The pioneering alternative newspaper The Village Voice will officially be shutting its doors after years of financial struggles. This comes a little over year after the formerly weekly newspaper closed its print edition back on August 22, 2018.
Peter Barbey, the owner of The Village Voice told the remaining staff that they will no longer be publishing anymore stories on their website. About half of the staff have been let go after this announcement, while the remaining staff of about 15 to 20 people will remain on the payroll to archive the publication’s materials.
“Today is kind of a sucky day,” Barbey explained to the staff, according to audio obtained by Gothamist. “Due to, basically, business realities, we’re going to stop publishing Village Voice new material.”
Since its inception, The Village Voice has had a number of different owners including New York magazine, Rupert Murdoch, Leonard Stern and New Times Media, which eventually became Village Voice Media. Barbey, whose family owns The Reading Eagle in addition to shares in various textiles industries, purchased the struggling paper in 2015 and promised to pour investments into it.
“In recent years, the Voice has been subject to the increasingly harsh economic realities(sic) facing those creating journalism and written media,” Barbey described, regarding the paper’s financial troubles. “Like many others in publishing, we were continually optimistic that relief was around the next corner. Where stability for our business is, we do not know yet. The only thing that is clear now is that we have not reached that destination.”
Despite this announcement, the publication’s future is still uncertain, as Barbey has stated that he’s been working on trying to sell the publication for months. Barbey has also stated that the closure is “something we have to do—for some of them this is something we’d have to do before they could talk to us any further.”
Launching on to the scene in 1955, The Village Voice was founded by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer as an outlet for the burgeoning creative community in New York City. The publication became known as the nation’s first alternative newspaper forgoing the typical news coverage of its time in favor of more stylistic reporting; focusing on individuals, local culture and investigations into controversial topics.
Since its founding the publication has hosted a variety of well-renowned talent including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry and pioneering music critic Robert Christgau. Its accolades include three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award and the George Polk Award.
Christgau launched the annual Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll in 1971, which became one of the leading music polls for critics across the world. In 2011 it also launched the inaugural 4kots music festival in New York City.
“The Voice has been a key element of New York City journalism and is read around the world. As the first modern alternative newspaper, it literally defined a new genre of publishing,” Barbey explained in a statement.”The Voice has connected multiple generations to local and national news, music, art, theater, film, politics and activism, and showed us that its idealism could be a way of life.”
Read Barbey’s full statement below:
This is a sad day for The Village Voice and for millions of readers. The Voice has been a key element of New York City journalism and is read around the world. As the first modern alternative newspaper, it literally defined a new genre of publishing. As the Voice evolved over the years, its writers, editors, reporters, reviewers, contributors, photographers, artists and staff were united by the idea that the they spoke for and fought hard for those that believed in a better New York City and a better world. The Voice has connected multiple generations to local and national news, music, art, theater, film, politics and activism, and showed us that it’s idealism could be a way of life.
In recent years, the Voice has been subject to the increasingly harsh economic realities facing those creating journalism and written media. Like many others in publishing, we were continually optimistic that relief was around the next corner. Where stability for our business is, we do not know yet. The only thing that is clear now is that we have not reached that destination.
The Village Voice was created to give speed to a cultural and social revolution, and its legacy and the voices that created that legacy are still relevant today. Perhaps more than ever. Its archives are an indispensable chronicle of history and social progress. Although the Voice will not continue publishing, we are dedicated to ensuring that its legacy will endure to inspire more generations of readers and writers to give even more speed to those same goals.
We have begun working to ensure that the enormous print archive of The Village Voice is made digitally accessible. I began my involvement with the Voice intending to ensure its future. While this is not the outcome I’d hoped for and worked towards, a fully digitized Voice archive will offer coming generations a chance to experience for themselves what is clearly one of this city’s and this country’s social and cultural treasures.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone who pulled together to attempt create a new future for The Village Voice. Their passion and perseverance have inspired me. I will always be humbled by the grit they’ve shown and the dedication they have displayed
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