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Outlet profile

Washington Blade

U.S. center-left (LGBTQ community press)

Owned byPrivately owned by Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc., a company formed by Lynne Brown, Kevin Naff and Brian Pitts, who bought the paper's assets out of bankruptcy in 2010. Naff is editor and Brown is publisher.
FundingMainly advertising from local and national businesses, and from LGBTQ-related organizations, supplemented by reader and community donations and special events. It is distributed free in print and online.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The paper began in October 1969 as a one-page newsletter, 'The Gay Blade', founded by Nancy Tucker and Bart Wenger (who used the name Art Stone). It grew into a weekly newspaper that covered the AIDS crisis, local D.C. politics and national LGBTQ policy debates. In 2001 it was bought by Window Media, a gay-owned chain, whose co-founder Chris Crain became executive editor. Window Media went bankrupt in 2009 and shut several sister papers. Staff including Lynne Brown and Kevin Naff bought the Blade's name and assets from the bankruptcy court and relaunched it in April 2010 under Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia. Its editorial pages are openly advocacy-oriented and generally align with Democratic and LGBTQ-rights positions, while its news staff covers Congress, the White House and the courts. In 2026 it drew attention for taking a turn as the print White House press pool reporter, and it continues to report on administration actions such as the military transgender ban, cuts to LGBTQ-related research grants, and allegations involving Ric Grenell. It has also faced criticism in the past, including in the 2019 Poynter profile, over coverage disputes within the LGBTQ community, such as debates about transgender issues.

Sources

  1. Washington Blade (Wikipedia)
  2. Blade's 50-year history reflects struggles, advances of LGBT community
  3. Poynter: From Stonewall to the AIDS crisis to trans controversy, The Washington Blade has covered LGBTQ issues for 50 years
  4. About The Washington Blade
  5. Washington Blade responds to concerns over White House pool duties
  6. As Trump bans media, an LGBTQ+ paper continues pool coverage (Advocate)

Profile compiled 2026-10-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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