Former SoVo editor talks about plans in the works
November 20, 2009 at 4:58 pm by Patrick Saunders in News
Laura Douglas-Brown, former editor of recently shuttered LGBT publication Southern Voice, issued a statement on SoVo’s Facebook page minutes ago about the status of upcoming LGBT media projects.
She revealed what is in store after talks with former SoVo owner (and founder) Chris Cash all week:
Which brings me to where we stand now. Chris Cash, the original founder of Southern Voice, and I have been talking intensely all week. She sold the paper in 1997, had wanted to buy it back as Window Media fell apart, and didn’t get the chance. Now we want to work together to make sure our community’s Voice — many voices, really — is not silenced.
As of today, we have a mailbox, a bank account, and a domain name — www.savesovo.com — that mark the official public start of our efforts.
We know we can’t really save SoVo — that name now belongs to a bankruptcy court and lienholders — but we can save SoVo’s mission. We want to try.
We’ll have a website up in the next few days, where you can give us your contact information to receive updates; tell us how you may be able or willing to help; keep up-to-date on our efforts; and if you feel able, even donate to help fund the initial stages of this project.
It won’t be tax deductible, but please know that we are volunteering our time — any money we raise will simply help offset startup costs, like web hosting, incorporation and initial printing when we get to that stage — that we are currently paying out of pocket.
She also said there will be an upcoming community meeting the week after Thanksgiving to discuss what the community wants from their LGBT news source and what it should be called. Date, time and location are to be announced.
Finally, Douglas-Brown talks about the goals for the publication:
Our vision now is a community-owned, community-led LGBT news outlet that focuses on reporting LGBT issues in Atlanta and beyond. We’ll publish through a robust website and a companion print publication. We’ll share more as we know more, and we want to know what you think.
As I said at the beginning, it’s been a difficult week. But it’s also exciting and inspiring, and we’re ready to continue the fight. Please join us.
UPDATE: The initiative has a Web site where you can contact the team, contribute and find out more info: Save SoVo.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
It’s a little irritating how Cash & Douglas-Brown are going around saying that there are no news sources out there for gay and lesbian Atlantans. ProjectQ is a website that has been publishing local glbt news for quite some time.
I wish them well, but am a bit skeptical about any new Capitalist venture that starts off asking for donations. Print is a struggling medium, and the factors that caused Window Media to fail have not gone away. It’s going to be very tough for this new effort to succeed if it’s just a rehash of SoVo.