''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. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, 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. ''The Village Voice'' has received three

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

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 Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

, cartoonist Lynda Barry, artist Greg Tate, music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, 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). ''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. 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. . The final printed edition, featuring a 1965 photo of Bob Dylan on the cover, was distributed on September 21, 2017. 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. 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. In January 2021, new original stories began being published again on the website. A spring print edition was released in April 2021. ''The Voice'' website continues to feature archival material related to current events.

History

Early history

''The Village Voice'' was launched by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf, and

Lawrence van Gelder
Dan Wolf, 80, a Village Voice Founder, Dies
, The New York Times, April 12, 1996. Accessed online June 2, 2008. 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; 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. 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 Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

, 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 Jill Johnston (May 17, 1929 – September 18, 2010) was a British-born American feminist author and cultural critic who wrote '' Lesbian Nation'' in 1973 and was a longtime writer for ''The Village Voice''. She was also a leader of the lesbian ...

, Tom Carson, and Richard Goldstein. Staff of ''The Voice'' joined a union, the

Distributive Workers of America The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...

, in 1977. For more than 40 years, Wayne Barrett was the newspaper's

muckraker The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

, 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. ''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

s: in 1981 ( Teresa Carpenter, for feature writing), 1986 ( Jules Feiffer, for editorial cartooning) and 2000 (

Mark Schoofs Mark Schoofs is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and was the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News. He is also a visiting professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Biography After graduating magna cum laud ...

, for international reporting). The paper has, almost since its inception, recognized alternative theater in New York through its Obie Awards. The paper's " Pazz & Jop" music poll, started by

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 Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

. The event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan in 2011, and was re-christened the "

4knots Village Voice 4knots Music Festival (commonly known as 4knots), is a free, family friendly, one day music festival held in New York City. Launched in 2011, the festival features indie rock artists. It is produced by the weekly paper and news site, ...

Music Festival", a reference to the speed of the East River's current. During the 1980s and onward, ''The Voice'' was known for its staunch support for

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

, 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 The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as "The Great Faggot Rebellion". Two reporters, Howard Smith and Lucian Truscott IV, both used the words "

faggot Faggot, faggots, or faggoting may refer to: Arts and crafts * Faggoting (metalworking), forge welding a bundle of bars of iron and steel * Faggoting (knitting), variation of lace knitting in which every stitch is a yarn over or a decrease * F ...

" and "

dyke Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, ...

" 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. 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. 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. ''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. 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 and the ''

Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry." Originally based in New York City, ...

'' EPpy Award for Best Overall U.S. Newspaper Online Service – Weekly, Community, Alternative & Free in 2003. 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, New York City Councilman

Carter Burden Shirley Carter Burden Jr. (August 25, 1941 – January 23, 1996) was an American politician who served in the New York City Council from 1970 to 1977. He was a great-great-great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. Burden received his B. ...

, ''New York'' magazine founder Clay Felker, Rupert Murdoch, and Leonard Stern of the Hartz Mountain empire.

Acquisition by New Times Media

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. Four months later, the newspaper sacked longtime music critic

. In January 2007, the newspaper fired sex columnist and erotica author Rachel Kramer Bussel; long-term creative director

Ted Keller TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

, art director Minh Oung, fashion columnist

Lynn Yaeger Lynn Yaeger is a contributing fashion editor to Vogue.com and a contributing writer to ''Vogue''. She is a former fashion reporter for ''The Village Voice'', having worked for the paper for 30 years. Her column, "Elements of Style", was renamed " ...

and Deputy Art Director LD Beghtol were laid off or fired soon afterward.

Editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

Donald Forst Donald H. Forst (July 3, 1932 – January 4, 2014) was an American newspaper editor who worked for a variety of newspapers, mostly in New York, and headed ''New York Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''The Boston Herald''. Early life and e ...

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 Anthony "Tony" Ortega is an American journalist and editor who is best known for his daily blog about the Church of Scientology called ''The Underground Bunker''. He was executive editor of ''The Raw Story'' from 2013 until 2015. Previously, ...

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".Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others
". The New York Times, December 30, 2008. 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.

Voice Media Group

Following a scandal concerning ''The Village Voice'''s editorial attack on a

Backpage was a classified advertising website founded in 2004 by the alternative newspaper chain New Times Inc./New Times Media (later known as Village Voice Media or VVM) as a rival to Craigslist. Similar to Craigslist, Backpage let users post ads t ...

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. 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. 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. Feingold was rehired as a writer for ''The Village Voice'' in January 2016. 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. In July 2013, Voice Media Group executives named Tom Finkel as editor.

Peter Barbey ownership and construction

Peter Barbey Peter D. Barbey (born 1957/58) is an American publisher, chief executive officer (CEO) and president at Reading Eagle Company, which owns the '' Reading Eagle'' newspaper and the WEEU 830 AM radio station, both based in Reading, Pennsylvania. B ...

, through the privately owned investment company Black Walnut Holdings LLC, purchased ''The Village Voice'' from Voice Media Group in October 2015. Barbey is a member of one of America's wealthiest families. The family has had ownership interest in the ''

Reading Eagle The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pe ...

'', 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, and Suzan Gursoy, formerly of '' Ad Week'', as publisher. In December 2016, Barbey named Stephen Mooallem, formerly of ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', as editor in chief. Mooallem resigned in May 2018, and was not replaced before the publication's shutdown. Under the Barbey ownership, advertisements for

escort agencies An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's ...

and

phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied ...

services came to an end. 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. An August 31 piece by freelancer Steven Wishnia was hailed as the last article to be published on the website. 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

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''. 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.

Contributors

''The Voice'' has published columns and works by writers such as

, Henry Miller,

Barbara Garson Barbara Garson (born July 7, 1941, Brooklyn) is an American playwright, author and social activist, perhaps best known for the play '' MacBird!'' Education and personal life Garson attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she e ...

, Katherine Anne Porter,

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

E.E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

, Nat Hentoff, staff writer and author

Ted Hoagland Edward Hoagland (born December 21, 1932) is an American author best known for his nature and travel writing. Life Hoagland was born in New York, New York and attended Harvard University. He joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus i ...

, 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 Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

, Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, Stan Mack, Mark Alan Stamaty, Ted Rall, Tom Tomorrow, Ward Sutton, Ruben Bolling and

M. Wartella Michael M. Wartella (born August 19, 1976) is an American underground cartoonist, animator, writer and director based in New York City, generally publishing under the name M. Wartella or just Wartella. He is best known for his work in ''The Vil ...

Backpage sex trafficking

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. ''The Village Voice'' released an article entitled "What Nick Kristof Got Wrong" accusing Kristof of fabricating the story and ignoring journalistic standards. 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. After repeated calls for a boycott of ''The Village Voice'', the company was sold to Voice Media Group.

References

External links

''The Village Voice''
Official site.
''The Village Voice'' (digital archive)
at

Google News Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google rel ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Village Voice 1955 establishments in New York City 2018 disestablishments in New York (state) Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers published in New York City Greenwich Village Newspapers established in 1955 Online newspapers with defunct print editions Publications disestablished in 2018