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Village Voice Goes Digital; Ceases Print Edition After 60 Years

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On Tuesday, the Village Voice announced that it will be terminating its free print edition. The longtime fixture of New York City street corners will be moving its presence entirely online, marking the end of an era. As reported by the NY Post, the alt-weekly paper, co-founded in 1955 by Norman Mailer, will follow their ads and classifieds, which have funded the paper, as they shift onto the web.

The change means layoffs “in the near future”, admitted a spokeswoman, though she did not specify how many.  Nor has any explicit end date been given. According to owner Peter Barbey, the media outlet will continue “exploring some exciting new opportunities related to its archives” and “potential partnership opportunities” similar to the well-received Pride Awards that it launched this year. It will also continue to present the Obie Awards for Off-Broadway theater.

“When The Village Voice was converted into a free weekly in an effort to boost circulation back in 1996, it was at a time when Craigslist was in its infancy, Google and Facebook weren’t yet glimmers in the eyes of their founders, and alternative weeklies — and newspapers everywhere — were still packed with classified advertising,” said Barbey.

“That business has moved online — and so has the Voice’s audience, which expects us to do what we do not just once a week, but every day, across a range of media, from words and pictures to podcasts, video and even other forms of print publishing.”

As one of the earliest alternative news weeklies in the U.S., the village voice was iconic. It was well known for its investigative reporting and pioneering cultural criticism. The paper propelled the writing careers of Wayne Barrett, Robert Christgau and Molly Haskell. The publication has been selected to receive three Pulitzer Prizes.

Following the universal collapse of print advertising, the company tried to fill the void with escort ads which were considered offensive, leading to criticism and repercussions.

Barbey, who purchased the media outlet from the Voice Media Group in 2015, relaunched the paper and Web site. He is also CEO of Reading Eagle Company, which contains the Reading Eagle newspaper, and the WEEU 830 AM radio station. The Barbey family is the 48th wealthiest in the country, as per Fortune Magazine. Barbey is one of the heirs to the VF Corporation which includes The North Face, The Timberland Company, and Lee jeans.

By:  Benyamin Davidsons

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