ve got some interesting stuff shot, some interesting stuff planned, and I’m also totally open to suggestions. I’m producing, shooting, and editing the show as well as doing the interviews, and I take issues around media representations of sexuality very seriously (as you probably know if you’ve read my blog for more than a day or two).

Here’s a taste of Naked City TV. This episode is about The Porno Jim Show, which is currently running every other Saturday at the Producer’s Club Theater. And head on over to Naked City to see today’s posts on rude rejection letters erotic artists get, a panty design contest, and my picks for sexy events happening in New York this week.