Gay media is busted, and putting it back
together amid a cratered economy appears to be a daunting task.
Just last week, gay lifestyle magazine
Genre quietly shuttered.
Much of the blame for a declining gay
media could be laid at the feet of the Genre's of the world:
High-gloss beacons of manic gay overindulgence buoyantly selling a
glittery metrosexualized lifestyle that only existed in the high-homo
art capitals of the world; all the while turning hard-edged news
publishers green with envy.
And that's the rub. We all bought into
the fallacy that everyone was interested in that high-glam lifestyle,
derailing many of our most prominent archivers of the gay rights
movement.
It was a premature leap to a halcyon
post-Stonewall era where pigtails on boys is more art than
controversy.
Consolidation of the industry began
early in the decade when many regional gay weeklies dedicated to the
art of journalism succumbed to the TMZing of their brands.
(Ironically, TMZ.com is now courting Washington politicians.)
About that time, Window Media began
aggressively collecting regional gay papers, shaking them upside down
to loosen any spare coins from their pockets and closing those that
came up empty. The New Orleans Blade was bought and closed
within a year.
Other papers survived but were expected
to offer an enhanced lifestyle section, often at the expense of real
news. Many journalists and editors bolted, unhappy with that
Hobson's choice.
“The consolidation meant that very
few people get to set the spin on national stories,” activist Bill
Dobs told the Washington City Paper. “There is a
homogenization taking place in gay news. We need to see more
voices.”
“The Blade was a
community-based newspaper, and Window Media moved it away from that
community base,” said Clint Steib, a former photo editor at the
Washington Blade.
Meanwhile, magazines serving the GLBT
community were also on loose footing. The Advocate, America's
only gay and lesbian news magazine, began facing financial problems
as early as 2006.
“Regent [parent company of The
Advocate] and Window have pursued similar strategies in the last
decade, focusing on advertiser-friendly 'lifestyle' topics like
fashion and arts and entertainment to lure in subscribers,” wrote
veteran gay journalist Japhy Grant in an analysis piece that asked
“Is this the end of gay media?” at Queerty.com
last week.
“It hasn't been successful,” Grant
added.
Regent, a part of Here Media, recently
acquired control of The Advocate,
while its former owner, PlanetOut, faces NASDAQ
delisting.
Fears that The Advocate,
America's most widely recognized national gay and lesbian
publication, is being downsized into little more than a glossy
propaganda machine for Here Media's other properties, which include
gay cable channel here! television and a gay-themed film distribution
company, continue to haunt the gay media community and those watching
it.
Queerty.com recently quoted Regent CEO
Paul Colichman on publishing: “We did the magazine [Here! Magazine]
purely as a publicity piece for the network. We're not in the
magazine business. It's a really saturated and very difficult
market. I really have zero desire to be in the magazine business in
any serious way. We simply use it as a marketing piece as we would a
flier or a handout.”
Colichman now helms that icon of
gay news The Advocate.
Window Media, which owns many gay
regionals including Southern Voice, Houston Voice, South Florida
Blade, David Atlanta, The 411 Magazine, Washington Blade and the
now shuttered Genre, was quietly placed into federal
receivership last August. Those assets will most likely be auctioned
off amid a severe economic crisis.
The gay movement continues, it will be
televised, but increasingly the question is: Will the revolution be
published?