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

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, home to the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, and its surrounding communities. It was founded by Jared Bailey and Dennis Greenia in 1987; it is currently published by Alicia Nickles and co-owned by Nickles and Pete McCommons. Publishing under the banner "Colorbearer of Athens, Georgia," Flagpole covers local events like the Wild Rumpus Halloween Parade, AthFest Music Fest, and the Athens Twilight Criterium. 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 The ''Athens Banner-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in Athens, Georgia, USA, and owned by Gannett. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name ''Online Athens''. History The newspaper traces its history to the ''Southern Ba ...

'' and '' The Red & Black'', the independent student weekly. ''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-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant grocer's apostrophe, apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate ...

, and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, 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 fir ...

began in Athens in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, hosted at clubs like the 40 Watt Club and Georgia Theater. 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 (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

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

and Elephant 6 Collective bands like

Of Montreal of Montreal is an American indie pop band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontperson Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance between Barnes and a woman "of Montreal". The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collec ...

and

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

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 music, rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (American musician), Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as ...

. 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 ...

, 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 C ...

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 The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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. The current comics rotate among Missy Kulik (''Tofu Baby''), David Mack (''A Round Town''), Klon Waldrip, and Joey Weiser. The paper also publishes the syndicated comic '' This Modern World'' by Tom Tomorrow. 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 Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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)