Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > November > 18 > Entry
The shrinking gay media — and what that means
Newspapers convey a concrete sense of time and place.
So the American gay community lost some of its orientation this week when its oldest and most comprehensive newspaper, the Washington Blade, closed its doors.
The Houston Voice had already closed. The Dallas Voice appears healthy.
Now, Austin lost its serious-minded Texas Triangle years ago. Yet the national failures — Washington Blade employees plan a replacement newspaper — affect the GLBT community here as well.
Respected Austin syndicated gay-press writer Ann Rostow wrote an impassioned piece on the shrinking opportunities for gay reporters and editors, while over at KOOP Radio, OutCast hosts Heath Riddles, Kate Messer and Stephen Rice discussed the wider implications on the air Tuesday. (I was a guest.)
It would be easy enough to blame the shrinking print industry, or the decline of advertising in general. Sharp questions should be asked about Window Media’s business model and the viability of niche publications, especially when the mainstream media shoulders more and more of the reporting on GLBT issues.
One issue won’t go away: The inevitable evolution of gay culture as the community becomes more assimilated. Austin could be a test case for this phenomenon. Because of the city’s open nature, the gay community here never developed a ghetto mentality, with strictly separate neighborhoods, businesses and organizations.
Austin’s gay culture is so deeply entwined with Austin culture, it’s hard to unravel the strands.
Here’s what I hear gay people say they want: Equal protection under the law, first, but also the freedom to associate with their straight counterparts in the city they love, while preserving some semblance of a distinct gay culture.
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By Chuck Smith
November 18, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
Dallas Voice is not affiliated with Window Media LLC. Dallas Voice is still operating.
Statement from Robert Moore, publisher of Dallas Voice:
“The long sad saga of Window Media has come to end.
“Bad management and an acquisition strategy that relied on piling up massive amounts of debt during the good times plotted this story long ago. Once the economy tanked, there was no way to prop up the house of cards that Window had become. Finally, the chickens came home to roost.
“It is a very sad day to see such great titles silenced by greed.”
Robert Moore
Publisher