Earlier this week we reported on HX being sold to undisclosed buyers. Now Matthew Bank has officially "suspended" publication of New York Blade. It really doesn't seem to matter: the pub has been a sad shell of its former self for some time. That means the only official gay newspaper in NYC at the moment is Gay City News, published byVillager Media (who also publish The Villager, Chelsea Now and Downtown Express).
The big worry: What's going to happen to the Washington Blade, the once venerable publication that is part of Window Media and is tied in complicated ways to this media conglomerate. It's a D.C. pub that people actually give a damn about and was still (reportedly) turning a profit. As Chris Crain explains it, the Washington Blade and Southern Voice (in Atlanta), may both be spared as part of this blood letting that is involved in Avalon Equity money issues.
It all points to a larger problem: What is the point of gay media in 2009? Is this niche so mainstream that no one cares to advertise in the pubs? Or do they lack the bite due to budget cuts so no longer seem essential reading? With excellent (?) blogs out there covering much of the same issues in rapid, immediate posts, perhaps the out-of-touch reporting of the gay-focused papers is no longer needed. It may seem that way in NYC, but in other cities around the country, news related to LGBT issues is severely underreported. Although much of these pubs have a conservative gay agenda, and often supported mainstreaming efforts that have now made them irrelevant, they also break news regarding hate crimes, political machinations harmful to LGBT causes and offer unusual insight for beat reporters who may not be able to connect the dots when it comes to sensitive issues dealing with sex and sexuality. Younger generations certainly don't see the need to pick up the New
York Blade. If they did happen upon a story reported by one of these pubs, it was probably via the
Web. And yet none of the publishers have put much effort into creating effective websites. The most difficult growing pain for the gay community may be that, having won freedoms, the battle does indeed mean a generational gap of identity confusion. And if there does need to be gay print media, perhaps these tired models need to pass away so someone else can dream up something original and essential.
