The Blade Turns A Page (original) (raw)

Washington's leading gay newspaper got its start 31 years ago when a group of gay rights activists decided they needed a newsletter to keep gay men and lesbians apprised of their fledgling civil rights movement. They called their single sheet the Gay Blade, and they produced it in basements and living rooms to be handed out in bars and restaurants.

The newspaper now known as the Washington Blade is an ad-rich tabloid with a staff of 25 and a circulation of 40,000. It operates out of a suite of offices at the busy corner of 14th and U streets in Northwest and is widely regarded as the national newspaper of record for the gay community.

It also is about to become part of a small but growing national chain of gay newspapers.

The Blade's owners today are expected to finalize the sale of the newspaper and its sister publication, the New York Blade News, to Window Media LLC in the District. With the sale, Window said it will own seven publications with a combined circulation of 200,000 in major cities including Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans.

The sales mark a turning point of sorts for gay businesses, which have their roots in the gay rights movement but increasingly are being bought and sold like any other enterprise. The nation's two biggest gay magazines, the Advocate and Out, merged, as did the community's two biggest Internet portals, Gay.com and PlanetOut.com. The magazines and Internet ventures nearly joined up but a deal was called off in March after valuations plunged for the Web-based content companies.

"These businesses have become less a labor of love and more a labor profits," said Lee Badgett, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts.

Some gay rights advocates worry about the trend.

"The sale of the Washington Blade means the loss of an independent outlet and fewer people holding more power to control information," said William K. Dobbs, a New York-based gay rights activist.

Blade publisher Don Michaels, who began working at the newspaper 24 years ago, said he would not have sold it if he thought the new owners would weaken it or stray from its strong journalistic tradition. In fact, Michaels said, the ability to string together a chain of gay newspapers in several major cities could increase the national advertising base of the Blade -- making a stronger newspaper. Gay publications are not immune to the forces that are bringing about consolidation in traditional media, he said.

"You need a breadth of advertising beyond the local market," Michaels said. "You need a strong marketing department."

Michaels would not reveal the price paid by Window, but Window President William Waybourn described the sale as a multimillion-dollar deal. Michaels said he decided to sell after being approached by the new company.

"I told them that if the price is right I could convince myself that it was time to move on," Michaels said. With his share of the proceeds, Michaels said he will pursue his hobbies of renovating houses and fixing up old cars.

The Blade these days runs about 100 pages an issue. The paper offers a mixture of news stories, calendar items, cultural reviews, as well as a block of personal ads, some showing lots of skin, not unlike that found in other free weeklies such as the City Paper.

Over the years the Blade has had its share of scoops, and been the subject of some controversy. It was the target, for instance, of a long debate in Fairfax County over whether it should be distributed in libraries. Some gay rights activists have occasionally complained that the paper has hurt their cause by refusing to take sides on certain issues.

The Blade's reporting on a series of murders along the East Coast has led to an FBI investigation of the crimes as the acts of a single person. Most recently, it was the first to report that a local preacher had made anti-homosexual remarks from the pulpit.

The newspaper has written tough stories on the federal government's failure to spend more money on AIDS research, but it has also raised questions about the tactics of some gay rights groups, said Rodger Streitmatter, an American University professor who has written about the gay press.

The Blade is one of the few gay newspapers in the country without an editorial page. Michaels worried that expressing a point of view in the pages of such a small newspaper would naturally create suspicions about news stories.

The new owner, Waybourn, said he intends to continue operating the Washington Blade as an independent newspaper that covers local news. "My goal is to create more lesbian and gay media outlets, not reduce them."

But that is little comfort to activists such as Dobbs, who said he is concerned about Waybourn's background in public relations. Before he bought the Blade, Waybourn operated Window Communications, a public relations firm that was a liaison between the gay community and businesses.

Among Waybourn's clients was United Airlines, which came under fire from gay rights activists when it sued the city of San Francisco over an ordinance that required the airline to pay for benefits for the domestic partners of gay employees. He also represented America Online after it effectively confirmed to the Navy that one its sailors was gay, which ultimately resulted in his discharge.

Waybourn said his relationship with clients never affected the coverage of newspapers owned by Window Media, including Atlanta's Southern Voice and the Houston Voice. But in an effort to remove any questions about a conflict of interest, Waybourn closed the PR operation a year ago after reaching the agreement to purchase the Blade.

Chris Crain, editorial director of Window Media, said he understands the concern about consolidation in the gay media. He has editorialized in the company's newspapers against consolidation of Advocate and Out, the nation's two biggest gay magazines. But the acquisition of the Washington Blade and the New York Blade are different, Crain said. "In our case, we have not purchased our competitor."

Crain said he is committed to retaining the Blade's identity as an independent local voice. The only major change he plans is an editorial page.

But Dobbs is not satisfied, even though there are other local gay publications, such as Metro Weekly and Eros. "The Blade is the gay newspaper of record and we are talking about the loss of a very important outlet by a group of investors that raise a lot of questions," Dobbs said.

Just north of Dupont Circle is the Lambda Rising bookstore, specializing in material for gay men, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals. The independent store is owned by Deacon Maccubbin, who is feeling pressure from big book chains. He's no fan of consolidation in the business world. But he is a fan of the Blade.

"The Washington Blade has built the best gay and lesbian news publication in the world," Maccubbin said.

Despite his worries about the loss of a diversity of voices in gay media, Maccubbin is not overly concerned by Window Media's latest acquisition. "I don't think it is really going to change," he said.Chris Crain, editorial director of Window Media, says the only change he plans in the Washington Blade is to add an editorial page. The Blade's sale is to close today.