Blade Shutting Down -- City Paper Next?
From WTOP:
The Blade has been a reliable source of information for the community as we have fought some battles in our county and I am sorry to see it go. And the City Paper -- wow, I hope they can stay afloat. These are hard times for the print media, some publications are going to turn the corner into the digital age and some aren't. We saw The Post try somestupid innovative marketing solutions earlier this year that backfired on them, everybody's trying to stay in business. Some aren't going to make it, you hate to see the best going down first.
[ Update 11/17: More HERE and HERE. ]
WASHINGTON - The Washington Blade, which has been publishing a weekly newspaper in the nation's capital since 1969, has closed its doors.
On the Blade's Twitter page, the paper's parent company, Window Media Publications, said it's shutting down due to financial problems. Window Media operates six other publications across the country.
The Blade had become the paper of record for the gay community in the District.
Jim Graham, one of two openly gay D.C. council members, called the news "very sad."
"We are going to have to re-invent the Washington Blade," Graham tells WTOP. "The gay community can not be without this kind of quality newspaper. This is very sad."
The decision comes as The Washington CityPaper, one of the only other alternative weekly newspapers in D.C., has been fighting for survival. CityPaper's parent company, Creative Loafing, filed for bankruptcy last year resulting in a change of ownership.
Creative Loafing is now owned by Atalaya Capital Management, a hedge fund that was Creative Loafing's primary creditor. On Monday, Creative Loafing named Mary Petty, the former publisher of the St. Petersburg Times, as the new chief executive officer.
Eric Wemple, editor of CityPaper, says while the loss of the Blade doesn't come as a surprise, it is definitely bad news for readers who counted on the paper to cover issues not always reported in the mainstream media.
"You're talking about a great, great crusading publication that knew its audience and aggressively went after the news that its audience cared about," Wemple says.
"Cutbacks in recent years strained its ability to cover all of its waterfronts, but you still couldn't afford to ignore the Blade. People are shocked, even though news of its worsening financial picture have been coming in waves for some time now." Longtime gay publication shutting its doors
The Blade has been a reliable source of information for the community as we have fought some battles in our county and I am sorry to see it go. And the City Paper -- wow, I hope they can stay afloat. These are hard times for the print media, some publications are going to turn the corner into the digital age and some aren't. We saw The Post try some
[ Update 11/17: More HERE and HERE. ]
posted by JimK at 3:07 PM
30 Comments:
maybe Graham and that clown, Catania, should quit and start a gay paper
I hope they get a chance to review Sarah Palin's book before they shut down.
Reviews are coming in from other places and it's a general agreement that the book is sensational!
Better than Audacity of Dope.
One year ago, the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Since then, half of the gay couples who have married in the state have been from other states or other countries, the Hartford Courant reported.
Marriage advocates say the influx of out-of-staters indicates Connecticut was part of a national strategy.
"This isn't a surprise to me," Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut said. "We warned all along that they would use this state as a springboard to force it on the rest of the country. This wasn't accomplished by people that cared about Connecticut. This was accomplished by people who had a national strategy. They achieved their aim and then they moved on."
Gay activists are hard at work trying to force gay marriage onto New York and New Jersey, as well. The New York Senate convened for a second special session today, with Gov. David Paterson pushing for a vote on a same-sex marriage bill. In New Jersey, lawmakers are working to send a gay marriage bill to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine before he leaves office in January. Corzine has said he would sign such a bill, while Gov.-elect Chris Christie has promised to veto it.
In Washington, D.C., a council committee voted last week to move a same-sex marriage bill on to the full council.
In Ohio, Oregon, California and Michigan, gay activists are working to overturn constitutional amendments that protect marriage.
Ohio Rep. Tyrone K. Yates introduced a resolution in the state House last week that would repeal a 2004 amendment protecting marriage.
David Miller, vice president for public policy with Citizens for Community Values, said Ohioans have spoken clearly.
"It's curious that Representative Yates or any Ohio legislator would want to put such a popular issue before the voters again," Miller told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Thirty-one states have voted in support of marriage, including Maine, which voted this month to overturn a gay marriage law passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
this is great news to see the Blade shut down
Windows Media, who owns the Blade, is also shutting down several other gay agenda publications it owns around the country
The Blade outlasted many other print publications that have gone under since the Internet has become such a popular source for news and since the recession has cut down on advertising revenues. From January through July 2009, 105 newspapers closed their doors and 10,000 employees lost their jobs.
Here are some of the other newspapers that closed in 2009, The Year the Newspaper Died:
Gannett closed 7 newspapers
Gatehouse Media closed 8 newspapers
The Sun-Times Media Group closed 12 newspapers
The Journal Register Company closed 34 newspapers
Another 43 various newspapers were closed
This morning former Blade Editor-In-Chief Kevin Naff will be meeting with other former Blade staffers to "relaunch the paper under a new name." I look forward to hearing about what the former Blade employees work out to keep this important newspaper going.
Anon noted, or cut and paste without attributing:
“Thirty-one states have voted in support of marriage, including Maine, which voted this month to overturn a gay marriage law passed by the Legislature earlier this year.”
What you don’t get Anon is that all *50* states could vote against gay marriage, and that still wouldn’t stop those who don’t have equal rights from using every possible legal means to obtain them.
The battle isn’t going to stop until LGBTQ folks have the same legal rights as straight couples.
Have a nice day,
Cynthia
"Reviews are coming in from other places and it's a general agreement that the book is sensational!"
You of course mean, "anonymous",
something along the lines of what the National Enquirer used to publish (now done scurrilously by other supermarket tabloids)?
Don't give the resigned-Governor any credit for the trash (meant to garner millions of $$ from the innocent yet ignorant masses who lap this sort of tripe up). The credit goes to her mystery co-author.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a Pulitzer prize for fiction to come her way.
Citizen
Reviews are coming in from other places and it's a general agreement that the book is sensational!
Maybe in your reality, but even the Wall Street Journal's book review by Melanie Kirkpatrick, a former deputy editor of the Journal's editorial page, doesn't say anything about the book being "sensational." It says:
"...When the media blackout was finally lifted and she had an interview with Katie Couric of the "CBS Evening News," the result was disastrous. Mrs. Palin takes responsibility, saying that she "let the team down" and that she "mistakenly let myself become annoyed and frustrated with many of her repetitive, biased questions." But she also blames the campaign for not prepping her adequately and for telling her that it was going to be "a pretty mellow interview, short and sweet, about balancing motherhood and my life as governor."
It is disappointing that Mrs. Palin devotes so little of "Going Rogue" to the issues that she and Mr. McCain ran on. She says that the campaign should have focused more on the flagging economy and been more aggressive in countering Barack Obama's agenda. She also says that she wasn't allowed to praise President Bush's homeland-security policies. But that's about it.
Mrs. Palin's veep candidacy ignited fury on the left and much skewed reporting in the mainstream media. It is probably too much to hope that a book that begins at the Right to Life booth at the Alaska State Fair will inspire her critics to read on. But if they do, they'll find themselves in the company of a woman whose views are more nuanced than they were portrayed to be during the campaign. As for her supporters on the right, they won't find much new ammunition with which to counter those who say that Mrs. Palin isn't ready for the rigors of the White House.
Speaking of which, "Going Rogue" offers little guidance on the big question: Is Mrs. Palin preparing to run for the presidency? The final chapter, "The Way Forward," is a mere 13 pages and reads like a stump speech. It consists mostly of generalities on conservative values, fiscal restraint and the need for a strong defense. But the quotation from her father with which she introduces the chapter perhaps offers a clue to her future plans: "Sarah's not retreating; she's reloading!"
"something along the lines of what the National Enquirer used to publish (now done scurrilously by other supermarket tabloids)?
Don't give the resigned-Governor any credit for the trash (meant to garner millions of $$ from the innocent yet ignorant masses who lap this sort of tripe up)"
could the clown who wrote this petty comment please give us some examples of the "trash" and "tripe"?
this hyperbole is a manifestation of the terror our future president strikes in the hearts of liberals everywhere
Sarah is a trailblazer, consistently ahead of the pack
she was the only one who could make any criticism stick on Obama in summer 2008
now anyone can
she was the first to get the public riled up about the health care plan
now anyone can
she was the first to recognize Scozzafazza wasn't a Republican
now anyone can
once she blazes a trail, anyone can walk it
that's old-fashioned leadership!
gays go bankrupt across the nation:
"ATLANTA (Nov. 17) -- When Laura Douglas-Brown got to work on Monday, she saw a note on the door.
"It is with great regret that we must inform you that effective immediately, the operations of Window Media LLC and United Media LLC have closed down."
It asked employees to return Wednesday, adding, "Please bring boxes and/or containers that will allow you to collect all your personal belongings at one time."
And with that, Douglas-Brown lost her job at Atlanta-based Southern Voice -- the South's main newspaper for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities -- where she has worked for more than 12 years.
Southern Voice, which was in print for more than 20 years and had a circulation of 100,000, was one of several gay newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Blade and South Florida Blade, that were shut down Monday when their parent companies, Window Media and United Media, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy."
WASHINGTON - D.C.'s Board of Ethics and Elections has ruled that a measure giving voters the option to ban same-sex unions cannot go on the city's ballot.
The ruling was announced Tuesday. Opponents of same-sex marriage had sought to ask voters whether "only marriage between a man and woman" should be recognized in the city.
The elections board, however, said putting the measure on the ballot would conflict with the city's Human Rights Act.
Board Chairman Errol R. Arthur said in a statement that the "laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward."
"The elections board, however, said putting the measure on the ballot would conflict with the city's Human Rights Act.
Board Chairman Errol R. Arthur said in a statement that the "laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward.""
This is a bunch of malarkey.
The Election Board needs to be replaced and the Human Rights Act amended to make clear that redefining marriage to include deviancy is no one's "right".
This should be a wake-up call to get the gays out of the D.C. government.
They are as morally bankrupt as the Blade.
Wall Street Journal to close Boston bureau
Paper cites fall in ads, economy
By Johnny Diaz
Globe Staff / October 30, 2009
The Wall Street Journal plans to close its Boston bureau by the end of the year, another example of how the recession and advertising slump is hurting even the biggest newspapers in the country.
Officials for the Wall Street Journal said yesterday that the bureau, which produces articles for the paper about New England and industries such as health care, education, and financial services, will shutter by Dec. 31.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/10/30/wall_street_journal_to_close_boston_bureau/
interesting how gays keep posting stuff about newspapers' financial difficulties
WSJ is surviving
cutting and re-allocating costs is a part of business
the gay newspapers being shut down are the only gay papers in those locations
as part of Sarah Palin Week festivities, here's her interview with Rush Limbaugh:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_111709/content/01125120.guest.html
two-thirds of Americans are furious while Obama is overseas bowing to royals and "welcoming" China's influence in global politics:
"Washington (CNN) – Two-thirds of Americans disagree with the Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court rather than a military court, according to a new national poll."
the Democrats and the person they think has no chance:
"Wow, for somebody who's supposed to be such a political joke, an Arctic ditz and eminently dismissable as a serious anything except maybe a stay-at-home hockey mom, Sarah Palin is sure drawing an awful lot of attention from Democrats and eager critics.
The launch of her "Going Rogue" interviews has ignited a surprisingly large blizzard of derogatory Democrat dis-missives.
Every few minutes another note from Democratic National Committee operatives and others dropped into electronic mailboxes across the media-verse, helpfully passing on even the tiniest tidbit of negative news about Palin.
You know how sometimes a friend tells you how much he/she doesn't really care about....
...someone else. Really doesn't! And repeats it a sufficient number of times that you become convinced of precisely the opposite?
So maybe she does matter after all.
One e-mail was headed "Palin's rough year," which overlooked her $1-million-plus book contract, the kind of rough patch even many Obama Democrats wouldn't mind enduring in the current job market.
It contained a quote from respected Republican strategist Mike Murphy about Palin saying: "She’ll have a muscular career as a political celebrity, and she’ll have a voice. I just don’t think that she’s a strong political candidate.”
Accidentally absent from the message was any mention that Murphy was a longtime political intimate and strategist for John McCain, whose feckless 2008 campaign staff comes in for so much criticism in Palin's book.
There was another headline arriving Monday, saying Palin has no political future and attributing that to Bob Schieffer, a newsman at CBS.
That's the TV network that produced the disastrous Palin interviews of 2008 and this year's late-night sex joke about an underage daughter of Palin's.
One of the more interesting but surprisingly not surprising anti-Palin bits came in news from HuffingtonPost, which published word that ex-VP Al Gore's TV channel Current has broadcast a cartoon which says Palin's real Twitter name is "Gun-Ho" and refers to Palin as a TWILF.
That's a play on a crude acronym thrown at Palin during the 2008 campaign, "VPILF."
The Web item suggested disingenuously that TWILF stood for "Tweep I'd Like to Follow." The F actually stands for another verb we don't choose to publish here. But it is indicative of the vehemence already directed at the conservative female former Alaskan governor. As if some see her developing into a danger before she does.
Palin will have ample opportunity in coming weeks and months to rehab her image and soar into a new political life."
OMG, "Anonymous"...you are becoming alarmingly delusional: "this hyperbole is a manifestation of the terror our future president strikes in the hearts of liberals everywhere
Sarah is a trailblazer, consistently ahead of the pack"
Like Carrie Prejean, the public will shortly become tired of the constant whining and "oh, my (wink, wink) - I am such a victim" bogus protestations of the failed resigned-Governor of Alaska. She is just a passing fancy, today's fad and tomorrow's "who?", destined to be locked forever in the fickle memories of the minority of morons who talk about her as the "next President".
"the public will shortly become tired of the constant whining and "oh, my (wink, wink) - I am such a victim" bogus protestations of the former Governor of Alaska. She is just a passing fancy, today's fad and tomorrow's "who?","
dream on
the attention Democrats give her proves their concern
the attention Democrats give her proves their concern
IMHO the attention Democrats give her is just like the rubbernecking people do at the edge of the road after a bad accident.
Here's an interesting survey finding of Americans' preferences for paying for health care reform's cost reductions
Interview dates: October 29 – November 8, 2009
Interviews: 1,502 adults
Margin of error: +/- 2.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level
If the government does things to reduce the cost of health insurance for some Americans or to help more people get health insurance, it would cost the government money. The government could get the money to pay for this in a number of different ways. Next, I'll read you a list of some says the government could get the money. After I read you the whole list, I'll read them one at a time so you can tell me whether you would favor or oppose each one. Here's the list:
Taxing companies on the money they spend to offer health insurance to their employees - 17% favor, 74% oppose
Increasing income taxes paid by people who earn more than $250,000 a year - 57% favor, 36% oppose
Increasing income taxes paid by all Americans no matter how much they earn - 19% favor, 75% oppose
Taxing very expensive health insurance that pays for a great deal of health care - 29% favor, 56% oppose
Taxing sugary soft drinks - 44% favor, 49% oppose
Increasing the taxes paid by companies that sell prescription drugs and medical equipment - 41% favor, 51% oppose
Increasing the taxes paid by all health insurance companies - 42% favor, 48% oppose
Borrow the money, which would increase the federal government's debt - 6% favor, 88% oppose
"IMHO the attention Democrats give her is just like the rubbernecking people do at the edge of the road after a bad accident."
your HO is wrong
it's fear, plain and simple
you don't viciously attack an accident victim
Democrats act, and are, very threatened by Palin
the health care bill is dead, anon-B
stop beating that old dead horse
SNL had a great skit this week where Joe Biden offered to sign any health bill passed by the Congress while Obama is out of the country regardless of what it says
no problem, Joe
it's already clear Barry will do that when he comes back
the House version basically outlaws insurance coverage for abortions
the Senate version will have to outlaw gay marriage to get passed
this is fun!
an accident victim
Well Sarah survived her accidental elevation to the national stage. Then she went home and quit her job in service to the people of Alaska so she could cash in on the sex appeal McCain used to try to getelected.
SNL had a great skit this week
Keep focusing on fiction and comedy. I think they'll help you over your depression a lot better than self-medicating can.
"Well Sarah survived her accidental elevation to the national stage."
that was purposeful and made because she was all mavericky
"Then she went home and quit her job in service to the people of Alaska so she could cash in"
actually, she quit because liberals were coming to the state filing frivolous lawsuits because they so feared her future
she thought Alaska deserved a governor without the national albatross and her talents could put to better use elsewhere
she was right on both counts
"Keep focusing on fiction and comedy."
actualy that was pointed political satire reaching a national audience, making it significant
if you don't like it, talk to the ghost of Jonathan Swift
The attention that Democrats give to resigned-Governor Palin is one of total bemusement and disbelief. That such a woefully and profoundly unqualified candidate for any public office can attract any attention at all and would strut her stuff and spout untruths and innanities as well as a woeful lack of knowledge is just astounding.
She's on a par with Carrie Prejean, another loser beauty queen.
"The attention that Democrats give to resigned-Governor Palin is one of total bemusement and disbelief."
No it's not.
It's justified terror.
She's magic. America is intrigued and fascinated. She'll raise tons of money for the national slate of charismatic Repubs Michael Steele is recruiting to take the Congress next year.
"That such a woefully and profoundly unqualified candidate for any public office can attract any attention at all and would strut her stuff and spout untruths and innanities as well as a woeful lack of knowledge is just astounding."
Have you heard of Barack Obama?
I just watched the Oprah interview.
Palin shows so much poise and intelligence, you guys shouldn't watch it.
You'll urinate on yourself.
You betcha!
decency is advancing in Congress:
"According to a CNN poll, 61 percent of Americans are opposed to government funding of abortion.
The results highlight the battle that has been raging, first in the U.S. House and now in the Senate, over inclusion of abortion funding in health-care reform.
Pro-life members in the House were able to get an amendment passed banning federal funding of abortions.
Now it's the Senate's turn. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has announced he will introduce an amendment with similar pro-life language."
"Anti-Abortion Group Condemns Palin for Being "Pro-Choice" and "Socialist"
Anti-abortion rights group American Right to Life has promised that when Sarah Palin reaches the state of Indiana to promote her new ghost-written autobiography, Going Rogue, she can expect to face demonstrations against her pro-choice politics.
Yes, you read that right. Sarah Palin, the right-wing pinup girl for teabaggers everywhere, is being condemned for being too leftist on the matter of abortion. Even though, as Mother Jones notes, Palin has said that even if her own daughter were raped, she would "choose life" and make her have the baby, she's just not prolife enough. A new report put out by the group as part of its "Prolife Profiles" seems to rate Palin as being just a few steps away from being a radical feminist. American Right to Life's criticisms of Palin include her appointment of Morgan Christensen, a former board member of Planned Parenthood, to the Alaska Supreme Court; failure to endorse the Federal Personhood Amendment, which would define "personhood" as starting at the moment of fertilization; and refusing to say that the so-called "morning after" pill should be illegal. The profile of Palin says that she uses terminology that is "liberal," "socialist," and "pro-choice" in her speeches and on her Facebook page, and classifies her as being in "Tier 4," which contains "leaders and organizations [who] fundamentally deny the personhood and God-given right to life of the unborn by advocating a permanent 'legalization' and often even funding of the intentional killing of some preborn children for various reasons." Other persons in Tier 4 include pro-abortion extremists like Billy Graham, George W. Bush, and Pat Robertson.
The Denver News's blog quotes Darrell Birkey, the director of American Right to Life Action, as saying that Palin wants to have her cake and eat it too, politically speaking: Lots of politicians speak in politician-speak," he said. "They've learned key catch phrases that people will accept. For example, they will say, as Sarah Palin does, 'I'm personally pro-life.' Well, personally pro-life in politician-speak simply means 'I'm pro-choice.'"
ARTL spokesman Bob Enyart says that Palin's popularity among conservatives reveals fundamental weaknesses in the movement: "The pro-life movement has sunk to such a low level that if you don't kill your own child, you qualify as a leader," he said. Enyart also believes that Palin's statements that voters in individual states should decide on the legality of abortion is hypocritical: "If you’re personally against slavery but say that the states have the right to decide if they can trade in slaves, then you're a hypocrite."
While ARTL is a small group, Palin and her staff seem to have taken their criticisms to heart: twenty-four hours after the profile was posted on ARTL's website, all mentions of Morgan Christensen's appointment to the Alaska Supreme Court had been eliminated from Palin's official website."
http://prolifeprofiles.com/palin
Welcome y'll to the "Anonymous Troll" Blogsite.
Seems like the individual known as "Anonymous" has finally succeeded in pirating the VIGILENCE site.
TTF has lost the battle to place any restrictions on this SITE HOG who chooses an any time to change discussion to a topic completely unrelated to the original entry at his desire and ego-stroking needs.
Oh, well :-(
Anon, while the conversation has definitely drifted, I thought it was interesting enough to see that the far right is turning against Sarah Palin.
We can talk about the Blade in the thread that is currently at the top if you like.
JimK
the far right, like the far left is against anyone who is not "far"
76% of Republicans approve of Sarah Palin
I have a feeling the 24 are the liberal and moderate Repubs
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