The Washington Blade and other gay publications owned by Window Media or Unite Media, including Atlanta's Southern Voice and the South Florida Blade, abruptly shut down on 16 November.
Window and Unite were majority-owned by Avalon Equity Fund, an investment corporation that was forced into receivership last year by the Small Business Administration.
At press time, it was not clear which entity was responsible for the shutdowns.
Other gay publications with ownership that involved Avalon and Window, Unite or HX Media closed previously, including the New York Blade, Boston's In Newsweekly, New Orleans' Impact and the Houston Voice. Avalon also shut down Genre magazine.
The Washington Blade, which dated to 1969 and was considered one of the nation's top gay newspapers in terms of the quality of its journalism, had seemingly flourished for much of its history prior to Window's ownership.
On 20 November, some 17 former Blade staffers launched a new gay newspaper in D.C. See dcagenda.com.