Missouri has new online LGBT publication
by Chuck Colbert
St. Louis recently got a new source of information serving the LGBT community when three men launched #Boom Magazine, a news, advocacy and community publication. Boommagstl.com went live on the web on June 17.
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| CEO, publisher and co-owner Colin Lovett |
While heavily focused on news, advocacy and politics, #Boom also covers a wide variety of topics including arts and entertainment, health, science and sports.
“Our charge is to bring the community real content that matters with journalistic integrity,” co-owner Colin Lovett, chief executive officer and publisher, said in a statement. “We will explore the issues and opinions that affect us all, through a local community perspective.” Lovett served on the Pride St. Louis board of directors and as president of the city’s LGBT Center.
“We’re proud to continue the rich tradition of LGBT media in our area which started in 1969 with Mandrake,” added chief operating officer and editor in chief Colin Murphy, also a co-owner. “We live in historic times with compelling stories breaking almost daily.” In referencing Mandrake, he was referring to the first LGBT publication in St. Louis, published from 1969-1971 by The Mandrake Society, the city’s first LGBT rights organization.
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| COO, editor in chief and co-owner Colin Murphy |
With 25 years of experience in LGBT media, Murphy has worked for numerous community publications, both as writer and editor. Active in community service, he has served on several non-profit boards of directors, including the LGBT Center as secretary and Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois as vice president and president. A gay history buff, Murphy serves as project historian for the St. Louis LGBT History Project.
R. Kurt Ross, the other co-owner, designed #Boom’s website. Active in the St. Louis LGBT community since 1996, Ross has worked closely with Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois and the city’s LGBT Center. Ross serves at chief digital officer overseeing the publication’s website.
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| Co-owner R. Kurt Ross |
#Boom was conceived seven months ago by Lovett and Murphy in order to provide an LGBT media platform, one serving the St. Louis metro and surrounding areas, with a focus on the local community and with their perspectives on national, regional and local stories.
Just as its owners are passionate about giving back to the local community, so #Boom Media contributes 15 percent of every ad purchased to one of 16 local LGBT-identified non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations.
“Since its June 17 launch, #Boom has seen almost 20,000 unique users, spanning over 46,000 page views across 74 countries,” Murphy said in email correspondence. “From social media alone, #Boom’s total reach has accumulated to over 150,000 and almost 573,000 total impressions.”
The publication’s official team resides in the St. Louis area, but #Boom makes every effort to reach for coverage throughout the region, not just Missouri but border states as well.
Right now, #Boom is available only online, but plans include adding other platforms such as print.
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Volume 16
Issue 4
