''Flagpole Magazine'', often abbreviated to simply ''Flagpole'', is an American alternative newsweekly that focuses on the cultural, liberal scene of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, and its surrounding communities. Athens is known in Georgia and nationally as the home of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. It was founded by Jared Bailey and Dennis Greenia in 1987 and is currently edited and published by Pete McCommons, who joined the publication in 1993. Publishing under the banner "Colorbearer of Athens, Georgia," Flagpole covers local events like the Wild Rumpus Halloween Parade,

AthFest AthFest is a free annual music and arts festival in Athens, Georgia, first held in 1997. The festival spans three days in the downtown area during the summer, and planning for the event begins in November. Jared Bailey founded the festival to promo ...

Music Fest, and the

Athens Twilight Criterium The Twilight Series is an annual road cycling race that takes place in the spring in Athens, Georgia, United States, since 1980. During the course of each Twilight weekend, competitive events in a variety of fields are staged, including BMX racin ...

. The publication covers politics, art, theater, movies, books, food, local comics, and advice columns in Athens and surrounding areas. Flagpole is an independent and locally owned newspaper and distributed weekly and free of charge. It is suggested by the Athens Welcome Center to be one of three print news sources in Athens, alongside the Athens Banner-Herald and

The Red & Black (University of Georgia) ''The Red & Black'' is an independent weekly student newspaper serving the University of Georgia (UGA), updated daily on its website. History Students published its first issue in tabloid format on November 24, 1893, from offices in the Acade ...

. Flagpole and The Red & Black are the two news sources that provide free print news to the community.

Coverage

Music

Flagpole remains critically important for its coverage of the Athens music scene, particularly of the 1990s until today. Bands like Pylon,

the B-52s The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

, and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

began in Athens in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, hosted at clubs like the

40 Watt Club The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numero ...

and

Georgia Theater Georgia Theatre is a live music venue and event space in Athens, Georgia. Many prominent national and local acts across all genres have performed at the Theatre, including rock, folk, country, indie, alternative, hip hop and electronic. The venue i ...

. Flagpole began to cover these acts during their rise to national prominence, beginning in 1987, through interviews, record reviews, and concert listings. This coverage continued as Athens acts like

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

Vic Chesnutt James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, ''Little'', was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the release of '' Sweet ...

and Elephant 6 Collective bands like Of Montreal and

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie roc ...

became known in the 1990s. Flagpole continues to cover local bands that have Athens connections like Dead Confederate, the Whigs, and alt-country bands such as the

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

. Flagpole is a supporter of music events around town like AthFest and Athens PopFest. The publication partners with AthFest to award the Flagpole Local Music Awards to pioneering Athens artists. Past winners have included of Montreal,

Elf Power Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. The line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Bryan Poole, and drummer Peter A ...

, Vic Chesnutt, Widespread Panic, R.E.M., and Olivia Tremor Control. More recent winners include indie band Family and Friends and rapper Linqua Franca (also known as Mariah Parker). Capitalizing on its music coverage, Flagpole created Christmas CDs for several years in a row that featured many Athens local bands performing various holiday songs including one CD of spoken-word material. ''The Flagpole Christmas Album'' featured

performing "

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

Political and Social Coverage

Flagpole covers political topics in Athens and the surrounding areas as well as responses to social issues occurring in the city and county. In 2020 and 2021, Flagpole published comprehensive coverage of Black Lives Matter protests held in the city. Flagpole coverage of Proud Boys and Alt-right activity in the area was cited in a 2020 work examining Alt-Right activity over the 2010s. Ongoing coverage by Health reporter Jessica Luton over 2020 and 2021 detailed and collated all information about

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

testing, case numbers, deaths, and vaccinations from Athens and the surrounding Northeast Georgia Health District.

Community Involvement

In addition to its weekly issues, Flagpole, Inc. also publishes the annual ''Flagpole Guide to Athens'', a listing of bars, restaurants, and entertainment options in Athens. Flagpole is also known for running the ''Flagpole Favorites'' section yearly, in which Athenians vote on their favorite local businesses in a variety of categories.

Comics

'' Migraine Boy'' was one of the comic strips within the magazine. One of the prominent cartoonists who published in Flagpole was Patrick Dean, who drew a weekly strip for Flagpole from 1997 to 2006. He also drew covers for the publication from 1998 to 2003. His work was given an exhibit in the

Georgia Museum of Art The Georgia Museum of Art is an art museum in Athens, Georgia, United States, associated with the University of Georgia (UGA). The museum is both an academic museum and, since 1982, the official art museum of the state of Georgia. The permanent co ...

in 2019.

References

External links

Official websiteGeorgia Historic Newspapers: Archived Issues of Flagpole
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flagpole Magazine 1987 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Alternative magazines Clarke County, Georgia Magazines established in 1987 Magazines published in Georgia (U.S. state)