Via @jackshafer, I came across this moving, photo-heavy blog post from the Washington City Paper recording the sudden and unexpected death of the Washington Blade, one of the most prominent and valued publications in the gay press, at the hands of their corporate owners, Window Media. One optimistic take away: it seems that some of the paper’s staffers are banding together and plan to launch some new publication, details TK.
But amidst the depression, I loved this gritty scene:
Reporters have been calling the office all morning in search of a comment, having only heard confirmation of the paper’s closure via Tweet. Finally, Editor-In-Chief Kevin Naff comes outside to make a statement. Hold on—he has to pee. When he returns from the bathroom, he addresses reporters in front of the Blade’s glass-enclosed offices. Inside, a couple of Window Media staffers can be seen shuffling around a glass conference room, hard at work dismantling the newspaper. One of them wears an eye-patch. “I can’t speak on behalf of the company, and I can’t speak here,” Naff says. So the group heads around the corner, where Naff stands in front of another large window looking in on Window brass. “You can refer to me as the former editor of the Blade,” Naff says.
Very nicely told.
Clint Hendler is the managing editor of Mother Jones, and a former deputy editor of CJR.