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{{short description|American weekly newspaper}}
{{about|the New York newspaper|the Ottawa Hills, Ohio magazine|The Village Voice of Ottawa Hills}}
{{about|the New York newspaper|the Ottawa Hills, Ohio magazine|The Village Voice of Ottawa Hills}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox Newspaper
{{Infobox newspaper
|name = The Village Voice
|image = [[Image:1955 October cover The Village Voice.jpg|200px]]
| name = The Village Voice
| image = [[File:The Village Voice.svg|200px]]
|caption = October 1955 cover
|type = [[Newspaper]]
| type = [[Alternative newspaper|Alternative weekly]]
|format = [[Tabloid]] / [[Alternative newspaper|Alternative weekly]]
| format = [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|Tabloid]]
| owners = [[Brian calle]]<ref name="NYTVVRises">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=December 22, 2020 |title=The Village Voice Rises From the Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/business/media/village-voice-new-owner.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424225902/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/business/media/village-voice-new-owner.html |archive-date=April 24, 2021 |access-date=April 24, 2021 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
|foundation = 1955
| chiefeditor =
|owners = [[Village Voice Media]]
| foundation = October 26, 1955
|publisher = Michael Cohen
| founders = {{ubl|[[Ed Fancher]]|[[Dan Wolf (publisher)|Dan Wolf]]|[[John Wilcock]]|[[Norman Mailer]]}}
|chiefeditor = Tony Ortega
| headquarters = 36 [[Cooper Square]]<br />[[New York City]] 10003<br> U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/about/index/|title=About Us|publisher=Villagevoice.com|access-date=November 24, 2013 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127162939/http://www.villagevoice.com/about/index/|archive-date=November 27, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
|circulation = 247,417<ref name="circ">{{cite web |url=http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewCompany?oid=oid%3A94 |title=The Village Voice |accessdate=2007-02-23 |publisher=[[Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]] }}</ref>
| political =
|headquarters = 36 Cooper Square<br>[[Manhattan|New York]], [[New York|NY]] 10003<br>{{USA}}
| language =
|ISSN = 0042-6180
| ceased publication = {{end date|2017|08|22}}
|website = [http://www.villagevoice.com/ villagevoice.com]
| relaunched = {{start date|2021|04|17}}
| publishing_city =
| publishing_country =
| circulation_date = 2017
| circulation_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Newspapers by County |url=https://nynewspapers.com/newspapers-by-county/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121151548/http://nynewspapers.com:80/newspapers-by-county/ |archive-date=November 21, 2017 |access-date=June 25, 2023 |website=New York Press Association}}</ref>
| readership =
| sister newspapers =
| eISSN =
| oclc =
| RNI =
| website = {{URL|https://www.villagevoice.com/}}
| free =
| circulation = 105,000
| ISSN = 0042-6180
}}
}}
[[Image:Village Voice offices on Lafayette in New York City.JPG|thumb|The Cooper Square head office of the paper.]]
[[File:Village Voice (48072654421).jpg|thumb|The Cooper Square offices of the paper]]
[[Image:Hentoff bio.jpg|right|thumb|Village Voice columnist [[Nat Hentoff]]; photo by Tom Pich]]
'''''The Village Voice''''' is a free weekly newspaper in [[New York City]], [[United States]] featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. It is also distributed throughout the [[United States]] on a pay basis.


'''''The Village Voice''''' is an American news and culture publication based in [[Greenwich Village]], [[New York City]], known for being the country's first [[Alternative newspaper|alternative]] [[newsweekly]].<ref name="The Village Voice Returns"/> Founded in 1955 by [[Dan Wolf (publisher)|Dan Wolf]], [[Ed Fancher]], [[John Wilcock]], and [[Norman Mailer]], ''The Voice'' began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, ''The Voice'' reappeared in print as a [[quarterly]] in April 2021.<ref name="The Village Voice Returns" />
It was the first and is arguably the best known of the arts-oriented [[tabloid]]s that have come to be known as ''[[alternative weekly|alternative weeklies]]'', though its reputation has been unstable since a recent buyout by publishing conglomerate [[New Times Media]]. The turbulent times its writers have covered have often been matched by the intrigue in its own offices, most recently including the firing of several high-profile contributors and a scandal over a fabricated story in 2005, the year the paper turned 50. The ''Voice'''s spirit can be captured in its 1980s advertising slogan: "Some people swear by us...other people swear AT us."<ref name=Broderick2007>{{

cite book
''The Village Voice'' has received three [[Pulitzer Prize]]s, the [[National Press Foundation]] Award, and the [[George Polk Award]]. ''The Village Voice'' hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer [[Ezra Pound]], cartoonist [[Lynda Barry]], artist [[Greg Tate]], music critic [[Robert Christgau]], and film critics [[Andrew Sarris]], [[Jonas Mekas]], and [[J. Hoberman]].
|last = Broderick

|first = James
In October 2015, ''The Village Voice'' changed ownership and severed all ties with former parent company Voice Media Group (VMG).<ref>Pompeo, Joe (October 12, 2015), [http://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/10/village-voice-sold-to-new-owner-004344 "Village Voice sold to new owner"], ''[[Politico]]''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801194902/http://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/10/village-voice-sold-to-new-owner-004344 |date=August 1, 2017}}.</ref> ''The Voice'' announced on August 22, 2017, that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital venture, on a date to be announced.<ref name="jleland">[[John Leland (journalist)|Leland, John]], and [[Sarah Maslin Nir]] (August 22, 2017), [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/nyregion/village-voice-to-end-print-publication.html?mcubz=1 "After 62 Years and Many Battles, Village Voice Will End Print Publication"], [[The New York Times]]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823215238/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/nyregion/village-voice-to-end-print-publication.html?mcubz=1 |date=August 23, 2017}}.</ref> The final printed edition, featuring a 1965 photo of [[Bob Dylan]] on the cover, was distributed on September 21, 2017.<ref name="guardian-21sep2017">{{cite news |last1=Helmore |first1=Edward |title=The Village Voice prints its final edition – with Bob Dylan on the cover |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/21/village-voice-final-edition-new-york-bob-dylan |access-date=September 21, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 21, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922013933/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/21/village-voice-final-edition-new-york-bob-dylan |archive-date=September 22, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> After halting print publication in 2017, ''The Voice'' provided daily coverage through its website until August 31, 2018, when it announced it was ceasing production of new editorial content.<ref name="Pager">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/business/media/the-village-voice-closes.html |title=The Village Voice, a New York Icon, Closes |last1=Pager |first1=Tyler |date=August 31, 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 5, 2018 |first2=Jaclyn |last2=Peiserr}}</ref> On December 23, 2020, editor R. C. Baker announced that the paper would resume publishing new articles both online and in a quarterly print edition.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Baker|first=R. C.|date=December 23, 2020 |title=65 Years and Counting|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2020/12/23/65-years-and-counting/|access-date=September 22, 2021 |website=villagevoice.com}}</ref> In January 2021, new original stories began being published again on the website.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dispatches From the Divide: Michigan's No-Shows |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2021/01/18/dispatches-from-the-divide-michigans-no-shows/|first=Will|last=Sennott|access-date=January 19, 2021 |website=villagevoice.com|date=January 18, 2021}}</ref> A spring print edition was released in April 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2021/04/17/nomadland-judas-minari-whos-getting-the-oscar-and-why-it-still-matters/|first=Michael|last=Musto|author-link=Michael Musto|title=Nomadland! Judas! Minari! Who's Getting the Oscar and Why It Still Matters|website=villagevoice.com|date=April 17, 2021}}</ref> ''The Voice''{{'s}} website continues to feature archival material related to current events.
|year = 2007
|title = Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information
|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=L0nOaMe91w4C
|chapter = Village Voice
|chapterurl = http://books.google.com/books?id=L0nOaMe91w4C&pg=PA381
|publisher = CyberAge Books
|pages = 381
|isbn = 0910965773
}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
The ''Voice'' was launched by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf, and [[Norman Mailer]]<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit>Lawrence van Gelder, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DF1E39F931A25757C0A960958260 Dan Wolf, 80, a Village Voice Founder, Dies], ''The New York Times'', April 12, 1996. Accessed online 2 June 2008.</ref> on October 26, 1955 from a two-bedroom apartment in [[Greenwich Village]], which was its initial coverage area, expanding to other parts of the city by the 1960s. The offices in the 1960s were located at Sheridan Square; they are now at [[Cooper Square (Manhattan)|Cooper Square]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]].


===Early history===
Early in its history the newspaper had a reputation as having an anti-[[Homosexuality|homosexual]] slant. When reporting on the [[Stonewall riots]] of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as "The Great Faggot Rebellion". Two reporters, Smith and Truscott, both used the words 'faggot' and 'dyke' in their articles about the riots. (These words were not commonly used by homosexuals to refer to each other at this time.) After the riot, the [[Gay Liberation Front]] attempted to promote dances for gays and lesbians and were not allowed to use the words ''gay'' or ''homosexual'' which the newspaper considered derogatory. The newspaper changed their policy after the GLF petitioned the ''Voice'' to do so.<ref>Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution. Carter, David. pg. 226</ref>
[[File:1955 October cover The Village Voice.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|left|Cover of the October 1955 issue]]
''The Village Voice'' was launched by [[Ed Fancher]], Dan Wolf, and [[Norman Mailer]]<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit>Lawrence van Gelder, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DF1E39F931A25757C0A960958260 Dan Wolf, 80, a Village Voice Founder, Dies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214075340/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DF1E39F931A25757C0A960958260 |date=February 14, 2009}}, [[The New York Times]], April 12, 1996. Accessed online June 2, 2008.</ref> on October 26, 1955, from a two-bedroom apartment in [[Greenwich Village]]; that was its initial coverage area, which expanded to other parts of the city by the 1960s. In 1960, it moved from 22 Greenwich Avenue to 61 [[Christopher Street]] in a landmark triangular corner building adjoining Sheridan Square, and a few feet west of the [[Stonewall Inn]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/10/13/the-voice-makes-a-move-in-1960/ |title=The Voice Makes a Move in 1960 |website=villagevoice.com |date=October 13, 2008 |access-date=April 27, 2018 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301164357/https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/10/13/the-voice-makes-a-move-in-1960/ |archive-date=March 1, 2018 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> then, from the 1970s through 1980, at 11th Street and University Place; and then Broadway and 13th Street. It moved to [[Cooper Square (Manhattan)|Cooper Square]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]] in 1991, and in 2013, to the [[Financial District (Manhattan)|Financial District]].<ref>[http://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/09/ladies-and-gentlemen-the-village-voice-has-left-the-village/ Ladies and Gentlemen, The Village Voice Has Left The Village] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20130917222926/http://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/09/ladies-and-gentlemen-the-village-voice-has-left-the-village/ |date=September 17, 2013}}, Bedford + Bowery. Accessed online September 16, 2013.</ref>


Early columnists of the 1950s and 1960s included [[Jonas Mekas]], who explored the underground film movement in his "Film Journal" column; [[Linda Solomon]], who reviewed the Village club scene in the "Riffs" column; and [[Sam Julty]], who wrote a popular column on car ownership and maintenance. John Wilcock wrote a column every week for the paper's first ten years. Another regular from that period was the cartoonist [[Kin Platt]], who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included [[Peter Schjeldahl]], [[Ellen Willis]], [[Jill Johnston]], Tom Carson, and [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]]. Staff of ''The Voice'' joined a union, the [[Distributive Workers of America]], in 1977.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| title = Village Voice Employees Vote To Join a Local of District 65|work=[[The New York Times]]| access-date = 2021-09-12| date = 1977-07-01| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/01/archives/village-voice-employees-vote-to-join-a-local-of-district-65.html}}</ref>
The ''Voice'' has published groundbreaking investigations of New York City [[politics]], as well as reporting on local and national [[politics]], with [[arts]], [[culture]], [[music]], [[dance]], [[film]], and [[theater]] reviews. The ''Voice'' has received three [[Pulitzer Prize]]s, in 1981 ([[Teresa Carpenter]]),<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1409,27 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1981], official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online 5 June 2008.</ref> 1986 ([[Jules Feiffer]])<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1517,31 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1986], official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online 5 June 2008.</ref> and 2000 ([[Mark Schoofs]]).<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1819,28 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 2000], official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online 5 June 2008.</ref> Almost since its inception the paper has recognized alternative theater in New York through its [[Obie Awards]].<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index.php?page=about About the OBIES], official Obies site (part of ''Village Voice'' site). Accessed online 5 June 2008.</ref> From the early 1970s to 2005, music critic [[Robert Christgau]] ran a highly influential music poll, known as "[[Pazz & Jop]]", every February from the "top ten" lists, submitted by [[music critic]]s from around the country. In 1999, film critic [[J. Hoberman]] and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar [[Village Voice Film Poll]] for the year's movies. In 2001 the paper sponsored its first Siren Festival indie rock festival, a free annual event every summer held at [[Coney Island]].


For more than 40 years, [[Wayne Barrett]] was the newspaper's [[muckraker]], covering New York [[Real estate development|real estate developers]] and politicians, including [[Donald Trump]]. The material continued to be a valuable resource for reporters covering the Trump presidency.<ref name="Pager" />
The ''Voice'' has published many well-known writers, including [[Ezra Pound]], [[Henry Miller]], [[Barbara Garson]], [[Katherine Anne Porter]], M.S.Cone, staff writer and author, [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]], [[E.E. Cummings]], [[Nat Hentoff]], [[Ted Hoagland]], [[Tom Stoppard]], [[Lorraine Hansberry]], [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[Joshua Clover]]. Former editors have included [[Clay Felker]] and [[Tom Morgan (editor)|Tom Morgan]].


''The Voice'' has published investigations of New York City politics, as well as reporting on national politics, with arts, culture, music, dance, film, and theater reviews. Writers and cartoonists for ''The Voice'' have received three [[Pulitzer Prize]]s: in 1981 ([[Teresa Carpenter]], for feature writing),<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1409,27 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1981] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223410/http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1409,27 |date=March 3, 2016}}, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.</ref> 1986 ([[Jules Feiffer]], for editorial cartooning)<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1517,31 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1986] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165350/http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1517,31 |date=March 3, 2016}}, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.</ref> and 2000 ([[Mark Schoofs]], for international reporting).<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1819,28 The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 2000] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191359/http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?1819,28 |date=March 3, 2016}}, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.</ref> The paper has, almost since its inception, recognized alternative theater in New York through its [[Obie Awards]].<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index.php?page=about] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209152059/http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index.php?page=about|date=December 9, 2007}}</ref> The paper's "[[Pazz & Jop]]" music poll, started by [[Robert Christgau]] in the early 1970s, is released annually and remains an influential survey of the nation's music critics. In 1999, film critic [[J. Hoberman]] and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar [[Village Voice Film Poll]] for the year in film. In 2001, ''The Voice'' sponsored its first music festival, Siren Festival, a free annual event every summer held at [[Coney Island]]. The event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan in 2011, and was re-christened the "[[4knots]] Music Festival", a reference to the speed of the East River's current.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johnston |first=Maura |author-link=Maura Johnston |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/04/4knots_music_festival_announcement_july_16_2011.php |title=Maura Johnston, "Announcing The 4Knots Music Festival, Taking Place This July 16", The Village Voice Blogs, April 14, 2011 |publisher=Blogs.villagevoice.com |date=April 14, 2011 |access-date=November 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231805/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/04/4knots_music_festival_announcement_july_16_2011.php |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
Early columnists of the 1950s and 1960s included [[Jonas Mekas]], who explored the underground film movement in his "Film Journal" column; [[Linda Solomon]], who reviewed the Village club scene in the "Riffs" column; and [[Sam Julty]], who wrote a popular column on [[car]] ownership and maintenance. Another regular from that period was the cartoonist [[Kin Platt]], who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included [[Peter Schjeldahl]], [[Ellen Willis]], Tom Carson, [[Wayne Barrett]], and [[Richard Goldstein]]. Also in 1970, a team of two 19-year-old aspiring writers, who were attempting to attract attention, [[Daniel Simone]] and Domnick Forte, a pair of hardline radicals and public insurgents of anti-[[Vietnam]] government policies, sporadically contributed with their rants against the administration of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].


During the 1980s and onward, ''The Voice'' was known for its staunch support for [[gay rights]], and it published an annual [[Gay Pride]] issue every June. However, early in its history, the newspaper had a reputation as having a [[homophobia|homophobic]] slant. While reporting on the [[Stonewall riots]] of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as "The Great Faggot Rebellion".<ref>{{cite web |first1=Walter Troy|last1=Spencer |title=Too Much My Dear |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1299&dat=19690710&id=u-wjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K4wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1707,293555&hl=en |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=July 10, 1969|access-date=August 18, 2015|via=[[Google News]]}}</ref> Two reporters, [[Howard Smith (director)|Howard Smith]] and Lucian Truscott IV, both used the words "[[faggot (slang)|faggot]]" and "[[dyke (slang)|dyke]]" in their articles about the riots. (These words were not commonly used by homosexuals to refer to each other at this time.) Smith and Truscott retrieved their press cards from ''The Voice'' offices, which were very close to the bar, as the trouble began; they were among the first journalists to record the event, Smith being trapped inside the bar with the police, and Truscott reporting from the street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/06/24/stonewall-at-40-the-voice-articles-that-sparked-a-final-night-of-rioting/ |title=Stonewall at 40: The Voice Articles That Sparked a Final Night of Rioting |website=villagevoice.com |date=June 24, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424034403/https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/06/24/stonewall-at-40-the-voice-articles-that-sparked-a-final-night-of-rioting/ |archive-date=April 24, 2018 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> After the riot, the [[Gay Liberation Front]] (GLF) attempted to promote dances for gays and lesbians in ''The Voice'', but were not allowed to use the words "gay" or "homosexual", which the newspaper considered derogatory. The newspaper changed its policy after the GLF petitioned it to do so.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Carter|title=Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution|date=May 25, 2010|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0312671938|page=226}}</ref> Over time, ''The Voice'' changed its stance, and, in 1982, became the second organization in the US known to have extended [[domestic partner]] benefits. Jeff Weinstein, an employee of the paper and shop steward for the publishing local of District 65 UAW, negotiated and won agreement in the union contract to extend health, life insurance, and disability benefits to the "spouse equivalents" of its union members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culturevulture.net/ArthurLazere-Journalist/Journalism-OntheJob/DomesticPartners.htm |title=DomesticPartners |date=February 12, 2009 |access-date=June 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212223047/http://www.culturevulture.net/ArthurLazere-Journalist/Journalism-OntheJob/DomesticPartners.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2012}}</ref>
The newspaper has also been a host to promising underground cartoonists. In addition to mainstay Jules Feiffer, whose cartoon ran for decades in the paper until its cancellation in 1996, well-known cartoonists featured in the paper have included [[R. Crumb]], [[Matt Groening]], [[Lynda Barry]], [[Stan Mack]], [[Mark Alan Stamaty]], [[Ted Rall]], [[Tom Tomorrow]], [[Ward Sutton]], [[Ruben Bolling]] and currently [[M. Wartella]].


''The Voice''{{'}}s competitors in New York City include ''[[The New York Observer]]'' and ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out New York]]''. Seventeen alternative weeklies around the United States are owned by ''The Voice's'' former parent company [[Village Voice Media]]. The film section writers and editors also produced a weekly Voice Film Club podcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voice-film-club/id686641853?mt=2 |title=iTunes – Podcasts – Voice Film Club by The Village Voice |publisher=Itunes.apple.com |access-date=June 25, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626113431/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voice-film-club/id686641853?mt=2 |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
The ''Voice'' is also known for containing adult content, including sex advice columns and many pages of advertising for "adult services" (i.e., escorts, prostitutes, etc.). This content is located at the back of the newspaper.


In 1996, after decades of carrying a cover price, ''The Voice'' switched from a paid [[weekly newspaper|weekly]] to a free, [[alternative newspaper|alternative]] weekly. ''The Voice'' website was a recipient of the [[National Press Foundation]]'s Online Journalism Award in 2001<ref>[http://www.nationalpress.org/info-url3520/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=263665 Excellence in Online Journalism Award: Past Winners 2000–2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212132950/http://www.nationalpress.org/info-url3520/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=263665 |date=February 12, 2009 }}, NPF Awards, National Press Foundation. Accessed online June 2, 2008.</ref> and the ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'' EPpy Award for Best Overall U.S. Newspaper Online Service – Weekly, Community, Alternative & Free in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2003.html |title=royal.reliaserve.com |publisher=Royal.reliaserve.com |access-date=June 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629221816/http://royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2003.html |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
The ''Voice'' is also locally known for being the place where most hard rock or jazz concerts are announced, sometimes with full page paid ads. Most groups visiting New York advertise in the ''Voice'' for publicity. Most venues in NYC advertise their concerts in ''The Village Voice''.


In 2005, the [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] alternative weekly chain [[New Times Media]] purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. Previous owners of ''The Village Voice'' or of Village Voice Media have included co-founders Fancher<ref>{{cite web|title=Edwin Fancher Oral History – On founding the Voice|url=http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/resources/oral_his.htm#EF|publisher=Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation|access-date=June 1, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627040922/http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/resources/oral_his.htm#EF|archive-date=June 27, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and Wolf,<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit/> New York City Councilman [[Carter Burden]],<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit/> ''New York'' magazine founder [[Clay Felker]], [[Rupert Murdoch]], and [[Leonard N. Stern|Leonard Stern]] of the [[Hartz Mountain Industries|Hartz Mountain]] empire.
The ''Voice's'' competitors in New York City include the ''[[New York Press]]'', ''[[New York Observer]]'' and ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out New York]]''. In 1996, after decades of carrying a cover price, the ''Voice'' responded to competition from the free ''New York Press'' by itself becoming free of charge on newsstands in the five boroughs. (It still carries a charge for home/mail delivery and for newsstands outside the city limits, such as on [[Long Island]].) Its circulation as of June 2006 was 247,417.<ref name="circ"/>


===Acquisition by New Times Media===
The ''Voice’s'' web site is a past winner of both the [[National Press Foundation]]’s Online Journalism Award (2001)<ref>[http://www.nationalpress.org/info-url3520/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=263665 Excellence in Online Journalism Award: Past Winners 2000-2006], NPF Awards, National Press Foundation. Accessed online 2 June 2008.</ref> and the ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'' EPpy Award for Best Overall U.S. Newspaper Online Service – Weekly, Community, Alternative & Free (2003).<ref>[http://royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2003.html Winners - 2003], EPpy Awards. Accessed online 2 June 2008.</ref>
After ''The Village Voice'' was acquired by [[New Times Media]] in 2005, the publication's key personnel changed. ''The Voice'' was then managed by two journalists from [[Phoenix, Arizona]].


In April 2006, ''The Voice'' dismissed music editor [[Chuck Eddy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/arts/music/30idol.html |title=Idolator and Pazz & Jop Polls - Report |last=Sisario |first=Ben |date=November 30, 2006 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref> Four months later, the newspaper sacked longtime music critic [[Robert Christgau]]. In January 2007, the newspaper fired sex columnist and erotica author [[Rachel Kramer Bussel]]; long-term creative director [[Ted Keller]], art director Minh Oung, fashion columnist [[Lynn Yaeger]] and Deputy Art Director [[LD Beghtol]] were laid off or fired soon afterward. [[Editor in chief]] [[Donald Forst]] resigned in December 2005. Doug Simmons, his replacement, was sacked in March 2006 after it was discovered that a reporter had fabricated portions of an article. Simmons' successor, [[Erik Wemple]], resigned after two weeks. His replacement, [[David Blum]], was fired in March 2007. [[Tony Ortega (journalist)|Tony Ortega]] then held the position of editor in chief from 2007 to 2012.
The ''Voice'' was the second organization in the US known to have extended domestic partner benefits, in July 1982. Jeff Weinstein, an employee of the paper and shop steward for the publishing local of District 65 UAW, negotiated and won agreement in the union contract to extend health, life insurance, and disability benefits to the "spouse equivalents" of its union members.<ref>[http://www.culturevulture.net/ArthurLazere-Journalist/Journalism-OntheJob/DomesticPartners.htm DomesticPartners<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


The sacking of [[Nat Hentoff]], who worked for the paper from 1958 to 2008, led to further criticism of the management by some of its current writers, Hentoff himself, and by ''The Voice''{{-'}}s ideological rival paper ''[[National Review]]'', which referred to Hentoff as a "treasure".<ref name=lay>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/business/media/31voice.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116153645/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/business/media/31voice.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss |date=January 16, 2017}}". [[The New York Times]], December 30, 2008.</ref><ref>Kathryn Jean Lopez, "[http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjJlNDY4YTFhZmRhMDhlMzZkNzE3YjkyNmZmMjUwYjg= The Village Voice] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102001354/http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjJlNDY4YTFhZmRhMDhlMzZkNzE3YjkyNmZmMjUwYjg= |date=January 2, 2009}}". ''National Review'', December 31, 2008.</ref> At the end of 2011, Wayne Barrett, who had written for the paper since 1973, was laid off. Fellow muckraking investigative reporter Tom Robbins then resigned in solidarity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/nyregion/05voice.html |title=2 Veterans Leave Village Voice |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202200606/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/nyregion/05voice.html |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |df=mdy-all|last=Peters |first=Jeremy W. }}</ref>
Seventeen alternative weeklies around the [[United States]] are owned by the ''Voice's'' parent company [[Village Voice Media]]. In 2005, the Phoenix alternative weekly chain [[New Times Media]] purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. Previous owners of the ''Village Voice'' or of Village Voice Media have included co-founders Fancher and Wolf,<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit/> New York City Councilman [[Carter Burden]],<ref name=nyt-wolf-obit/> ''New York Magazine'' founder [[Clay Felker]], [[Rupert Murdoch]], and [[Leonard N. Stern|Leonard Stern]] of the [[Hartz Mountain]] empire.


===Voice Media Group===
The paper is referenced in the musical ''[[Rent (musical)|Rent]]'' during the song ''[[La Vie Boheme]]''. The line goes: "To riding your bike midday past the three piece suits, to fruits, to no absolutes; to [[Absolut]]; to choice; to '''The Village Voice''', to any passing fad."
Following a scandal concerning ''The Village Voice''<nowiki/>'s editorial attack on a [[Backpage]] sex trafficking exposé, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders in September 2012, and formed the Denver-based [[Voice Media Group]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company |date=September 24, 2012 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/23/voice-media-group-acquisition/ |publisher=Tech Crunch |access-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926195112/http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/23/voice-media-group-acquisition/ |archive-date=September 26, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>


In May 2013, ''The Village Voice'' editor Will Bourne and deputy editor Jessica Lustig told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that they were quitting the paper rather than executing further staff layoffs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/business/media/top-editors-abruptly-leave-village-voice.html?_r=0 |title=Top Editors Abruptly Leave Village Voice Over Staff Cuts |last=Carr |first=David |date=May 10, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608004216/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/business/media/top-editors-abruptly-leave-village-voice.html?_r=0 |archive-date=June 8, 2013 |url-status=live |author-link=David Carr (journalist) |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Both had been recent appointments. By then, ''The Voice'' had employed five editors since 2005. Following Bourne's and Lustig's departure, Village Media Group management fired three of ''The Voice''{{-'}}s longest-serving contributors: gossip and nightlife columnist [[Michael Musto]], restaurant critic [[Robert Sietsema]], and theater critic [[Michael Feingold]], all of whom had been writing for the paper for decades.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hallock |first=Betty |title=Village Voice 'bloodbath' sends restaurant critic Robert Sietsema packing |url=https://latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-village-voice-cuts-longtime-restaurant-critic-robert-sietsema-20130517,0,7776071.story |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=May 17, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524072552/http://www.latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-village-voice-cuts-longtime-restaurant-critic-robert-sietsema-20130517,0,7776071.story |archive-date=May 24, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kassel |first1=Matthew |last2=Bloomgarden-Smoke |first2=Kara |title=Longtime writers out at The Village Voice |url=http://observer.com/2013/05/longtime-writers-out-at-the-village-voice/ |newspaper=New York Observer |date=May 17, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615182044/http://observer.com/2013/05/longtime-writers-out-at-the-village-voice/ |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author-link1=Robert Simonson |last=Simonson |first=Robert |title=Michael Feingold, longtime critic, let go from Village Voice |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/178166-Michael-Feingold-Longtime-Critic-Let-Go-from-Village-Voice |newspaper=Playbill |date=May 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607193943/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/178166-Michael-Feingold-Longtime-Critic-Let-Go-from-Village-Voice |archive-date=June 7, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Feingold was rehired as a writer for ''The Village Voice'' in January 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/01/12/my-second-fifteen-minutes-michael-feingold-returns-to-the-village-voice/|title='My Second Fifteen Minutes': Michael Feingold Returns to the Village Voice|last=Feingold|first=Michael|date=January 12, 2016|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> Michael Musto was also rehired in 2016 and wrote cover stories regarding subjects like Oscar scandals and Madonna's body of work. Musto returned again to write features in 2021 under new publisher Brian Calle.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
==Changes after New Times Media acquisition==


In July 2013, Voice Media Group executives named Tom Finkel as editor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/tom_finkel_village_voice_editor.php |title=Tom Finkel Named as Editor of the Village Voice |publisher=Blogs.villagevoice.com |date=July 8, 2013 |access-date=November 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116002029/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/07/tom_finkel_village_voice_editor.php |archive-date=November 16, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
{{wikinews|An interview with gossip columnist Michael Musto on the art of celebrity journalism}}
Since being acquired by New Times Media in 2005, the publication's key personnel have changed and the content has become increasingly mainstream. The ''Voice'' is now managed by two [[journalists]] from [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. Some New York media critics perceive a loss of the paper's original iconoclastic, bohemian spirit.<ref>Jonathan Mandell, "[http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/communitydevelopment/20070212/20/2098/ Bigger Media, Less Local Democracy]", ''Gotham Gazette'', February 2007. Accessed June 8, 2008.</ref><ref>Adam Reilly, "[http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid34665.aspx Culture War]", ''The Phoenix'' (Boston), March 2, 2007. Accessed June 8, 2008.</ref>


===Peter Barbey ownership and construction===
In April 2006, the ''Voice'' dismissed music editor [[Chuck Eddy]].<ref>Ben Sisario, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/arts/music/30idol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bloggy: An Online Poll Covets the Territory Once Owned by Pazz & Jop]", ''The New York Times'', November 30, 2006. Accessed June 8, 2008.</ref> Four months later the newspaper fired longtime music critic [[Robert Christgau]]. In January 2007, the newspaper fired sex columnist and erotica author [[Rachel Kramer Bussel]]; long-term creative director [[Ted Keller]], art director Minh Oung, fashion columnist Lynn Yeager and Deputy Art Director [[LD Beghtol]] were laid off/fired soon after.
[[Peter Barbey]], through the privately owned investment company Black Walnut Holdings LLC, purchased ''The Village Voice'' from Voice Media Group in October 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/nyregion/village-voice-sold-to-peter-barbey-owner-of-a-pennsylvania-newspaper.html |title=Village Voice Sold to Peter Barbey, Owner of a Pennsylvania Newspaper |date=October 12, 2015 |access-date=October 18, 2015 |last=Santora |first=Marc |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016004736/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/nyregion/village-voice-sold-to-peter-barbey-owner-of-a-pennsylvania-newspaper.html |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Barbey is a member of one of America's wealthiest families.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/barbey/?list=families |title=America's Richest Families #48 Barbey family |last1=Dolan |first1=Karen A. |last2=Kroll |first2=Luisa |date=July 1, 2015 |access-date=October 18, 2015 |journal=Forbes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018001044/http://www.forbes.com/profile/barbey/?list=families |archive-date=October 18, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The family has had ownership interest in the ''[[Reading Eagle]]'', a daily newspaper serving the city of Reading, Pennsylvania and the surrounding region, for many years. Barbey serves as president and CEO of the Reading Eagle Company, and holds the same roles at ''The Village Voice''. After taking over ownership of ''The Voice'', Barbey named Joe Levy, formerly of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', as interim editor in chief,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/village-voice-joe-levy-interim-eic/384026 |title=Village Voice Taps Joe Levy as Interim EIC |website=www.adweek.com |date=August 26, 2016 |language=en-US |access-date=January 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116235929/http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/village-voice-joe-levy-interim-eic/384026 |archive-date=November 16, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> and Suzan Gursoy, formerly of ''[[Ad Week]]'', as publisher.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/05/village-voice-hires-new-publisher-ahead-of-extensive-relaunch-004532|title=Village Voice hires new publisher ahead of 'extensive relaunch'|newspaper=[[Politico]] Media|access-date=January 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131184340/http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/05/village-voice-hires-new-publisher-ahead-of-extensive-relaunch-004532 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In December 2016, Barbey named Stephen Mooallem, formerly of ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', as editor in chief.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/business/media/the-village-voice-names-a-new-top-editor-again.html |title=The Village Voice Names a New Top Editor, Again |last=Ember |first=Sydney |date=2016-12-05 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=January 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217002639/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/business/media/the-village-voice-names-a-new-top-editor-again.html |archive-date=December 17, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Mooallem resigned in May 2018, and was not replaced before the publication's shutdown.<ref name="Pager" />


Under the Barbey ownership, advertisements for [[Escort agency|escort agencies]] and [[phone sex]] services came to an end.<ref name="Pager" />
The paper has experienced high turnover among its editorial leadership since 2005. Editor-in-chief Don Forst resigned in December 2005. Doug Simmons, his replacement, was fired in March 2006 after it was discovered that a reporter had fabricated portions of an article. Simmons' successor, [[Erik Wemple]], resigned after two weeks. His replacement, [[David Blum]], was fired in March 2007. {{As of|2007|April}}, Tony Ortega, former editor of the [[Broward County, Florida|Broward]]-[[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] ''New Times'', is editor.


On August 31, 2018, it was announced that the ''Village Voice'' would cease production and lay off half of its staff. The remaining staff would be kept on for a limited period for archival projects.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/31/media/the-village-voice-shuts-down/index.html |title=The Village Voice folds after more than 60 years |last=Darcy |first=Oliver |work=[[CNN Business]] |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/Village-Voice-New-York-City-Newspaper-Alt-Weekly-Ends-Publication-NYC-492190311.html |title=Groundbreaking Alternative Paper Village Voice Shuts Down |date=August 31, 2018 |work=NBC 10 Philadelphia |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/village-voice-news-layoff.php |title=''The Village Voice'' ends editorial production, lays off half of staff |last=Neason |first=Alexandria |date=August 31, 2018 |work=Columbia Journalism Review |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref> An August 31 piece by freelancer Steven Wishnia was hailed as the last article to be published on the website.<ref name="Pager"/> Two weeks after the ''Village Voice'' ceased operations on September 13, co-founder John Wilcock died in California at the age of 91.
In December 2008, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the situation grew so strained that half of its entire staff was gone. One still employed writer remarked that the ''Voice's'' managers "don’t seem to be able to sit there and just talk about them with their own work force to deal with these problems".<ref name=lay>"[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/business/media/31voice.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others]". ''The New York Times'', December 30, 2008.</ref>


===Return to print ===
The firing of [[Nat Hentoff]], who worked for the paper from 1958 to 2008, led to further criticism of the management by some of its current writers, Hentoff himself, and by the ''Voice's'' ideological rival paper ''[[National Review]]'' (which referred to Hentoff as a "treasure").<ref name=lay/><ref>Kathryn Jean Lopez, "[http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjJlNDY4YTFhZmRhMDhlMzZkNzE3YjkyNmZmMjUwYjg= The Village Voice]". ''National Review'', December 31, 2008.</ref> Executive editor [[Richard Goldstein]], a ''Voice'' writer since 1966, worked for the paper until 2004.<ref>James Barron, [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/nyregion/village-voice-reduces-staff-and-evidently-morale-too.html Village Voice Reduces Staff And Evidently Morale, Too], ''The New York Times'', August 9, 2004. Accessed May 8, 2010.</ref>
In January 2021, a new original story — the first one in two-and-a-half years — was published on the website of ''The Village Voice''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 18, 2021|title=Dispatches From the Divide: Michigan's No-Shows {{!}} The Village Voice|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2021/01/18/dispatches-from-the-divide-michigans-no-shows/|access-date=January 19, 2021|website=www.villagevoice.com}}</ref> On April 17, 2021, the Spring 2021 issue of ''The Village Voice'' appeared in news boxes and on newsstands for the first time since 2018. At the time, ''The Village Voice'' was a quarterly publication.<ref name="The Village Voice Returns">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=April 19, 2021 |title=The Village Voice Returns, and It's 'Very Village Voice-y' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/business/media/the-village-voice-returns.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423220130/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/business/media/the-village-voice-returns.html |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-23 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>


==Contributors==
==Awards and honors==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2019}}
*2003 - [[Investigative Reporters and Editors]] Award, Local Circulation Weekly Category, series "Lush Life of Rudy Appointee" by Tom Robbins<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writenews.com/2003/062003_aan_awards.htm|title=Alternative Newsweekly Award Winners Announced|work=The Write News|date=June 20, 2003|publisher=Writers Write, Inc|accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>
''The Voice'' has published columns and works by writers such as [[Ezra Pound]], [[Henry Miller]], [[Barbara Garson]], [[Katherine Anne Porter]], [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]], [[E.E. Cummings]], [[Nat Hentoff]], staff writer and author [[Ted Hoagland]], [[Colson Whitehead]], [[Tom Stoppard]], [[Paul Lukas (journalist)|Paul Lukas]], [[Lorraine Hansberry]], [[Lester Bangs]], [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[Joshua Clover]]. Former editors have included [[Clay Felker]].
*2003 - [[American Society of Journalists and Authors]] Donald Robinson Award for Investigative Journalism, for "Final Solutions: How IBM Helped Automate the Nazi Death Machine in Poland" by Edwin Black<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asja.org/awards/awarhist.php|title=ASJA.org: Awards History - Donald Robinson Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism|publisher=www.asja.org|accessdate=2008-06-01|last=[[American Society of Journalists and Authors]]}}</ref>

*2003 - [[New York Press Club]] and [[New York State Bar Association]] Crystal Gavel Award, for "Why the NYPD Is Fighting for the Right to Spy on You" by Chisun Lee<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=2003_Press_Releases&template=/PressRelease/PressReleaseDisplay.cfm&PressReleaseID=137&PressReleaseCategoryID=2&ShowArchives=0
The newspaper has also been a host to underground cartoonists. In addition to mainstay [[Jules Feiffer]], whose cartoon ran for decades in the paper until its cancellation in 1996, well-known cartoonists featured in the paper have included [[Robert Crumb|R. Crumb]], [[Matt Groening]], [[Lynda Barry]], [[Stan Mack]], [[Mark Alan Stamaty]], [[Ted Rall]], [[Tom Tomorrow]], [[Ward Sutton]], [[Ruben Bolling]] and [[M. Wartella]].
|title=New York State Bar Association and New York Press Club to Honor News Media Reporting About Law, Legal System - Village Voice and ABC News receive top honors|work=[[New York State Bar Association]]|publisher=www.nysba.org|accessdate=2008-06-01|last=Carr|first=Brad}}</ref>

*2002 - [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]] Mike Berger Award for "Crossing to the Other Side" by Michael Kamber<ref name="berger2002">{{cite web|url=http://www.aan.org/news/village_voice_wins_berger_award/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=112712|title=Village Voice Wins Berger Award|publisher=www.aan.org|accessdate=2008-06-01|date=2002-05-13|last=[[Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]]}}</ref>
== Backpage sex trafficking ==
*2002 - [[Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]] Award for Feature Writing, for "Crossing to the Other Side" by Michael Kamber<ref name="aan2002">{{cite web|url=http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=oid%3A112806|title=Alternative Newsweekly Award Winners Announced - Two Sept. 11 Pieces Take First Place, Gambit Weekly Wins Four Firsts|publisher=aan.org|accessdate=2008-06-01|last=[[Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]]}}</ref>
{{Main|Backpage}}
*2002 - Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award for Photography, for photograph of downtown Manhattan by Andre Souroujon<ref name="aan2002" />

*2002 - Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award for Photography for Arts Criticism, work by Greg Tate<ref name="aan2002" />
[[Backpage]] was a classified advertisement website owned by the same parent company as ''The Village Voice.'' In 2012, [[Nicholas Kristof]] wrote an article in ''The New York Times'' detailing a young woman's account of being sold on Backpage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kristof |first1=Nick |title=Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-where-pimps-peddle-their-goods.html |access-date=May 18, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 17, 2012}}</ref> ''The Village Voice'' released an article entitled "What Nick Kristof Got Wrong" accusing Kristof of fabricating the story and ignoring journalistic standards.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2012-03-21/news/kristof/ |title=What Nick Kristof Got Wrong: Village Voice Media Responds |date=November 18, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115082042/https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/03/21/what-nick-kristof-got-wrong-village-voice-media-responds/ |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> Kristof responded, noting that ''The Voice'' did not dispute the column, but rather tried to show how the timeline in Kristof's original piece was inaccurate. In this rebuttal, he not only justified his original timeline, but expressed sadness "to see Village Voice Media become a major player in sex trafficking, and to see it use its journalists as attack dogs for those who threaten its corporate interests", noting another instance of ''The Village Voice'' attacking journalists reporting on Backpage's role in sex trafficking.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kristof |first1=Nick |title=Responding to Village Voice on Sex Trafficking [Opinion] |url=https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/responding-to-village-voice-on-sex-trafficking/ |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 18, 2019 |date=March 21, 2012}}</ref>
*2002 - Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award for Photography for Cartoon, "Tom the Dancing Bug" by Ken Fisher (Ruben Bolling)<ref name="aan2002" />

*2001 - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Mike Berger Award for "Life on the Outside" by Jennifer Gonnerman<ref name="berger2002" />
After repeated calls for a boycott of ''The Village Voice'', the company was sold to Voice Media Group.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/19/boycott-village-voice-senators-push-for-action-on-backpage-com |title=Boycott Village Voice? Senators Push for Action on Backpage.com |first=Kirsten |last=Powers |date=April 19, 2012 |via=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref>
*2001 - [[National Press Foundation]] Excellence in Online Journalism Award for www.villagevoice.com<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalpress.org/info-url3520/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=263665#Village%20Voice|title=The National Press Foundation - NPF Awards - 2001 Award Winner, VillageVoice.com|publisher=www.nationalpress.org|accessdate=2008-06-01|last=[[National Press Foundation]]}}</ref>

*2000 - [[Pulitzer Prize]] for International Reporting, for "AIDS: The Agony of Africa" by Mark Schoofs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2000/international-reporting/|title=2000 Pulitzer Prize Winners - INTERNATIONAL REPORTING|last=The Pulitzer Board|publisher=www.pulitzer.org|accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>
==See also==
*1986 - Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, Jules Feiffer<ref>{{cite news | last =Shaw | first =David | title =Denver Post Wins Pulitzer Three Other Newspapers Get Two Prizes Apiece | work =[[Los Angeles Times]] | page =1 | date = April 18, 1986 }}</ref>
* [[Gear (The Village Voice)|''Gear'' (''The Village Voice'')]]
*1981 - Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, Teresa Carpenter<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/year.pl?year=1981|title=The Pulitzer Prizes for 1981|publisher=www.pulitzer.org|last=The Pulitzer Board|accessdate=2008-06-01}}</ref>
* [[Media of New York City]]
*1960 - [[George Polk Award]] for Community Service<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/prev/prev60.html|title=The George Polk Awards for Journalism|publisher=www.brooklyn.liu.edu|accessdate=2008-06-01|last=[[Long Island University]]}}</ref>
* [[List of underground newspapers of the 1960s counterculture]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


{{seealso|Media of New York City}}
==Further reading==
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
{{refbegin}}

*{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/30/PKGM9DD1CB1.DTL|title=New Times|publisher=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=October 30, 2005|last=Chonin|first=Nina|page=PK-16}}
===Books===
* [[Amy Goodman|Goodman, Amy]]. [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/13/145245 ''Village Voice Shakeup: Top Investigative Journalist Fired, Prize-Winning Writers Resign Following Merger with New Times Media''], April 13, 2006. Listen in [http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2006/april/audio/dn20060413.ra&proto=rtsp&start=10:50 Real Player]. Download in [http://www.archive.org/download/dn2006-0413/dn2006-0413-1_64kb.mp3 MP3]. Watch in 128K [http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2006/april/video/dnB20060413a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=10:50 Real Player Video stream]. Read [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/13/145245#transcript transcript]. Host Amy Goodman interviews current and former staff [[James Ridgeway]] [[Nat Hentoff]], Tom Robbins, [[Sydney Schanberg]] and two reporters [[Mark Jacobson]] and [[Tim Redmond]].
* {{cite book|last=Frankfort|first=Ellen|url=https://archive.org/details/voicelifeatv00fran|title=The Voice: Life at the Village Voice, an Unauthorized Account|location= New York|publisher=William Morrow and Company|year=1976}}
* Jacobson, Mark. [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/media/features/14987/ ''The Voice from Beyond the Grave:The legendary downtown paper has been a shell of its former self since it went free nearly a decade ago. But a potty-mouthed new owner—from Phoenix, no less—vows to make it relevant again.''] ''[[New York Magazine]]''. November 14, 2005 issue. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
* {{cite book|last=McAuliffe|first=Kevin Michael|url=https://archive.org/details/voicelifeatv00fran|title=The Great American Newspaper: The Rise and Fall of the Village Voice|location= New York|publisher= [[Charles Scribner's Sons]]|isbn=978-0684156026|year=1978}}
* Murphy, Jarrett. [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0543,murphynews,69260,2.html ''Village Voice Media, New Times Announce Merger: Deal to combine two largest alt-weekly chains would require Justice Department approval'']. ''Village Voice'', October 24, 2005 issue. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
* {{cite book|author-link=Devon Powers|last=Powers|first= Devon|url=https://archive.org/details/writingrecordvil0000powe|title=Writing the Record: The Village Voice and the Birth of Rock Criticism|location=Amherst, Massachusetts|publisher= [[University of Massachusetts Press]]|date=2013}}
* Sherman, Gabriel. [http://www.nyobserver.com/20060424/20060424_Gabriel_Sherman_media_offtherecord.asp ''Can Village Voice Make It Without Its Lefty Zetz?'']. April 24, 2006 edition of ''The [[New York Observer]]'', p.&nbsp;1. Retrieved April 20, 2006.
* {{cite book|last=Romano|first= Tricia|title=The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture|publisher= [[PublicAffairs]]|isbn=978-1541736399|date=2024}}
* VanAirsdale, S.T. [http://www.thereeler.com/features/the_voice_in_the_wilderness.php ''The Voice in the Wilderness: A look inside the Village Voice's troubled film section reveals acrimony, disappointment -- and maybe even a future''] November 15, 2006 edition of ''The Reeler''. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
* {{cite book|editor-link=Geoffrey Stokes|editor-last=Stokes|editor-first= Geoffrey|url=https://archive.org/details/villagevoiceanth0000stok|title=The Village Voice Anthology (1956-1980): Twenty-five Years of Writing from the Village Voice|location=New York|publisher=William Morrow|date=1982}}
*Sisario, Ben. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/arts/music/30idol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bloggy: An Online Poll Covets the Territory Once Owned by Pazz & Jop], November 30, 2006 edition of [[The New York Times]].

===Articles===
* Carson, Tom. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180912155956/https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-voice-and-its-village-carson "''The Voice'' and Its Village."] ''[[The Baffler]]'', September 7, 2018.
* Chonin, Neva. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/30/PKGM9DD1CB1.DTL "New Times."] ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', October 30, 2005, p. PK-16.
* [[Amy Goodman|Goodman, Amy]], et al. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060803214428/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F04%2F13%2F145245 "Village Voice Shakeup: Top Investigative Journalist Fired, Prize-Winning Writers Resign Following Merger with New Times Media."] ''[[Democracy Now!]]'', April 13, 2006.
* Jacobson, Mark. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051124185457/http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/media/features/14987/ "The Voice from Beyond the Grave: The legendary downtown paper has been a shell of its former self since it went free nearly a decade ago. But a potty-mouthed new owner—from Phoenix, no less—vows to make it relevant again"]. ''[[New York Magazine]]'', November 14, 2005. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
* {{cite news |last1=Leland |first1=John |title=A Village Voice Reunion, and Nobody Got Punched |work=The New York Times |date=September 10, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/nyregion/village-voice-reunion.html |df=mdy-all }}
* Murphy, Jarrett. [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0543,murphynews,69260,2.html "Village Voice Media, New Times Announce Merger: Deal to combine two largest alt-weekly chains would require Justice Department approval."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220235636/http://villagevoice.com/news/0543,murphynews,69260,2.html |date=February 20, 2006 }} ''The Village Voice'', October 24, 2005. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
* O'Neil, Luke. [https://archive.today/20210210123111/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a57165/village-voice-oral-history/ "Generations of ''Village Voice'' Writers Reflect on the Paper Leaving the Honor Boxes."]''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'', April 23, 2017. Archived from [https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a57165/village-voice-oral-history/ the original.]
* [[PR Newswire]]. [http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/take-three-the-third-annual-village-voice-film-critics-poll-75236222.html "TAKE THREE: The Third Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll."] ''The Village Voice'', January 2, 2002.
* Sherman, Gabriel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060426062525/http://www.nyobserver.com/20060424/20060424_Gabriel_Sherman_media_offtherecord.asp ''Can Village Voice Make It Without Its Lefty Zetz?''] ''[[The New York Observer]]'', April 24, 2006, p.&nbsp;1. Retrieved April 20, 2006.
* Sisario, Ben. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/arts/music/30idol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bloggy: An Online Poll Covets the Territory Once Owned by Pazz & Jop."] ''The New York Times'', November 30, 2006.
* VanAirsdale, S. T. [http://www.thereeler.com/features/the_voice_in_the_wilderness.php "The Voice in the Wilderness: A look inside the Village Voice's troubled film section reveals acrimony, disappointment – and maybe even a future."] ''The Reeler'', November 15, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
{{refend}}
{{refend}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
* ''[http://www.villagevoice.com/ ''The Village Voice'']'' (official site)
{{Commons category|The Village Voice}}
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/ About Us - Our History] at official site
* {{Oweb|https://www.villagevoice.com/}}
* [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=KEtq3P1Vf8oC ''The Village Voice'' (digital archive)] at [[Google News]]


{{Authority control}}
{{Village Voice Media}}
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{{Coord|40.7283|-73.9911|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=title}}


[[Category:Newspapers published in New York City|Village Voice]]
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Latest revision as of 16:07, 6 December 2024

The Village Voice
TypeAlternative weekly
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Brian calle[1]
Founder(s)
FoundedOctober 26, 1955
Ceased publicationAugust 22, 2017 (2017-08-22)
RelaunchedApril 17, 2021 (2021-04-17)
Headquarters36 Cooper Square
New York City 10003
U.S.[2]
Circulation105,000 (as of 2017)[3]
ISSN0042-6180
Websitewww.villagevoice.com
The Cooper Square offices of the paper

The Village Voice is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly.[4] Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, The Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, The Voice reappeared in print as a quarterly in April 2021.[4]

The Village Voice has received three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award, and the George Polk Award. The Village Voice hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry, artist Greg Tate, music critic Robert Christgau, and film critics Andrew Sarris, Jonas Mekas, and J. Hoberman.

In October 2015, The Village Voice changed ownership and severed all ties with former parent company Voice Media Group (VMG).[5] The Voice announced on August 22, 2017, that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital venture, on a date to be announced.[6] The final printed edition, featuring a 1965 photo of Bob Dylan on the cover, was distributed on September 21, 2017.[7] After halting print publication in 2017, The Voice provided daily coverage through its website until August 31, 2018, when it announced it was ceasing production of new editorial content.[8] On December 23, 2020, editor R. C. Baker announced that the paper would resume publishing new articles both online and in a quarterly print edition.[9] In January 2021, new original stories began being published again on the website.[10] A spring print edition was released in April 2021.[11] The Voice's website continues to feature archival material related to current events.

History

[edit]

Early history

[edit]
Cover of the October 1955 issue

The Village Voice was launched by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf, and Norman Mailer[12] on October 26, 1955, from a two-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village; that was its initial coverage area, which expanded to other parts of the city by the 1960s. In 1960, it moved from 22 Greenwich Avenue to 61 Christopher Street in a landmark triangular corner building adjoining Sheridan Square, and a few feet west of the Stonewall Inn;[13] then, from the 1970s through 1980, at 11th Street and University Place; and then Broadway and 13th Street. It moved to Cooper Square in the East Village in 1991, and in 2013, to the Financial District.[14]

Early columnists of the 1950s and 1960s included Jonas Mekas, who explored the underground film movement in his "Film Journal" column; Linda Solomon, who reviewed the Village club scene in the "Riffs" column; and Sam Julty, who wrote a popular column on car ownership and maintenance. John Wilcock wrote a column every week for the paper's first ten years. Another regular from that period was the cartoonist Kin Platt, who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included Peter Schjeldahl, Ellen Willis, Jill Johnston, Tom Carson, and Richard Goldstein. Staff of The Voice joined a union, the Distributive Workers of America, in 1977.[15]

For more than 40 years, Wayne Barrett was the newspaper's muckraker, covering New York real estate developers and politicians, including Donald Trump. The material continued to be a valuable resource for reporters covering the Trump presidency.[8]

The Voice has published investigations of New York City politics, as well as reporting on national politics, with arts, culture, music, dance, film, and theater reviews. Writers and cartoonists for The Voice have received three Pulitzer Prizes: in 1981 (Teresa Carpenter, for feature writing),[16] 1986 (Jules Feiffer, for editorial cartooning)[17] and 2000 (Mark Schoofs, for international reporting).[18] The paper has, almost since its inception, recognized alternative theater in New York through its Obie Awards.[19] The paper's "Pazz & Jop" music poll, started by Robert Christgau in the early 1970s, is released annually and remains an influential survey of the nation's music critics. In 1999, film critic J. Hoberman and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar Village Voice Film Poll for the year in film. In 2001, The Voice sponsored its first music festival, Siren Festival, a free annual event every summer held at Coney Island. The event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan in 2011, and was re-christened the "4knots Music Festival", a reference to the speed of the East River's current.[20]

During the 1980s and onward, The Voice was known for its staunch support for gay rights, and it published an annual Gay Pride issue every June. However, early in its history, the newspaper had a reputation as having a homophobic slant. While reporting on the Stonewall riots of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as "The Great Faggot Rebellion".[21] Two reporters, Howard Smith and Lucian Truscott IV, both used the words "faggot" and "dyke" in their articles about the riots. (These words were not commonly used by homosexuals to refer to each other at this time.) Smith and Truscott retrieved their press cards from The Voice offices, which were very close to the bar, as the trouble began; they were among the first journalists to record the event, Smith being trapped inside the bar with the police, and Truscott reporting from the street.[22] After the riot, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) attempted to promote dances for gays and lesbians in The Voice, but were not allowed to use the words "gay" or "homosexual", which the newspaper considered derogatory. The newspaper changed its policy after the GLF petitioned it to do so.[23] Over time, The Voice changed its stance, and, in 1982, became the second organization in the US known to have extended domestic partner benefits. Jeff Weinstein, an employee of the paper and shop steward for the publishing local of District 65 UAW, negotiated and won agreement in the union contract to extend health, life insurance, and disability benefits to the "spouse equivalents" of its union members.[24]

The Voice's competitors in New York City include The New York Observer and Time Out New York. Seventeen alternative weeklies around the United States are owned by The Voice's former parent company Village Voice Media. The film section writers and editors also produced a weekly Voice Film Club podcast.[25]

In 1996, after decades of carrying a cover price, The Voice switched from a paid weekly to a free, alternative weekly. The Voice website was a recipient of the National Press Foundation's Online Journalism Award in 2001[26] and the Editor & Publisher EPpy Award for Best Overall U.S. Newspaper Online Service – Weekly, Community, Alternative & Free in 2003.[27]

In 2005, the Phoenix alternative weekly chain New Times Media purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. Previous owners of The Village Voice or of Village Voice Media have included co-founders Fancher[28] and Wolf,[12] New York City Councilman Carter Burden,[12] New York magazine founder Clay Felker, Rupert Murdoch, and Leonard Stern of the Hartz Mountain empire.

Acquisition by New Times Media

[edit]

After The Village Voice was acquired by New Times Media in 2005, the publication's key personnel changed. The Voice was then managed by two journalists from Phoenix, Arizona.

In April 2006, The Voice dismissed music editor Chuck Eddy.[29] Four months later, the newspaper sacked longtime music critic Robert Christgau. In January 2007, the newspaper fired sex columnist and erotica author Rachel Kramer Bussel; long-term creative director Ted Keller, art director Minh Oung, fashion columnist Lynn Yaeger and Deputy Art Director LD Beghtol were laid off or fired soon afterward. Editor in chief Donald Forst resigned in December 2005. Doug Simmons, his replacement, was sacked in March 2006 after it was discovered that a reporter had fabricated portions of an article. Simmons' successor, Erik Wemple, resigned after two weeks. His replacement, David Blum, was fired in March 2007. Tony Ortega then held the position of editor in chief from 2007 to 2012.

The sacking of Nat Hentoff, who worked for the paper from 1958 to 2008, led to further criticism of the management by some of its current writers, Hentoff himself, and by The Voice's ideological rival paper National Review, which referred to Hentoff as a "treasure".[30][31] At the end of 2011, Wayne Barrett, who had written for the paper since 1973, was laid off. Fellow muckraking investigative reporter Tom Robbins then resigned in solidarity.[32]

Voice Media Group

[edit]

Following a scandal concerning The Village Voice's editorial attack on a Backpage sex trafficking exposé, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders in September 2012, and formed the Denver-based Voice Media Group.[33]

In May 2013, The Village Voice editor Will Bourne and deputy editor Jessica Lustig told The New York Times that they were quitting the paper rather than executing further staff layoffs.[34] Both had been recent appointments. By then, The Voice had employed five editors since 2005. Following Bourne's and Lustig's departure, Village Media Group management fired three of The Voice's longest-serving contributors: gossip and nightlife columnist Michael Musto, restaurant critic Robert Sietsema, and theater critic Michael Feingold, all of whom had been writing for the paper for decades.[35][36][37] Feingold was rehired as a writer for The Village Voice in January 2016.[38] Michael Musto was also rehired in 2016 and wrote cover stories regarding subjects like Oscar scandals and Madonna's body of work. Musto returned again to write features in 2021 under new publisher Brian Calle.[citation needed]

In July 2013, Voice Media Group executives named Tom Finkel as editor.[39]

Peter Barbey ownership and construction

[edit]

Peter Barbey, through the privately owned investment company Black Walnut Holdings LLC, purchased The Village Voice from Voice Media Group in October 2015.[40] Barbey is a member of one of America's wealthiest families.[41] The family has had ownership interest in the Reading Eagle, a daily newspaper serving the city of Reading, Pennsylvania and the surrounding region, for many years. Barbey serves as president and CEO of the Reading Eagle Company, and holds the same roles at The Village Voice. After taking over ownership of The Voice, Barbey named Joe Levy, formerly of Rolling Stone, as interim editor in chief,[42] and Suzan Gursoy, formerly of Ad Week, as publisher.[43] In December 2016, Barbey named Stephen Mooallem, formerly of Harper's Bazaar, as editor in chief.[44] Mooallem resigned in May 2018, and was not replaced before the publication's shutdown.[8]

Under the Barbey ownership, advertisements for escort agencies and phone sex services came to an end.[8]

On August 31, 2018, it was announced that the Village Voice would cease production and lay off half of its staff. The remaining staff would be kept on for a limited period for archival projects.[45][46][47] An August 31 piece by freelancer Steven Wishnia was hailed as the last article to be published on the website.[8] Two weeks after the Village Voice ceased operations on September 13, co-founder John Wilcock died in California at the age of 91.

Return to print

[edit]

In January 2021, a new original story — the first one in two-and-a-half years — was published on the website of The Village Voice.[48] On April 17, 2021, the Spring 2021 issue of The Village Voice appeared in news boxes and on newsstands for the first time since 2018. At the time, The Village Voice was a quarterly publication.[4]

Contributors

[edit]

The Voice has published columns and works by writers such as Ezra Pound, Henry Miller, Barbara Garson, Katherine Anne Porter, James Baldwin, E.E. Cummings, Nat Hentoff, staff writer and author Ted Hoagland, Colson Whitehead, Tom Stoppard, Paul Lukas, Lorraine Hansberry, Lester Bangs, Allen Ginsberg and Joshua Clover. Former editors have included Clay Felker.

The newspaper has also been a host to underground cartoonists. In addition to mainstay Jules Feiffer, whose cartoon ran for decades in the paper until its cancellation in 1996, well-known cartoonists featured in the paper have included R. Crumb, Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, Stan Mack, Mark Alan Stamaty, Ted Rall, Tom Tomorrow, Ward Sutton, Ruben Bolling and M. Wartella.

Backpage sex trafficking

[edit]

Backpage was a classified advertisement website owned by the same parent company as The Village Voice. In 2012, Nicholas Kristof wrote an article in The New York Times detailing a young woman's account of being sold on Backpage.[49] The Village Voice released an article entitled "What Nick Kristof Got Wrong" accusing Kristof of fabricating the story and ignoring journalistic standards.[50] Kristof responded, noting that The Voice did not dispute the column, but rather tried to show how the timeline in Kristof's original piece was inaccurate. In this rebuttal, he not only justified his original timeline, but expressed sadness "to see Village Voice Media become a major player in sex trafficking, and to see it use its journalists as attack dogs for those who threaten its corporate interests", noting another instance of The Village Voice attacking journalists reporting on Backpage's role in sex trafficking.[51]

After repeated calls for a boycott of The Village Voice, the company was sold to Voice Media Group.[52]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Robertson, Katie (December 22, 2020). "The Village Voice Rises From the Dead". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "About Us". Villagevoice.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "Newspapers by County". New York Press Association. 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Robertson, Katie (April 19, 2021). "The Village Voice Returns, and It's 'Very Village Voice-y'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  5. ^ Pompeo, Joe (October 12, 2015), "Village Voice sold to new owner", Politico. Archived August 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ Leland, John, and Sarah Maslin Nir (August 22, 2017), "After 62 Years and Many Battles, Village Voice Will End Print Publication", The New York Times. Archived August 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ Helmore, Edward (September 21, 2017). "The Village Voice prints its final edition – with Bob Dylan on the cover". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Pager, Tyler; Peiserr, Jaclyn (August 31, 2018). "The Village Voice, a New York Icon, Closes". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  9. ^ Baker, R. C. (December 23, 2020). "65 Years and Counting". villagevoice.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  10. ^ Sennott, Will (January 18, 2021). "Dispatches From the Divide: Michigan's No-Shows". villagevoice.com. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  11. ^ Musto, Michael (April 17, 2021). "Nomadland! Judas! Minari! Who's Getting the Oscar and Why It Still Matters". villagevoice.com.
  12. ^ a b c Lawrence van Gelder, Dan Wolf, 80, a Village Voice Founder, Dies Archived February 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, April 12, 1996. Accessed online June 2, 2008.
  13. ^ "The Voice Makes a Move in 1960". villagevoice.com. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  14. ^ Ladies and Gentlemen, The Village Voice Has Left The Village Archived September 17, 2013, at Wikiwix, Bedford + Bowery. Accessed online September 16, 2013.
  15. ^ "Village Voice Employees Vote To Join a Local of District 65". The New York Times. July 1, 1977. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  16. ^ The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1981 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.
  17. ^ The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 1986 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.
  18. ^ The Pulitzer Prize Winners, 2000 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, official Pulitzer Prize site. Accessed online June 5, 2008.
  19. ^ [1] Archived December 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ Johnston, Maura (April 14, 2011). "Maura Johnston, "Announcing The 4Knots Music Festival, Taking Place This July 16", The Village Voice Blogs, April 14, 2011". Blogs.villagevoice.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  21. ^ Spencer, Walter Troy (July 10, 1969). "Too Much My Dear". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 18, 2015 – via Google News.
  22. ^ "Stonewall at 40: The Voice Articles That Sparked a Final Night of Rioting". villagevoice.com. June 24, 2009. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  23. ^ Carter, David (May 25, 2010). Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution. New York City: St. Martin's Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0312671938.
  24. ^ "DomesticPartners". February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  25. ^ "iTunes – Podcasts – Voice Film Club by The Village Voice". Itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  26. ^ Excellence in Online Journalism Award: Past Winners 2000–2006 Archived February 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, NPF Awards, National Press Foundation. Accessed online June 2, 2008.
  27. ^ "royal.reliaserve.com". Royal.reliaserve.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  28. ^ "Edwin Fancher Oral History – On founding the Voice". Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  29. ^ Sisario, Ben (November 30, 2006). "Idolator and Pazz & Jop Polls - Report". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  30. ^ "Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others Archived January 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine". The New York Times, December 30, 2008.
  31. ^ Kathryn Jean Lopez, "The Village Voice Archived January 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine". National Review, December 31, 2008.
  32. ^ Peters, Jeremy W. (January 5, 2011). "2 Veterans Leave Village Voice". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  33. ^ "Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company". Tech Crunch. September 24, 2012. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  34. ^ Carr, David (May 10, 2013). "Top Editors Abruptly Leave Village Voice Over Staff Cuts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  35. ^ Hallock, Betty (May 17, 2013). "Village Voice 'bloodbath' sends restaurant critic Robert Sietsema packing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013.
  36. ^ Kassel, Matthew; Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (May 17, 2013). "Longtime writers out at The Village Voice". New York Observer. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013.
  37. ^ Simonson, Robert (May 20, 2013). "Michael Feingold, longtime critic, let go from Village Voice". Playbill. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013.
  38. ^ Feingold, Michael (January 12, 2016). "'My Second Fifteen Minutes': Michael Feingold Returns to the Village Voice". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  39. ^ "Tom Finkel Named as Editor of the Village Voice". Blogs.villagevoice.com. July 8, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  40. ^ Santora, Marc (October 12, 2015). "Village Voice Sold to Peter Barbey, Owner of a Pennsylvania Newspaper". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  41. ^ Dolan, Karen A.; Kroll, Luisa (July 1, 2015). "America's Richest Families #48 Barbey family". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  42. ^ "Village Voice Taps Joe Levy as Interim EIC". www.adweek.com. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  43. ^ "Village Voice hires new publisher ahead of 'extensive relaunch'". Politico Media. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  44. ^ Ember, Sydney (December 5, 2016). "The Village Voice Names a New Top Editor, Again". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  45. ^ Darcy, Oliver. "The Village Voice folds after more than 60 years". CNN Business. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  46. ^ "Groundbreaking Alternative Paper Village Voice Shuts Down". NBC 10 Philadelphia. August 31, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
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  48. ^ "Dispatches From the Divide: Michigan's No-Shows | The Village Voice". www.villagevoice.com. January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  49. ^ Kristof, Nick (March 17, 2012). "Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  50. ^ What Nick Kristof Got Wrong: Village Voice Media Responds, November 18, 2003, archived from the original on November 15, 2017, retrieved May 17, 2019
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  52. ^ Powers, Kirsten (April 19, 2012). "Boycott Village Voice? Senators Push for Action on Backpage.com" – via The Daily Beast.

Further reading

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Books

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Articles

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40°43′42″N 73°59′28″W / 40.7283°N 73.9911°W / 40.7283; -73.9911