From the Ashes, Southern Voices’ Crew Gets Grant To Start New Paper

11/24/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
The symbol of Atlanta is a phoenix in honor of its resurrection after the Civil War from a train depot into a major city. The Southern Voice will also be rising from the ashes with the help of a $12,000 matching grant from the Lloyd E. Grant Foundation. The Foundation gives grants to various individuals for the promotion of LGBT issues and rights. According to their website, the Lloyd E. Grant Foundation “was established by Mr. Russell to promote unity, visibility and self esteem within the gay, bi, lesbian, transgendered, questioning (GBLTQ) and leather communities and to promote a positive image in the Atlanta area and throughout the Southeastern United States through community activities and services.”

Chris Cash, the former owner of the Southern Voice, and Laura Douglas-Brown, the former editor, began a movement to save the newspaper, even if it was under a new name. The two have been tirelessly working to get funds for the start up. “It became so clear in such a short period of time how much this publication was needed,” Douglas-Brown told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The initial funds will mostly be used to start up the new project including renting an office and the cost of printing and setting up. Certainly, SoVo will have a presence online as well as in print.

Cash is hoping to have enough money to keep the newspaper running for one year whether or not there is enough money from the sale of advertisement to run this new venture. To that end, Cash is hoping to incorporate and sell shares of the new newspaper as part of the start up.

The Southern Voice, along with the Washington Blade, was shut down when Window and Unite Media collapsed and went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The papers shut down, and that left reporters and staff scrambling for jobs and outlets for their voice. The sudden closure of SoVo left a gaping hole in the fabric of Atlanta’s LGBT Community.

The staff of the Washington Blade have already come back online with the DC Agenda site. Please be sure to visit and bookmark them.

The Save SoVo site is also up and running. For those who wish to help, it is possible to donate start up funds via the Save SoVo site.

For information about the end of SoVo and Washington Blade, LGR’s article on that “Sadness As SoVo and The Blade Shut Down, Hope For Resurrection As New Papers” can be found here.

Southern Voice gets $12,000 matching grant for new gay publication from the AJC.