Village Voice Under New Ownership; Cuts Ties With Backpage.com

There’s news to report on the who’s-paying-our-salary front: The Village Voice is now under new ownership.

Our parent company, Village Voice Media, has been sold to a group of the company’s editors and publishers in a deal that includes the Voice and our 12 sister publications across the country. The deal does not include Backpage.com, which was previously owned by VVM, but will now be a separate company with separate owners.

The new company is called Voice Media Group, and will be headed by Chief
Executive Officer Scott Tobias, who previously was VVM’s chief
operating officer. Christine Brennan, executive
managing editor of VVM for the past 19 years, will become executive
editor, and Jeff Mars, vice president of financial operations at VVM,
will become chief financial officer.

“Voice Media Group will center its attention on the growth of the
renowned weekly publications and continue its expansion into new and
exciting mobile and online platforms,” Tobias says. “We are focused on
building a dynamic media business that allows our advertisers to target
local audiences through multiple platforms. We will continue to offer
advertisers a national footprint with hyper-local reach, and we will
continue to provide high-caliber and comprehensive content to our
readers.”

In a letter to staff announcing the sale, VVM Executive Editor
Mike Lacey says he and business partner Jim Larkin “never wished to be
the last ones at this remarkable party.”

“We started the company’s first weekly, Phoenix New Times, in
1970 as a protest over the war in Vietnam and in reaction against the
mainstream media,” Lacey says. “Nothing about our
attitude has changed.”

Our new owners share that attitude and pledge a commitment to the intense local coverage and hard-hitting investigative journalism for which the Voice is known.