1984

Editor in Chief David Schneiderman suspends Alexander Cockburn, political columnist and press critic, without pay for accepting a $10,000 grant from an Arab studies organization in 1982, a conflict of interest. Cockburn was later invited to return, but declined. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA is named best album and Prince's "When Doves Cry" is named best single in the Pazz & Jop Music Critic's poll. Fool for Love wins Obie Award for best new American Play, Sam Shepard wins best direction. The Village Voice appoints Kit Rachlis as managing editor. The Village Voice launches a weekly radio show on WMCA Radio, 570 AM, hosted by Teri Whitcraft who will read several Voice personal ads and discuss them on the air with the people who placed them. The MTV Video Music Awards makes its debut at Radio City Music Hall. Madonna shocks viewers by performing a suggestive rendition of "Like A Virgin" wearing a combination bustier-wedding gown. Michael Musto's "La Dolce Musto" debuts. Bernard Goetz, the "subway vigilante," becomes a symbol of frustration over city crime after he shoots four youths who try to rob him on a Bronx subway. Goetz is seen by some as a hero in a climate where the police are viewed as ineffective in combating crime. He later serves eight months in prison, and was recently a candidate in the 2005 race for Public Advocate. Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney, tells the story of a 1980s Manhattan yuppie's downward spiral when he's forced to deal with his mother's death and his growing drug habit. The Village Voice mourns the passing of Alexander Bell, a columnist from 1976 to 1984.