WASHINGTON POST REPORTS:Washington Blade Ends Its Run

Gay weekly Washington Blade closes


By Paul Schwartzman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Washington Blade, the weekly newspaper that chronicled the coming-out of the capital's gay community, was born amid the idealism of 1960s street protests. Monday, the paper died, victim of the unforgiving realities of the nation's sagging newspaper industry.

Last month, the Blade celebrated its 40th anniversary at a swanky downtown Washington party. The paper's nearly two-dozen employees arrived at their downtown offices Monday to start a new workweek, only to be ordered to clear out their desks by midafternoon.

Steven Myers, co-president of the paper's owner, Atlanta-based Window Media, said the company also ceased operations at its other gay-oriented publications, which include the Southern Voice newspaper and David magazine in Atlanta, and the South Florida Blade and 411 magazine in Florida.

As employees in the District newsroom packed up and removed photographs from the walls of the Blade's offices at the National Press Building, Myers declined to explain the shutdown, saying the company would release "a formal statement later this week." Staffers planned to meet at a coffee shop Tuesday to plot a revival of the paper.

"It's a shock. I'm almost speechless, really," said Lou Chibbaro Jr., a Blade reporter who has written for the newspaper since 1976, covering the full arc of the country's gay-rights movement, from early marches through the rise of AIDS and on to the latest battles over legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Blade, born in an era when most gays lived in the closet, grew in size and stature as Washington's gay population blossomed and became more politically active and influential. Chibbaro, who wrote his first front-page story for the Blade under a pseudonym at a time when publicly stating one's sexual orientation could be dangerous, felt the change in dramatic fashion this year, when, while covering a presidential news conference on health-care policy, he was directed to a seat in the front row.

The Blade's closing comes at a moment of extraordinary optimism for many gays in Washington. The big story Chibbaro and the paper's other writers have been covering is the bill supported by nearly all of the D.C. Council's members that would legalize same-sex marriage in the city.


"Here we are, on the verge of having marriage equality, and it would be real shame if the Blade wasn't there to cover the victory," said Deacon Maccubbin, owner of Lambda Rising, the gay-oriented Dupont Circle bookstore, which had been advertising in the paper since the shop's 1974 opening.

Kevin Naff, the Blade's editor, said Window Media officials told him the company "was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means liquidation." Window Media's majority stockholder, Avalon Equity Partners, was placed in receivership by the U.S. Small Business Administration last year. Naff and other staffers immediately began an effort to revive the paper as an employee-owned operation.

This week's edition of the free weekly, which had a circulation of 23,000, won't be published. The Blade's Web site, which reported about 250,000 visitors a month, went dark Monday morning.

A small troupe of activists founded the Blade in 1969, a few months after New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, igniting riots and launching the gay rights movement. In its infancy, the paper was known as the Gay Blade and consisted of a single, letter-size sheet of paper that its editor, Nancy Tucker, mimeographed and distributed herself, scooting around town in a Volkswagen to drop off stacks at gay-friendly bars. The paper's mission was to unite an eclectic array of gay groups, including drag queens and government workers, literary buffs and motorcycle enthusiasts; inform readers of gay-related services; and warn them about blackmailers and other scammers.

In the ensuing decades, the Blade's editors became more ambitious, switching to newsprint and dispatching reporters to write about discrimination against gays in the federal government, hate crimes such as the killing of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, and political and health issues generated by the AIDS epidemic.
Yet, equally important, the newspaper devoted itself to more routine stories, casting light on murders and legislation that received little or no attention from mainstream news outlets such as The Washington Post. The Blade was also the place to find advertisements for everything from doctors to lawyers to real estate agents who cater to gays.


"I knew there were financial problems in the background, but I'm in a dumbfounded state of shock by this," Kameny said.

Window Media bought the Blade and other publications in 2001. Like many news organizations, the Blade suffered financially in recent years, although it still managed to turn a profit, said Lynn Brown, the paper's publisher, in an interview on the occasion of the paper's 40th anniversary.

Naff said Monday that he hopes to keep the staff together and relaunch the paper under a new name. He would not provide more details about potential investors or logistics.

"It will be employee-owned," Naff said. "We're not going away."

Asked the name of the new publication, he smiled and said, "Got any suggestions?"

Walmart Brings Palin To The Masses at $9.00

Amazon, Walmart.com, Target.com in price war over book
Walmart.com dropped price from list price of $28.99 to $10, then to $9 and below as other retailers matched it. On October 15, Walmart.com began offering preorders of Going Rogue, along with nine other new book releases, for $10. After Amazon.com reportedly matched the price, Walmart.com "str[uck] back, slashing its prices to $9" [AOL Daily Finance, 10/16/09]. Amazon also dropped its price to $9 [Buzzflash.com, 10/19/09]. Target.com joined in the price war, prompting Walmart.com to drop its price further [The New Yorker, 11/9/09]. By November 5, Walmart.com was selling the book for $8.98, Target.com was selling it for $8.99, and Amazon was selling it for $9. The respective retailers were still selling the book at those prices as of November 16. All three retailers give the book's list price as $28.99. Screen shots of the November 5 prices are below:

FRONTIERS IN LA: Federal Prop. 8 Challenge Judge Orders Documents Produced

Federal Prop. 8 Challenge Judge Orders Documents Produced

San Francisco federal judge Vaughn Walker ruled Oct. 23 that proponents of Proposition 8 in a lawsuit challenging the measure under the U.S. Constitution must give plaintiffs documents pertaining to last year’s campaign, LGBTPOV.com reports. The case was brought by conservative former U.S. Solicitor General Tom Olson and liberal attorney David Boies on behalf of same-sex couples denied marriage licenses in California.

The documents ordered to be produced include strategy plans and emails, which plaintiffs want to examine to determine whether anti-gay animus played any role in motivating the pro-Prop. 8 forces. “The intent or purpose of Prop. 8 is central to this litigation,” Walker said Oct. 1.

The ruling “will make any citizen group think twice before attempting a ballot initiative,” said Andrew Pugno, a pro-Prop. 8 lawyer.

Walker refused to stay his order pending appeal. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 11.

Hillary Clinton Behavior In Front of An African Student Is An Embarrasment To The Nation

A Brief Visit To The House on Chalon Road

AB 144: MA Starts To Limit BIG Government & She Is a Democrat!

Statement by Don Norte, Program Chair of CPPAs 25th Annual Conference
The California Public Parking Association (CPPA) is extremely honored to announce Fiona Ma as this years keynote speaker for our annual conference set for November 18-20, 2009. Assembly member Ma knows how important it is to tackle the challenge of misuse faced by agencies responsible for enforcing parking disabled placards in the state of California.
We welcome the prospect of taking on fraud and misuse of DMV disabled placards at the State level to improve access for people with disabilities. With Assembly member Mas legislation, known as AB 144, she has spent a great deal of time building bridges to stakeholders in diverse communities affected by this problem. One of the benefits of Ms. Mas advocacy is that she understands the degree and level of abuse faced by agencies across this state and knows that CPPAs commitment to individuals with disabilities is necessary to solve the problem as a statewide coalition.

We must ensure that the foundation is set by local authorities to crackdown on the illegal use of disability placards by being able to implement the provisions of AB144, which allows flexibility to address the issue with fines of up to $1,000, instead of with misdemeanor arrests.

Members of the California Public Parking Association have a prime opportunity to work together to initiate future legislative reform on parking issues throughout the state. The conference will be a way to have a dialogue between agencies and Assembly member Mas participation can set the spark on what needs to be accomplished to improve parking policy for people with disabilities.

Government, personal responsibility and individual liberty are too important for us to let them down."


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Source: California Public Parking Association

Donnie & Kevin Support Thank Glaad Its FRIDAY (06.12.09)