The Illinois Eagle, an LGBTQ+ newspaper organization, has opened a brick-and-mortar office in Springfield, at 1133B Governor St., according to News Channel 20.
Having been founded more than a decade ago, the Eagle started as a small blog and has now grown into a statewide online newspaper publication.
The Eagle’s founder, Tom Wray—a gay man who was raised in rural Indiana and who has written for Windy City Times—said, “Actually reporting on the community you’re in, what they’re doing, what’s affecting them on the local level. That is the most basic form [of journalism] because that’s where people learn about their own community.” He added that while the Illinois Eagle is only published online, he hopes to eventually expand to printed editions.
The Illinois Eagle is Springfield’s second LGBTQ+ newspaper. The first was the Prairie Flame, which stopped publication in 2008.