Sad news via Jennifer Vanasco’s Twitter. Logo is shutting down 365Gay.com. Here’s what Vanasco has to say about the closing:
September 30 will be our last day of operations. Logo’s focus has shifted as a network and so the site is closing and I am moving on to other things. You’ve probably noticed in the past year or so that more and more space was devoted to Ask the Expert. That feature will live on at an expanded NewNowNext.com and I hope you will continue to see some of your favorite contributors there, like Herman Chan, Joe Kort and Steven Petrow.
365Gay was Logo’s only online commitment to news, an area where the network has struggled both on TV and online. 365Gay was acquired in 2006, along with AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com, and was soon the name of the rebranded CBS News on Logo. CBS and Logo parted ways in 2009 and the entire news effort went online. Now, it appears Logo is out of the news business.
Because of the backing from Logo, 365Gay was able to hire staff and use freelancers to run its online news operation, something of a rarity in the online LGBT world. Was that approach unsustainable? Is this a signal that there isn’t room for general LGBT news online (or on TV)?