Culture channel and media company Butter.ATL captures the spirit of Atlanta
The Atlanta-centric media company and culture channel Butter.ATL is providing a dynamic platform for capturing the spirit of the city. Its executive director, Brandon Butler, defines culture as, “People like us do things like this.” Last August, the rapper Ludacris released a single titled “Butter.ATL,” showing his support for the organization he described as “A love letter to the city.” Brandon Butler joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom, along with Butter.ATL editor-in-chief Mike Jordan, to share the philosophies of their media outlet for the mobile age.
Interview highlights:
Responding to the way a lot of people actually get news:
“The reality is, 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 primarily get it from social media, and they get it in bite-sized, snackable nuggets…. We wanted to find a way to meet people where they were at,” said Butler.
“I love Atlanta so much that being able to talk in the voice that we speak in, to the community that we love and that loves us back, is just a really extraordinary, special thing,” said Jordan.
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 that meets them where they are. So. Where we know they are is in just plain old, loving the city without an extraordinarily high-level definition of what’s on the menu at a place. And we’re also looking for those innovative ideas and scrappy startups,” Jordan said.
“We definitely want to highlight a lot of the veganism and vegetarianism, and all the great ethnic restaurants we have all over the city, but we want to do it in a way where everyone is invited to the table, and without excluding anyone for… class, race, age, anything that could be sort of a demographic challenge at certain places,” said Jordan. “Butter just says, ‘As long as you love Atlanta, you can come and sit and have some lemon pepper wings with us.’”
Why Atlanta needs its unique voice in news reporting:
“There’s so much going on in Atlanta… from it being a cultural Mecca that has a 33% black population; film and TV tax credits that hit a record. 1.2 billion…. We’ve got our first Jewish senator and our first Black US Senator, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff; all these HBCUs, all this tech, world series champs, hip-hop; it goes on and on and on,” said Jordan. “But without a local voice…. Having written for national and international media, I know that many people get the story of Atlanta wrong, in a way that they don’t mean to miss the details. But Atlanta is a city you have to put your feet on the ground, taste, smell, see, and feel to understand.”
“There’s just a lot of stuff out there that’s negative, and that’s not the entire story for the city. I mean, every city has challenges, and… we’re definitely not avoiding those things. We definitely approach it head-on, but if all you’re showing is car windows being broken into, that’s not authentically Atlanta,” said Butler.
Butter.ATL’s coverage of all things Atlanta can be found at https://butteratl.com/ and followed on Instagram at @butter.atl.
Top Stories
