Nation's largest gay newspaper publisher closes

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

The nation's largest publisher of newspapers serving the gay and lesbian community has shut down.

Laura Douglas-Brown, editor of Southern Voice newspaper in Atlanta, says she arrived at work Monday to find the locks changed and a note saying parent company Window Media LLC has closed down.

The company's other publications include the Washington Blade, Houston Voice and South Florida Blade. Douglas-Brown says the other publications are also closing.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsALw5N4M17AmWbFMGXH9Qb5I0oAD9C0NPQ83

[EFerrari]

1. Oh. no! I love the Washington Blade.

:(

[marmar]

2. Wow. The Washington Blade was a decent paper too.....

...... that's too bad. I guess it reflects the larger picture for the newspaper biz, which will go the way of the T-rex sooner than later.

[bluestateguy]

3. I always thought the Advocate was the biggest

Classy. No notice to anyone, just closed up and changed the locks and everyone is fired. This happened to a friend of my family once.

[Unvanguard]

14. The Advocate is only monthly (WashBlade was weekly), and it is not doing well. n/t

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[msongs]

5. evidently catering to the smallest segment of the gay community = bad business model nt

[SteppingRazor]

6. At this point, printing news on dead trees = bad business model.

Niche publications are just getting the ax quicker than general ones.

[Raster]

7. Please explain: "evidently catering to the smallest segment of the gay community"

[Politicub]

8. There is nothing in ATL that will fill the vacuum that the Southern Voice will leave

This is sad news. The Southern Voice did a great job in giving the GLBT POV for all sorts of news stories.

And, they were the first to break the news of the raid on the Eagle in Sept.

The Voice will be sorely missed.

[IndianaGreen]

10. I agree. This is very sad news indeed!

The result is a less informed public.

[Crowman1979]

9. Online news is the way to go now!

I'm surprised that a lot of these publications haven't switched to adobe pdf download subscriptions.

[CatholicEdHead]

11. It sounds like they shut down for internal financial problems

but you know it will be spun with the religious wrong as something they did and take full credit for it.

[TexasObserver]

12. Recommend

[Newsjock]

13. UPDATE: Washington Blade Staff to Launch New Publication

Source: Washington City Paper

Tomorrow morning, the staff of the defunct Washington Blade will meet to launch a new publication that does pretty much what the Blade has done/did since 1969---cover gay Washington.

It just won't be called the Blade anymore.

"The staff is united," says current/former Blade editor Kevin Naff. "We’re all together. Our first meeting for our new venture is tomorrow morning."

The staffers don't yet have a name for the newspaper.

Not a dumb move at all: The Blade as a standalone publication runs a profit; however, not enough of a profit to keep its debt-troubled parent company, Window Media, in the black.

Read more: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/11/16/blade-staff-to-launch-new-publication/