New owner for New York's Voice

The Village Voice, one of the last bastions of the anti-establishment press in New York City, is selling out.

The staunchly liberal weekly yesterday announced that it is being taken over by New Times Media, the publisher of 11 "alternative" titles in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. The deal creates a company with annual revenues of around $180m.

The move has raised concerns within the Voice about its ability to keep its leftwing credentials as part of a nationwide corporation. This week the paper co-founded by Norman Mailer will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Greenwich Village in New York, the paper's spiritual home and once the heart of US counter-culture, succumbed to gentrification long ago.

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Critics of the deal, which has been rumoured for months, note that New Times Media titles tend to be more apolitical than the Voice, despite their alternative credentials. In a memo to staff, David Schneiderman, the Voice's chief executive, tried to calm speculation raging among the paper's notoriously feisty staff. "I am sure most of you are aware of the bizarre charge that this merger will mark the end of alternative journalism. Nothing could be farther from the truth."

In 1977 the Voice was acquired by Rupert Murdoch who tried to force out the then editor Marianne Partridge but backed down when staff threatened to walk out. He sold it in 1985. "[Murdoch] once said to me that he could not understand how a bunch of communists could manage a paper so well," Mr Schneiderman said.

The combined company will be called Village Voice Media. No cash is changing hands: New Times will own 62% of the equity and Village Voice the remaining 38%.

Source: Guardian Unlimited