GA Voice editor Laura Douglas-Brown stepping down
'it is the world of activism, nonprofits and the broad struggle for human rights that most inspires me'
- Joeff Davis/CL File
- Laura Douglas-Brown, standing outside the former Southern Voice offices, says she wants to focus on 'the world of activism, nonprofits, and the broad struggle for human rights'
Laura Douglas-Brown, the founding editor of the GA Voice, is stepping down in September after leading the LGBT news print publication and website for more than three years.
Douglas-Brown and other Voice staffers launched the news operation in March 2010 after the parent company of the Southern Voice, where Douglas-Brown was also editor, went bankrupt. Along the way, she's helped the paper win awards and provide excellent coverage of the city's vibrant LGBT community.
Douglas-Brown writes in a letter to readers, which should be read in its entirety:
Some of you may know that the first anniversary of GA Voice coincided with my mother's diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. For most of the next 18 months, I took calls from her doctors at my desk at work (we hadn't transitioned to a virtual office yet) and made newspapers at all hours from the side of her hospital bed (thank goodness for patient wifi). I sang my children their bedtime songs over the phone from both.
If I gained anything from her death a year ago at age 63, it is a deeper understanding of what is most important to me, as well as the courage to move forward - knowing that there is no point in waiting, as our time may be shorter than we think.
I can honestly say that I enjoy all aspects of GA Voice's coverage, from news to features. But as our mission statement suggests, it is the world of activism, nonprofits and the broad struggle for human rights that most inspires me. That is where I want to focus my energy now, either professionally or in a career that gives me the freedom to volunteer for the issues that mean so much to me.
Matt Hennie, a former Southern Voice editor who went on to launch and edit Project Q Atlanta, wrote a detailed post on Douglas-Brown's tenure that outlines the efforts she and other Voice staffers made to bring the news operation to life.
David Aaron Moore, a veteran journalist who worked at the Southern Voice and served as editor-in-chief of Jezebel Magazine before moving to Charlotte, N.C., will take over in September. You can read more about him here.