The Atlanta-centric media company and culture channel Butter.ATL offers a dynamic platform to capture the spirit of the city. Its managing director, Brandon Butler, defines culture as: “People like us do things like that.” Last August, rapper Ludacris released a single titled “Butter.ATL‘, showing his support for the organization which he described as ‘a love letter to the city’. Brandon Butler joined ‘City Lights’ host Lois Reitzes via Zoom, with Butter’s editor .ATL mike jordanto share the philosophies of their media in the mobile age.
Interview Highlights:
Reacting to how many people get news:
“The reality is that most people, especially in this 25 to 40 year old demographic that we serve, don’t necessarily get their news and information from traditional media. They mostly get it from social media, and they get it in the form of snack nuggets…. We wanted to find a way to meet people where they were,” Butler said.
“I love Atlanta so much that being able to speak with the voice that we speak with, to the community that we love and who loves us back, is just a really amazing and special thing,” Jordan said.
Bringing the Butter.ATL credo to Mike Jordan’s favorite subject, food:
“There are so many stories that can be told through food as a platform and as a storytelling device… As sophisticated as our audience is, we also know that our audience loves… messaging and communication who meet them where they are. So. Where we know they are is just plain old, loving the city without an extraordinarily high definition of what’s on the menu at one location. And we’re also looking for these innovative ideas and scrappy startups,” Jordan said.
“We definitely want to highlight a lot of veganism and vegetarianism, and all the great ethnic restaurants we have all over town, but we want to do it in a way where everyone is invited to the table, and without exclude anyone for … class, race, age, whatever might be kind of a demographic challenge in some places,” Jordan said. “Butter simply says, ‘As long as you love Atlanta, you can come sit down and enjoy Lemon Pepper Wings with us.’ “”
Why Atlanta needs its unique voice in the news:
“There’s so much going on in Atlanta…from being a cultural mecca that has a 33% black population; record-breaking film and television tax credits. 1.2 billion…. We have our first Jewish senator and our first black American senator, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff; all those HBCUs, all that technology, the World Series champions, hip-hop; it just goes on and on,” Jordan said. “But without a local voice…. Having written for national and international media, I know a lot of people get the Atlanta story wrong in a way that they don’t want to miss the details. But Atlanta is a city where you have to put your feet on the ground, taste, smell, see and feel to understand.
“There’s just a lot of negative stuff there, and that’s not the whole story of the city. I mean, every city has challenges, and… we certainly don’t avoid those things. We’re definitely tackling it head-on, but if all you show is smashed car windows, it’s not authentically Atlanta,” Butler said.
Butter.ATL’s coverage of all things Atlanta can be found at https://butteratl.com/ and followed on Instagram at @butter.atl.
