The company that owns the venerable and iconic Village Voice -- now in its 50th year—will merge with the nation's largest alternative weekly chain, New Times Media, to form an alternative media company with 17 papers and a combined weekly circulation of 1.8 million, about 25% of the national alt weekly total.
The new company will be called Village Voice Media with an estimated combined value of $400 million and annual revenues of $180 million (both companies are privately held and don't report financial results).
Though called a "merger," the action, which must receive approval from antitrust regulators, is in essence an acquisition by New Times, whose current shareholders will own 62 percent of the new company and hold five of nine board seats. New Times chief executive officer Jim Larkin will be CEO of the new company, and New Times executive editor Michael Lacey will be executive editor of the combined operation. Village Voice CEO David Schneiderman will be President of Village Voice Digital, the new Internet portal the combined company would develop.
The Village Voice, which now owns five papers in addition to its New York City flagship, was founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer and quickly established a reputation for no-holds-barred reporting, criticism, and left-leaning politics. The New York paper has received three Pulitzer Prizes and the George Polk Award, as well as Front Page Awards and Deadline Club Awards, and its website has twice been recognized as one of the nation's premier online sites, receiving the National Press Foundation's Online Journalism Award and the Editor and Publisher Eppy Award for best U.S. weekly newspaper online.
New Times, the nation's largest publisher of alternative weeklies with eleven newspapers, was founded in 1970 by Lacey and others at Arizona State University.
There is some potential for culture clash as New Times, known for its investigative reporting, has always remained officially apolitical in contrast to the Voice's unapologetic liberalism. Schneiderman told his own employees that "nothing" will change, except that the papers will have "more resources."
Jane Levine, a former publisher of The Chicago Reader who is now on the paper's board, told the NY Times, "There may well be changes to the content of the papers being bought, and there will be people who think that they will be negative, in part because New Times doesn't endorse political candidates. If you think the loss of the endorsements is a big negative change, you won't be happy with this deal."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dave Nalle
Kind of depressing to hear how corporate the alternative weeklies have gone. Makes me miss the freewheeling good old days of the Unicorn Times sticking it to the man every day.
Dave
2 - Natalie Davis
I spent years working at alternative weeklies owned by big corporate entities. My situation was fortunate, in that the corporate people kept their grubby mitts off of the editorial side, but I never felt really comfortable with it, even though it was understandable that fiscal realities forced the relationship between the strange bedfellows. Still, I agree -- as much as my love for my former employers remains encompassing, my heart belongs to Unicorn Times, Harry, and any alt-paper that kept its distance from The Man. How I would love to find that sort of a deal once again... but, like the magical entity that was the freeform radio station, unsullied alt-weeklies that stay in business for any length of time are pretty much an impossible dream.
(Any truly deep-pocketed altruists around who want to finance an ad-free alternative paper as a completely silent partner? Thought not.)
3 - Dave Nalle
Natalie, is WHFS no longer on the air up there? I thought it was still holding out in Annapolis at like 50kw or something.
Dave
4 - Temple Stark
It's Ms. Davis if you're nasty.
5 - Natalie Davis
Oh no, Mr. Nalle, that was a long time ago. WHFS turned into big-time corporate radio and enjoyed a reputation as one of the nation's preeminent modern-rock stations for years -- its freeform days were LONG past. Last year, though, ratings dropped and its owners -- with no warning -- switched to a Latin-music format. Listeners howled, however, so the modern-rock format landed at another station that is now using the calls WHFS. Modern rock only plays in the evenings for now (days are filled with Don & Mike and other talk shows), but it beats a blank, I guess. As much as I lament last year's changes, the sad truth is that the HFS discerning listeners knew and loved died eons ago. The closest thing to freeform radio in the area (outside of college stations) is WRNR, which is in Annapolis, and even that has become extremely commercial in recent years. Most sad; I used to be a freeform jock, and that was the best. Always felt that I was creating art on the air back then. Oh well, it's all about the Benjamins, as they say. They call it progress; I call it bullshit.
6 - Dave Nalle
I haven't lived in DC for years, obviously. But I always thought that WHFS would go on forever. It was my inspiration for my weekly show when I was in college.
Down here in Austin we do have some relatively freeform stations. KGSR isn't as cutting edge as WHFS was, but it does seem to give the DJs a lot of liberty. The problem is that the same people picked all the DJs.
Dave
7 - Eric Olsen
discussion bringing up great memories Nat and Dave! When I was in DC last month, my emo niece (14) lamented the passing of HFS, which I found quite touching.
Because of the antitrust action in '03, the Cleveland Free Times is independent, or at least owned by a lesser corp entity (I'm not exactly sure) and it carries on valiantly against VVM's Scene. I wrote for both back in the '90s - seems like a different world.
And I similarly miss programming my own radio, Nat. If they ever get the licensing nonsense worked out, Internet radio could be the answer someday
8 - Natalie Davis
Part of me lives for that possibility, Eric. Imagine what could be!
Austin is such a cool place; it boasts a great local-music scene and a usually fine (though corporate) alt-weekly, the Austin Chronicle. How weird and sort of sad that such a great city is in Texas.
9 - Dave Nalle
Two comments in a row dissing Texas. You should come down and get to know us before you revile us. Just because Tom Delay and Sheila Jackson Lee are from Texas it doesn't mean we're all venal idiots.
On the whole Texas culture is pretty positive. The politics can get strange and sometimes ugly, but the people are fundamentally good and positive, regardless of their political perspective, and not just in Austin - which has both the good and bad aspects of being a very liberal town.
Dave
10 - Nancy
I was under the impression Texas was full of football maniacs, evangelicals, & country-western hangers-out at honkey-tonks? I was told by a former resident of the state that if you didn't subscribe to any of the above groups, you had no business being in Texas.
11 - Phillip Winn
Nancy, I don't think I'd take the words of a "former" anything without checking them out, as there's usually a reason they're "former."
I would say that the description might fit most small-town or rural Texas, but Dallas certainly doesn't fit that bill, and I'm sure Dave Nalle will suggest that Austin doesn't either.
12 - Dave Nalle
Sounds like someone from the outer circle of hell known as Dallas.
Football IS popular here, no question. But what's wrong with country music and honky-tonks. Some of our finest homegrown American culture. Genuine folk culture at its best.
The real point is that Texas is a huge and diverse state with an ethnically and politically mixed population. We've got urban african american culture in Houston, idiotic country-music-football rednecks in Dallas, the white liberal elite in Austin, a great hispanic cultural center in San Antonio and every variety of rural lifestyle you can imagine too.
Most of the things which those in the north and east think of as 'culture' are associated with urbanization. Well, Texas has the largest urban population of any state in the nation. Only Texas and California have 3 cities in the top 10 for population, and if you look at the top 20 cities in size Texas has 6 to California's 4 and a larger total urban population. Texas also has 3 out of the top 10 fastest growing metro areas in the nation - so people are moving here in droves.
It's not the simple stereotype so many make it out to be.
Dave
13 - Nancy
I got most of my information out of James Mitchner's "Texas", & the news. I also do judge by what comes out of Texas: besides the grapefruits (which are wonderful) more notorious exports DO include DeLay & Bush, both about as welcome IMO as gila monsters - and about as attractive. I also understand Texas breeds stupendously gigantic cockroaches, also not a recommendation for the state, as well as being the most environmentally polluted in the union. More rednecks nobody needs - we've got plenty up here, thanks. Ditto sports jocks. And we have cockroaches of our own, tho not as prize-winning in the size category, but we'll pass on those, too, thanks, along w/the pollution. So...what HAVE you got down there besides wackies in Waco? I'm serious: Texas does not get much good publicity outside it's own borders, & I wonder how much of that is because it can't be bothered?
14 - Natalie Davis
Mr. Nalle, I have been to Texas numerous times. As with much of the American south and midwest -- and northeast -- I did not feel comfortable there. And I *love* football, country music, and honky tonks. Austin was a welcome exception.
Fact is, as I've said elsewhere, Texas has bigotry against GLBT people codified under law. Until recently, it banned consensual sexual activity between adults of the same gender -- and it took the SCOTUS to overturn it. Texas is red with the blood of those killed with state approval. And now the state may be poised to re-codify and amplify its discrimination against GLBT people. Yes, there are good and decent people there, that should be noted. And yes, Texas is huge and diverse. But the state itself, as proven by its acts and laws, is horrid. This is not the opinion of some east-coast elitist by any means. My beliefs are based in real human experience and fact.
15 - Dave Nalle
What Texas has is diversity, and the reasons it doesn't publicize outside its own borders is that Texas is so big and so diverse that we're pretty self-sufficient. We have people who go from one part of Texas to another for tourism and vacations.
I've never heard this thing about Texas being the most polluted state in the union. Sure can't tell from all our clean waters and clear air.
What we've got:
Some of the best beaches and beach resorts in the nation
More hunting and camping areas than any other state
A booming movie industry
The San Antonio Riverwalk
The Austion Music Scene and SXSW
More theme parks than you can shake a stick at including great water parks
The largest NASCAR track in the world
The best chili, barbeque and mexican food in the nation
The home of Whole Foods Market
The Conscience of the Congress - Ron Paul - who more than balances out any negatives from Tom Delay
Lots of other good stuff. Basically, whatever any other states have we've got in Texas and we probably have more of it and better quality as well.
Dave
16 - Mark Saleski
but...it's hot.
plastic-seat-nut-sweatin' HOT.
17 - JR
The largest NASCAR track in the world
Texas Motor Speedway is only 1.5 miles long. Talledega is 2.66 miles, Daytona and Indianapolis are 2.5 miles, and Michigan and California Speedways are 2.0 miles.
Anyways, ovals suck. There are no major road courses in Texas.
And NASCAR is the motor racing equivalent of professional wrestling.
18 - Natalie Davis
LOL. Forgive Mr. Nalle for his boosterism -- he is apparently from the "Don't Mess with Texas" school. Beyond everything I have already mentioned, one other thing trumps all the attributes about which he boasts: Texas is Bush country.
Brrrrrr... All the plastic-seat-nut-sweatin' heat can't eradicate the chill running down my spine.
19 - JR
I too have misgivings about Texas, but they do treat their Mexicans better than California does.
And I hear Big Bend is wonderful.
20 - Nancy
I do love those grapefruit. They grow the best ruby reds in the world, must be. NASCAR is no recommendation to anybody but a redneck. Last time I passed by a NASCAR meet (in Bristol, TN) you could smell the beer from the crowd (& I mean the WHOLE crowd) in the stands all the way out to the highway! I think the cops were just ignoring the alcohol stench because they didn't have enough jail space in the state to lock up all the drunk or buzzed drivers there. People in for the meet were pushing shopping carts thru the stores piled with cartons of beer & junk food - or the cart full of beer & the kids trailing along carrying the bags of chips, etc. Pretty bad.
21 - Natalie Davis
I am not a NASCAR fan, but surely all its appreciators can't be rednecks. Plenty of non-rednecks are heartily partying imbibers.
22 - Eric Olsen
let us not forget, Texas used to be a COUNTRY - it is physically and culturally enormous and is kind of like SoCal (which has plenty of rednecks and desert rats of its own)spread out to about 5-times its size. It is extremely difficult to generalize about it, much like SoCal
23 - Nancy
Judging by the way Texans I've met talk, they still think it's a country. I think Mexico is getting ready to take it back again, if only by population. We did steal it.
24 - Matthew T. Sussman
Every month I do an install at one or two newspapers. In the past three months I have been to only two nationally corporate sites -- Gannett and Copley -- but the rest were locally owned.
Right now I'm at a local chain in W. Michigan that owns two dailies and about six county weeklies. It's hard to put into words, namely because I'm relatively new to this job, but the stigma you get from "corporate media" doesn't seem to exist in these papers.
And daily rags they aren't. You see in their conference rooms awards for feature writing, page design, what have you. It's this level of newspapers -- the 20,000 circ dailies -- that get back to the classic community reporting.
Now, if only they embraced online content...
25 - Eric Olsen
that's a great point Matt, journalism is at its most meaningful where the rubber meets the road: at the community level