Staff of the Southern Voice, a gay weekly in Atlanta and one of the handful of publications shut down abruptly by parent company Window Media last week, have received a $12,000 matching grant to start a new publication.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Lloyd E. Russell Foundation, which provides grants to organizations in the LGBQT and leather communities, will provide the matching grant to the Voice‘s founder and former owner, Chris Cash, and its erstwhile editor, Laura Douglas-Brown.
Cash and Douglas-Brown have been raising money through a new web site, SaveSoVo.com. Their yet-to-be-named publication will have both print and online editions.
Southern Voice‘s parent company, Window Media, closed down all its publications last week without warning. The Voice’s staff came to work to find the locks changed and a note on the door. Window filed for bankruptcy on Friday.
Another of Window’s casualties, the Washington Blade, is also launching anew. After the closure, the Blade‘s staff continued working on a volunteer basis, putting out the first issue of their new D.C. Agenda on Friday.
Cash and Douglas-Brown told the AJC that the grant will be used for renting office space and printing costs, but will not go toward salaries.
They also said that Window owes the staff four weeks of back pay, which they don’t expect to see.
