UPDATED WITH NAFF INTERVIEW.

The important LGBT publication, the Washington Blade, via their Twitter account, confirms that they have closed:

Washington Blade, like all Window Media publications, is closing today. Thank you for your support. (Keep following us for developments.)

The Blade’s Twitter account is: Twitter.com/washingtonblade.

UPDATE: Speaking as the former editor for the Washington Blade, Kevin Naff  told LGBT POV that the staff arrived at the Blade offices in the National Press Club building to find two corporate officers waiting for them. They said the paper would be shut down immediately and Window Media was filing for Chapter 7, which is liquidation of all properties.

Naff said:

“We all know there’ve been problems, but we didn’t expect the abrupt closure – and the Chapter 7.  Maybe Chapter 11 [reorganization of the business] – but what can you say?”

Naff said the staff is “united and all sticking together” and they will meet tomorrow to make plans for launching a new venture.  Naff said:

“We hope to re-emerge as a new entity without all the Window Media baggage.”

Naff said he and Blade publisher Lynne Brown have already been discussing launching a new venture and believe they have funding. Naff said:

“We will re-emerge as a leaner, meaner operation without all the very expensive suite of offices. We’re going to shed some of that corporate trappings. And we will re-emerge as a leaner operation that will make money on day one.”

Naff said that the new venture would be both print and online and noted that the MSM Politico “didn’t make money as an online news site only. “They did a print edition and suddenly they were in the black.”

Naff said they would love to get an edition of the new venture out next week, but noted it’s a holiday.

“We’re rather get it out sooner, rather than later. We’re not going to sit on our hands. That’s the goal.”

Naff said he was speaking with LGBT POV from his Blade office but only expected to be there for another hour or so before getting kicked out. He said they don’t know where the new venture will be located yet but said “some people have offered free office space. People have been very generous. We’re confident we can get through this.”

All morning political listservs have been burning up with the news, prompted by the closing of the Southern Voice, another highly regarded Window Media publication. The Associated Press just confirmed that, as well:

Nation’s largest gay newspaper publisher closes

By DORIE TURNER (AP) – 38 minutes ago

ATLANTA — The nation’s largest publisher of newspapers serving the gay and lesbian community has shut down.

Laura Douglas-Brown, editor of Southern Voice newspaper in Atlanta, says she arrived at work Monday to find the locks changed and a note saying parent company Window Media LLC has closed down.

The company’s other publications include the Washington Blade, Houston Voice and South Florida Blade. Douglas-Brown says the other publications are also closing.

Steven Myers, co-president of Window Media in Washington, D.C., declined comment.

Earlier, the blog Creative Loafing had the Southern Voice story:

UPDATE: Southern Voice, David shut down

November 16, 2009 at 9:10 am by Thomas Wheatley in News

Richard Eldredge tweets that the Southern Voice and David, Atlanta’s leading gay publications, have been shut down. Eldredge says staffers came to work today to find the locks changed.

In February, the NYC-based Gay City News reported that the Avalon Equity Fund, a parent company majority shareholder in SoVo, Washington Blade and several other gay publications’ parent company Unite Media, had been forced into liquidation and faced federal receivership. People familiar with the matter recently told CL they were unaware of the company’s fate. (Project Q Atlanta’s been following the story closely.)

UPDATE: “We had been told that essentially we’d be sold down the road,” SoVo Editor Laura Douglas-Brown tells CL. “We had no inclination it’d be this morning. Everyone’s in shock right now.”

SoVo News Editor Dyana Bagby tells CL that a news budget had been prepared for this week’s issue. She covered two events this weekend and was going to write up articles for the publication.

“The thing to keep in mind is that this is not just Southern Voice,” Douglas-Brown says. “This is also the Washington Blade, which has been the gay paper of record for our country for the last 40 years. And David Magazine and the paper in Fort Lauderdale. It’s not just a loss for the employees, but the gay community as well.”

Since its founding nearly 21 years ago, SoVo has been the strongest voice covering Atlanta’s gay community. Bagby, a dogged reporter who offered clear and concise reporting of the recent Atlanta Eagle raid and other LGBT issues, helped bolster SoVo’s online presence. Staff Writer Matt Schafer could commonly be found in the Gold Dome press box covering policy decisions in a state that, by and large, hasn’t exactly been friendly to gay rights. Douglas-Brown says the paper employed approximately 20 people.

“No one was in it just for the job,” Douglas-Brown says. “Everybody was in it for the cause too, in their own ways. People have put up with a lot difficulties over the past year, and have hung in there because they cared. It’s tragic and I’m desperately sorry it ended this way, especially for the people who’ve worked so hard.

She continues: “[The closure] didn’t happen because of a lack of need for our publications. It didn’t happen because of a lack of hard dedicated work by local staff. And that’s the shame of it…It’s a sad tale, how it all came crashing down.”

UPDATE: Project Q Atlanta posts a photo of the one-page announcement that greeted the publications’ staffers.

The text reads:

It is with GREAT regret that we must inform you that effective immediately, the operations of Window Media, LLC and Unite Media, LLC have closed down.

Please return to this office on WEDNESDAY, November 18th, 2009 at 11:00 AM to collect personal belongings and to receive information on your separation stipulations. Please bring boxes and/or containers that will allow you to collect all your personal belongings at one time.

Regretfully,

Steve Myers
Mike Kitchens

Myers is the publisher. Kitchens, Project Q reports, is a longtime Window Media executive.

We’re trying to touch base with Unite Media and Window Media. More to come.

UPDATE: THE ATLANTIC JOURNAL CONSTITUTION ALSO CONFIRMS THAT THE SOUTHERN VOICE HAS CLOSED, with photo of the sign posted on the door:

The AJC also has a photo of the Southern Voice staff outside the building this morning:

Earlier this month, Here Media CEO Paul Colichman responded to reports that The Advocate was a “sinking ship” after mass layoffs:

A Letter From Here Media’s CEO

Paul Colichman shares his company’s plans for The Advocate and Out.

By Paul Colichman

Dear Valued Readers,

Fourteen months have passed since Here Media integrated the Advocate and Out brands into our company. As we are about to release our year-end issues, I thought it a good time to share our vision regarding these venerable and iconic properties.

During an economically troubled 2009, which saw the death of many important print publications, both The Advocate and Out fared significantly better advertising-wise than the industry as a whole. Together the brands will show a small profit.

Aaron Hicklin, editor in chief of Out, has used his exquisite editorial voice to make that magazine the largest and most successful gay publication in the world. In June 2008 he recommended that we hire Jon Barrett as editor in chief of The Advocate. Jon, an enormously gifted and talented individual, thinks beyond print and has supercharged the Advocate brand. The meteoric rise in traffic to Advocate.com proves this. Thanks to Jon and his extraordinary team, The Advocate now reaches more people in a single month than it previously did in an entire year.

We have added extensive new features and staff to The Advocate, including our company’s first Washington correspondent, Kerry Eleveld. As those of you who frequent Advocate.com know, Kerry’s dogged reporting — especially at White House press briefings — has helped drive the agenda this year on issues such as marriage equality and “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Also of particular note, The Advocate launched its first-ever website exclusively for women, SheWired.com.

As the owner of a television network, we realize the importance of professionally created video news content. Accordingly, we have hired and integrated several new staff members who can work cross-platform — in print, online, and broadcast. Sadly, that meant we had to say goodbye to four valued members of The Advocate’s editorial team.

The recent closures of Gourmet, Portfolio, Genre, and other magazines have shown the weaknesses of the print publication model. The rising costs of paper, printing, and postage have become a major problem. Therefore, we plan to greatly reduce these costs by jointly marketing The Advocate and Out magazines. We will fulfill Advocate subscriptions via joint delivery with Out. Advocate subscribers will continue to receive their monthly magazine along with a copy of Out at no extra charge. This move will also allow us to continue to offer Out at affordable subscription prices, either as a stand-alone title or with the choice to receive The Advocate as well. The strategy preserves our ability to deliver the same high-quality print magazines while allocating additional resources to editorial content.

We believe we must distribute content via print, online, and television in order to sustain a viable news service — one that can afford to provide professionally written, edited, and produced stories and news packages. Our organization maintains the highest level of journalistic integrity. Here Media employees, of which there are more than 150, all believe that you deserve honesty and professionalism.

On behalf of our entire family, I thank you for your remarkable support during our first year. I invite you to visit our other sites: Out.com, OutTraveler.com, SheWired.com, HereTV.com, HIVPlusMag.com, as well as our newest acquisitions, Gay.com and PlanetOut.com.

Until all Americans have full equality, we will remain The Advocate.

Sincerely,

Paul Colichman

CEO, Here Media, Inc.

Economic troubles abound. Last February, the New York City LGBT publication Gay City News reported that Window Media was in receivership:

Gay Media in Receivership

Small Business Administration steps in with Washington Blade, Genre owner

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
In its 2008 lawsuit seeking to force the receivership, the SBA wrote that the “capital impairment” was 61 percent in August of 2007 and that it rose to over 134 percent by December of that year.

Capital impairment is a “type of solvency test,” said Tom Morris, director of SBA’s Office of Liquidation. If a hypothetical SBIC borrowed $40 million from the SBA and was required to have $20 million in private capital, its capital impairment would be 50 percent if it reported realized and unrealized losses totaling $10 million, Morris said.

The percentages cited in the lawsuit suggest that Avalon had little or no capital left as private investors were pulling their money out, businesses owned by Avalon were losing money, assets in the fund lost value, or some combination of the three.

The SBA is legally barred from discussing Avalon’s finances. The fund and the businesses it owns are privately held and have no legal obligation to report on their finances other than to the SBA and, presumably, any private investors.
David W. Unger, an Avalon founder and managing partner, did not respond to a call seeking comment, and Benjamin E. Brandes, Avalon’s other founder and managing partner, told Gay City News he had little information.

“I’m no longer with Avalon and haven’t been for quite a while,” Brandes said, though he still has cash in Avalon. “I still have money with the fund as well as other investors.”

Avalon is the majority owner in Window Media, which owns the Washington Blade, the Southern Voice, the South Florida Blade, and other gay publications. Avalon also owns Genre magazine.

Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade, referred calls to William Kapfer, who is listed at Window’s co-president, chief marketing officer, and Genre’s publisher, on the company web site. He did not respond to a call.
Through its Unite Media business unit, Avalon owns a “non-majority” share in HX Media which publishes the New York Blade, HX, a weekly magazine, and produces expos, according to Matthew Bank, CEO of HX Media.

“I don’t really think there are any,” Bank said when asked what the consequences of the receivership would be for HX. “Our partner is Unite Media. Unite Media owns a non-majority share of our company.”

Referring to Window Media, Bank said “I am not a part of that corporation, so I don’t know what their deal is.”

The SBA will likely not disclose what Avalon assets are for sale, except to a qualified buyer, until September 2009.

“In terms of public information, at a point in time, SBA will file a report with the court,” Morris told Gay City News. “We will list the assets at that time… If we’ve sold something to date, we might file that with the court. Other than that, we really do not disclose the assets because it can be disadvantageous to the portfolio of assets.”