South Florida Blade Ceases Publication; 411 Lives on as Mark's List Magazine

One of South Florida's leading serious gay news sources, South Florida Blade, has shut down, according to reports. Its owner, Window Media LLC, which is the largest publisher of gay newspapers in the nation, has abruptly closed all of its titles.Originally founded in 2000 as the Express Gay News, it...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

November 16, 2009

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One of South Florida's leading serious gay news sources, South Florida Blade, has shut down, according to reports. Its owner, Window Media LLC, which is the largest publisher of gay newspapers in the nation, has abruptly closed all of its titles.

Originally founded in 2000 as the Express Gay News, it was bought by Window Media in 2003. The name was changed to South Florida Blade, styled after sister paper Washington Blade. The paper was edited by Dan Renzi, an occasional New Times contributor and former cast member of The Real World: Miami.

~~Also shut down is the paper's slutty little corporate sister, 411 magazine, a listings/dudes-in-underwear glossy.~~

Update: Apparently, 411 will live on as Mark's List Magazine. Multimedia Platforms LLC bought 50 percent of the popular gay website, JumpOnMarksList.com (which our sister paper in Fort Lauderdale named Best Locally Generated Website in 2008), last week, and has taken on the staff of 411, which will now be a bi-weekly publication. But 411 is primarily an event listings mag, whose most recent cover might be a little too racy to publish even on Riptide, and won't make up for the journalistic voice lost when the Blade went kaput.

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