Hyperlocal news publisher Rough Draft Atlanta has acquired The Georgia Voice, the city’s primary LGBTQ+ media outlet, with plans to expand its reach.
Under its new ownership, the Voice’s coverage of issues, events and perspectives amplifying queer voices won’t change, said Rough Draft’s owner and publisher Keith Pepper. But there will be a whole lot more of it. The Georgia Voice will begin publishing in January under Rough Draft’s website, where its archives will soon transfer, and launch a weekly newsletter, according to the company.
The publication will continue to publish a print edition, though, starting next year, it will scale back from two issues per month to one. The format will also change to a larger size and will be printed on higher quality paper stock. The Voice will maintain its circulation of 4,500 and remain in the same drop-off locations across the city. Rough Draft will look to add more locations in other cities across the state where the news will be relevant, such as Athens, Pepper said.
The deal comes as the Voice’s publisher Tim Boyd approaches retirement. Boyd is one of three founders of the Voice, which was launched 15 years ago after the Southern Voice, then the city’s primary LGBTQ+ weekly, shuttered as its parent company went bankrupt. Chris Cash and Laura Douglas-Brown, the other two founders, are no longer affiliated with the paper.
The acquisition is Rough Draft’s latest maneuver in growing its position as a leader in hyperlocal news across the metro area, following a 2022 overhaul of its online brand and launch of a new print edition in Tucker. It’s also an opportunity to invest in the future of queer-focused media, aligning with the publication’s goal of amplifying the voices of Georgia’s diverse communities, Pepper said.
“It’s critical that the Voice continues for the LGBTQ community,” Pepper said. “Having an outlet that is edited and curated by folks in the community gives space for [different] voices, especially in the wake of the last presidential campaign and results of the election.”
Taking the helm of the paper is Rough Draft Executive Editor Collin Kelley. He will serve as both an executive editor at the Voice and Atlanta Intown, one of Rough Draft’s local publications. Rough Draft staff writer Dyana Bagby, who previously served as an editor for the Southern Voice, will author the new weekly newsletter.
Rough Draft publishes six free monthly newspapers mailed to homes in Atlanta, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Tucker, and has 10 regular weekly email newsletters. The Georgia Voice will become its seventh paper and 11th newsletter.
Credit: Krys Alex
Credit: Krys Alex
This is Rough Draft’s first acquisition under Pepper’s leadership. Pepper wouldn’t disclose the acquisition price, though said it is funded through the company’s existing operations.
Pepper, an Atlanta native, bought the parent company of the newspapers now under the Rough Draft umbrella in 2020. The plan: to continue to invest in reliable, local news coverage and bolster the organization’s online presence.
He did so during a turbulent period for print media and the news industry at large — one that still persists today. Readership and revenues from both subscriptions and advertising have long been on the decline for news organizations generally, leading many to cut reporters, scale back operations or shutter entirely to save costs. Between 2017 and 2022, weekday newspaper circulation nationwide, which includes digital subscriptions, fell 32%, according to research from Pew Research Center.
In the meantime, news consumption from social media is on the rise. About a third of U.S. adults say they regularly get news from Facebook and YouTube, Pew found in a separate report.
“If you want your friends to look at you like you have two heads, tell them you’re buying a newspaper,” Pepper told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2020. “I told friends, ‘Talk me out of this.’ No one did.”
Pepper has made several changes. He transitioned the company into a digital-first newsroom, consolidated its social media and rebranded the company under the Rough Draft Atlanta name. It hired more reporters and editors. And in four years, Rough Draft’s share of advertising revenue from its digital operations grew from 2% to more than 25%, Pepper said.
The Georgia Voice is one of few LGBTQ+ news organizations left in Atlanta, a city oft referred to as the queer epicenter of the South. It has maintained a loyal reader and advertising base throughout its 15-year life span, Boyd said, who will stay with the paper as a consultant through the transition period.
Earlier this year, Boyd began looking for a buyer, but he wasn’t happy with any of the offers he received. So, he reached out to Bagby, with whom he worked at the Southern Voice, and said Rough Draft would be the perfect fit. Before Boyd’s inquiry, Rough Draft’s leadership were already considering launching a newsletter aimed toward the metro area’s LGBTQ+ community.
The acquisition also opens up advertising opportunities for Rough Draft to cross-sell the different papers and digital products. Though there is overlap in the readership of both The Georgia Voice and Rough Draft, there isn’t a lot of overlap in advertising, Pepper said.
Plus, the Voice coming into the Rough Draft fold eases the burden of operating as an independent paper operation in 2024, as print sales, production and distribution can spread an organization thin, Pepper said.
“We’re much stronger together,” Pepper said.
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