Village Voice Media being acquired by New Times very soon

http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/stories.php?story=05/10/24/3056201

That said: ding dong, the Voice (as we know it) is dead. Or, "How the Central Scrutinizer toppled the Empire from an office in Denver."

And yeah, hearsay about NT varies from "alright" to "nightmare", as Chris O. cogently pointed out... It will really depend on where on that scale an alt-weekly falls currently, as far as readership/competition/etc.

again, i don't expect to be terribly popular or persuasive -- here or anywhere, really -- for awhile. i merely wish to hack away at the New Times Seal-Clubbing Neocon Automaton rap we're inevitably gonna get. o'connor's right: it's a case-by-case, paper-by-paper situation, and some are better than others. (he's not the first guy to use the Drunk Dad metaphor, actually.) but that alone blows holes in the theory that we're gonna sire 17 papers with identical copy and only change the street names and sports teams. certain details (layout/movie reviews) aside, our papers now are each distinct, regional entities, and trust me -- i join you all in hoping to christ the VV papers stay exactly as they are in that regard. i want matos/sylvester/eddy exactly where they are, only more so.

that'd be an improvement since the voice killed their sports coverage ages ago.

New Times Media Buys Village Voice

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

New Times Media, the nation's largest publisher of alternative
weekly newspapers, is buying the owner of the Village Voice and
its five sister newspapers, creating a company with 17 weekly
publications and a combined circulation of 1.8 million.

The new company will keep the Village Voice name but will be
run by the two top executives of New Times Media, a
Phoenix-based company with 11 newspapers, the companies
announced Monday.

The deal creates a dominant player in the alternative
newsweekly business with nearly a quarter of the industry's total
circulation of 7.6 million, according to Richard Karpel, executive
director of the Association of Alternative Weeklies, a trade group.

New Times shareholders will own 62 percent of the new
company and Village Voice shareholders the remaining 38
percent. The board of the new company will also be made up of
a majority of New Times directors.

New Times CEO Jim Larkin will run the new company, to be
called Village Voice Media, and New Times executive editor
Michael Lacey will be executive editor. Village Voice CEO David
Schneiderman will oversee online operations.

Schneiderman said the combination would allow the
newspapers to more effectively compete for national advertising
and build up a bigger presence online, where newspapers face
competition to their lucrative classified advertising business
from free listings services like Craigslist.

The newspapers from the Voice group will be added to
backpage.com, a free online classified advertising venture that is
owned by New Times and was launched as an alternative to
Craigslist.

The combined company would have overall revenues of about
$180 million, Schneiderman said. He declined to disclose other
financial details, noting that both companies are privately held,
but he did say both were "comfortably profitable."

The Village Voice, with a free circulation of about 250,000, is one
of the best known alternative weekly newspapers in the country.
It was co-founded in 1955 by the novelist Norman Mailer, and
has been owned at various times by magazine industry veteran
Clay Felker; Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and the
businessman Leonard Stern.

Under the new structure, the Voice's editor Donald Forst will
continue in his current role but will report to Lacey, as will the
editors of the Voice's five other weeklies in Los Angeles and
Orange County, Calif.; Seattle, Minneapolis / St. Paul and
Nashville.

New Times publishes in 11 cities including Phoenix, Cleveland,
Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Dallas.

The absorption of the Voice and its sister newspapers into a
larger company would do nothing to dampen their
antiestablishment tone, Schneiderman said.

"We kept our finger firmly planted in the eye of the establishment
when Murdoch owned us," Schneiderman said. "It's part of our
genetic makeup."

The deal will be subject to federal regulatory approval. The two
companies have run afoul of regulators before, and in 2003
settled charges of collusive behavior from the Justice
Department after selling competing papers to each other in Los
Angeles and Cleveland.

The deal had been expected, and has been the subject of much
discussion in the alternative weekly industry. For smaller
publications, the creation of a big company with newspapers in
several large cities including New York, Miami and San
Francisco could mean tougher competition for national
advertising.

"I think there's a sense of resignation," said Brian Hieggelke, the
publisher of the alternative weekly Newcity in Chicago. Hieggelke
is also director of the board of a cooperative that sells national
advertising for weeklies which competes with Ruxton Media
Group, a similar business owned by New Times. As part of the
deal, the Voice papers will become part of Ruxton's ad sales
network.

"For people who aren't part of New Times or (Village Voice
Media), the best case scenario is that it will be neutral for their
business, but in many cases it will be a negative," Hieggelke
said.

The Voice is currently owned by a group of investors including
three private investment funds: one managed by Goldman
Sachs; Weiss, Peck & Greer and the Trimaran Fund. None of
those investors is exiting as part of the current transaction.

As for what's in store... Well, Westword, the New Times paper in Denver, has no book review section. And yes, Rob, I know that not all New Times papers are the same. Still, what does that tell you about these guys' priorities? Or, if you're interested, got to www.westword.com and type "TABOR" into the search engine, or "C and D" (what next week's ballot is going to be all about in Colorado), and follow the links, and see if you learn anything about it. Pitiful.

Xpost Xpost Xpost

This is inelegant code for unfastening everyone who had an opinion in hard copy versus someone who will give you their opinion for free or pennies on the Internet. What's the difference, actually? Well, one's a rationalization and an excuse, the other's the justification for the rationalization and the excuse. It's just like every other newspaper manically seized by obsession and fear of/with content from the Internet. Most newspapers are going through or will go through this in 2005 or next year. Even though profitable, cuts are expected at the biggest because it's the way corporate does things.

And before the regrets and bad news there is always the parade of rationalizations about the Internet and nature of editorial content and its origin and how the changing world has dictated something bad but we're still dedicated to and will do great journalism because great journalism is great.

Of course, you follow this to its logical conclusion, you don't even need local editors over the next few years. You can ship raw copy instantaneously to Indonesia or any old ex-Brit empire country now a slave labor nation with high bandwidth telecomm connections to the net and get the product back to you before you get up in the morning.
Hey, "The Internet had made it completely unnecessary to have workers at alternate newspapers fulfilling this role."

We all have different opinions on who are the better or worse editors of these papers. (This isn't even relating to music editors, necessarily. This can be arts editors, food editors, film editors, political editors, CHIEF editors, etc.) Every paper has a combination of good and bad editors... some are overall better than others.

What this New Times buyout will do is essentially equalize the good and bad qualities of these papers. The shitty editors will have to shape up, and the good editors will be likely (and this depends on which delegate at the Denver/Phoenix Borg Central is assigned to whom) be told how to do things, when they don't need to be told how to do things.

All in all, this is sad, because while a lot of really bad sections might improve, a lot of great sections are likely going to be compromised, and I don't think anything will arise from this that will equal the greatness of the latter. These singular visions that were enjoyable sections are going to be less singular, and this is the sad part. But hey, cut-to-the-chase corporate visions aren't really interested in preserving uniquely great quality in certain spots.. they're interested in across-the-board profitability, even if it means the referendums are going to blemish the good spots, as well as improve the bad spots.

Yup. Though the smart editors will listen to what they are being told ... a lesson from wise-old deposed Uncle Chris.

haha thanks for making my blood run cold!

a little "I've moved on" humor there ...

One possible welcome effect: better movie reviews from more reviewers.

I see how it's welcome, but I don't see how it's possible.

I see your point. Definitely not intended to make it sound end-all be-all. My situation is my situation. I found it tough to work for them.

... not gonna say anything else.

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2005/11/doj_approves_vi.asp
http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2005/10/new_times_takes.asp

I was there when Nat Hentoff cleaned his office. They filled dumpsters. I took a bunch of Philip Roth books that were left out. I learned that I hate Philip Roth.

lol

VV died for me when Chuck E was fired, not sure I missed a lot

what would it really take to keep P&J going somewhere else?

- someone w/ time and/or $, plus motivation
- a platform
- VV's mailing list
- some way to tabulate

am i missing something major?

revive jackin' pop

But the online version meant there was still Pazz & Jop, and without that, I'll literally lose my final motivation to keep up with new music.

this is kind of astonishing to me

I'm an astonishing person.

Old too

I listen to hours of music most days, often completely new-to-me, but still expect the ILX annual tracks poll to point me in new directions for songs, movements and artists more than anything else during the year. clemenza otm.

Old too

That's it, dyl. I don't know how old you are, but, absent any professional obligations, I don't think it's that unusual to lose track of the plot in your mid-50s. Most everyone I know in my non-rock-critic life lost it in their early 20s. (I do get a lot of satisfaction out of putting together a year-end list with comments, though, so I'm just dumb enough to keep doing it for my homepage.)

new music in the pop vein is generally not for me, i've heard enough. 90% of P&J was a mystery to me 10 years ago.

if they're so dead why do new articles keep showing up? admittedly they're all by the same person. and one of them's about jethro tull. stands to reason they'd finally get their due via dead voice.

let's twist again
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/business/media/village-voice-new-owner.html

Won't let me past paywall, what's it say?

The Village Voice, the storied New York alt-weekly that shut down in 2018 after a 63-year run, will live again.

Brian Calle, the chief executive of Street Media, the owner of LA Weekly, said on Tuesday that he had acquired the publication from its publisher, Peter D. Barbey.

“I think a lot of people will be hungry for this and I’m superoptimistic,” Mr. Calle said in an interview.

He added that he planned to restart The Voice’s website in January and would publish a “comeback” print edition early next year, with quarterly print issues to follow. On Tuesday he hired Bob Baker, a former Voice editor, as a senior editor and content coordinator. Mr. Calle said he wanted to bring back more former staff members who know the paper’s tone. He has not yet named an editor in chief.

The Voice, a mainstay of the independent journalism scene until it wasn’t, was founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Edwin Fancher and Norman Mailer. It was home to the dogged investigative reporter Wayne Barrett; the jazz critic and free-speech columnist Nat Hentoff; the early rock critic Richard Goldstein; the feminist cultural critic Jill Johnston; the nightlife columnist Michael Musto; and the groundbreaking hip-hop writers Nelson George and Greg Tate.

Generations of New Yorkers found their first apartments through its seemingly endless classified section. The paper grew thinner over the years, as Craigslist cut into its revenue, and bloggers and early digital sites chipped away at its cultural position.

In 2015 it was sold by the Voice Media Group to Mr. Barbey, an heir to an American retail empire whose family owned The Reading Eagle newspaper in Pennsylvania for generations until 2019. He vowed to revitalize the paper, but in August 2017 he took it digital only and shuttered it a year later.

Mr. Calle said he had eyed The Voice for several years and got in touch with Mr. Barbey about buying the paper in recent months. “I literally just cold-called him and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve been thinking a lot about The Village Voice and a lot about journalism in the context of this year and I feel like we need to figure out a way to bring it back,’” he said.

“We had roughly half a dozen calls, just talking about the history of The Voice and getting to know each other, because he views himself as a kind of a steward and was just waiting for someone to come along.”

Mr. Barbey said he had been approached by a number of prospective owners.

“I originally bought The Village Voice to see if we could save it in a different media era,” he said. “Brian called and we talked for a while. After thinking about it, I figured he had the best philosophy about how to move forward with The Village Voice.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a news release, Street Media said the acquisition did not include the Obie Awards, the Off Broadway honors that will continue to be presented by the American Theater Wing.

Mr. Calle has experience running an alt-weekly, but his time as publisher and chief executive at LA Weekly has not been without incident. Formerly an opinion editor for The Orange County Register in California and other newspapers, Mr. Calle bought LA Weekly with a group of investors in 2017 from the Voice Media Group. (From 2012 to 2017, the Voice Media Group owned LA Weekly in addition to its flagship paper in New York.)

LA Weekly’s newsroom was quickly gutted after the sale, and former writers organized a boycott of the paper, pressing advertisers and other journalists to cut ties. Mara Shalhoup, the editor in chief of LA Weekly when Mr. Calle bought it, said that nearly the entire newsroom staff was fired. Ms. Shalhoup, who next week will start as ProPublica’s South editor, said she felt LA Weekly was not as focused on serious journalism after the acquisition by Mr. Calle.

“I think my opinion is shared by the community of readers in Los Angeles,” she said. “It was not the same quality publication after he purchased it as it was before.”

In 2018, David Welch, one of the investors, sued Mr. Calle and the other LA Weekly backers, alleging that they had mismanaged the paper. The suit was settled in 2019.

“That lawsuit was settled and we both went our separate ways,” Mr. Calle said. Speaking more generally of the detractors of LA Weekly under his leadership, he said, “I think the proof is in the results, which is that we’re still around and we’re on a nice trajectory.”

He added that the paper he acquired on Tuesday “will honor the traditions of The Village Voice of yesteryear.”

Mr. Calle said he planned to start a Voice podcast and increase the publication’s social media presence while looking for new revenue streams. He said he also envisioned The Voice performing a critical role of alt-weeklies: acting as a watchdog of mainstream media outlets.

Since The Voice stopped publishing new content in September 2018, the website has been periodically updated with articles pulled from its archives. Some staff members stayed on to work on building a digital archive. Mr. Calle said he and Mr. Barbey planned to donate The Voice’s print archives to a “major New York public institution” in the coming months.

let's twist again

let's not, and say we didn't

http://boycottlaweekly.com/who-is-semanal-media/



^ since then:

Oh I forgot Calle was editor for CalWatchdog! A Koch Bros venture to launder the ideas of far-right goons like Dinesh D'Souza into mainstream! Good times. He also gave talks paid for by the notorious Mercer family, when they were trying to launch their far-right media venture.

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) December 23, 2020

Okay, back to recent things Calle has done:

-Repeatedly published sponcon w/ no attempt to identify it as such
-Given copious page space to cannabis businesses he OWNED A STAKE in, while he was also collecting a salary in marketing for those businesses

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) December 23, 2020

-Got sued by one of his co-investors, who proved Calle was incompetent and didn't seem to actually care about turning a profit at LA Weekly. Hmmmm wonder why!
-Acted a fool in every interview, lying about me personally and my colleagues multiple times

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) December 23, 2020

A reminder that Brian Calle has spent the last two years worshipping at the altar of the brazenly corrupt LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the "Donald Trump of law enforcement."

No greater sham than a pro cop "alternative paper." https://t.co/Y5eTPQfExC

— Otto Von Biz Markie (@Passionweiss) December 22, 2020

Flash back to earlier this summer when at the height of the uprising, Brian Calle's Vichy LA Weekly seized the moment to spread Blue Lives Matter propaganda https://t.co/SphBXEWZZM

— Otto Von Biz Markie (@Passionweiss) December 22, 2020

In a last ditch attempt to stave off looming bankruptcy, the brochure-sized LA Weekly is now resorting to selling its cover to ambulance chaser attorneys.

This has to be the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen in an industry that somehow continues to sink to new lows. pic.twitter.com/Te9SBMKuHb

— Otto Von Biz Markie (@Passionweiss) March 6, 2020

Yeah, I can't see this being a good thing given what's happened with L.A. Weekly. More likely, they've re-animated the Voice's corpse to do horrendous things against its will.

There is approximately 0 chance that the latter is not the case, with a 0 margin of error.

People lose their memories every 3 years, and you have to remind them that everything Brian Calle touches turns to turds and that his "gee golly who me" attitude belies a guy WHO LEARNED HOW TO LAUNDER RIGHT-WING TALKING POINTS INTO THE MAINSTREAM WITH JAMES O'KEEFE. https://t.co/8ms8olJnEn

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) December 23, 2020

It makes me feel insane that people somehow forget Brian Calle was VP at the Claremont Institute & then was magically placed in the role of opinion editor for SoCal News Group. That's not an accident. He wasn't a journalist. This guy was trained for laundering and grifting.

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) December 23, 2020

ugh

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzNe254VkAIIy71.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKdHy18rZcI

And just realized after all these years that this song has kind of the “I Want Candy” variant of the Bo Diddley Beat.

Forgot the #onethread

let's twist again

why do my hips hurt

Took a gander at the twitter account of the guy Brian Calle just hired as the new CEO of Village Voice. He's a Hamptons Trump bro obsessed with the Hunter Biden laptop conspiracy theory. Surprised he didn't go private before the announcement. pic.twitter.com/VNqjEryGKB

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) July 1, 2021

For fuck's sake, someone please put the Voice out of its misery. It deserves a dignified death, not this.

Same thought: just sad.

Think you'll find selling it to Calle eradicated any possibility of dignity.

So they've got a Fall 2021 Print Edition online, and latest (?) music coverage:
https://www.villagevoice.com/category/music-2021/

I Don’t trust new owner based on what I have read, so kind of ignoring new Voice