Two of the largest alternative newspaper chains in the United States have decide to merge. New Times Media is buying Village Voice Media to create a company of 17 publications. The new company will have a combined weekly circulation of 1.8 million papers and 4.3 million weekly readers. The merger process is expected to be completed in early 2006.
The new company will retain the Village Voice Media name and be run by two top executives of New Times Media. The deal, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Village Voice, is being structured as an acquisition of the Village Voice and its five sister newspapers. New Times shareholders will own 62 per cent of the new company and Village Voice shareholders the remaining 38 per cent.
New Times CEO Jim Larkin will run the new company, while New Times executive editor Michael Lacey will be executive editor. Village Voice CEO David Schneiderman will be president of Village Voice Digital. Village Voice papers will join New Times' national advertising sales agency Ruxton Media Group. The company is expected to have a combined revenue of about $180 million.
The merger will require approval of the justice department on antitrust grounds, since the combined company would control about 14 per cent of the circulation of the major alternative weeklies nationwide. The department has clashed with the companies earlier. In 2002, New Times agreed to close its Los Angeles paper, which competed with Village Voice Media's LA Weekly, in exchange for the Voice shutting down its Cleveland paper, which competed with New Times's Cleveland Scene.
"Together, New Times and Village Voice Media create a truly national media company with highly desirable demographics, geographic diversity and a unique print and Internet platform that is poised for tremendous growth," said Larkin. "Alternative publications today, particularly those owned by New Times and the Village Voice, have become the definitive voices for ideas and information for young, progressive readers."
"This merger combines two recognised leaders in alternative media with strong reputations for editorial quality, award-winning publications, strong brand equity and a deep community presence," said Schneiderman. "The Village Voice and New Times were pioneers in establishing a voice for alternative media, as we were both born from a desire to create a venue for high-spirited, innovative public debate, and we believe this merger makes perfect sense for both companies."
Howard Kurtz, media columnist at the Washington Post, described the merger as "a giant step towards the corporatisation of the alternative news world." Kurtz wrote, "Despite their liberal, anti-establishment pedigree, alternative weeklies such as New Times and Village Voice long ago became big business. They are free and stuffed with music and arts coverage, they rake in piles of cash from entertainment ads and personal classifieds. Village Voice Media is owned by a consortium of investment banks that beat out New Times five years ago."
The Village Voice, which now owns five papers in addition to its New York City flagship, was founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and novelist Norman Mailer and quickly established a reputation for no-holds-barred reporting and criticism. The New York paper has received three Pulitzer Prizes and the George Polk Award. New Times was founded in 1970 by Lacey and others at Arizona State University. From the beginning, it emphasised strong writing and solid reporting of local issues along with cutting-edge cultural coverage.
"I think they're committed to uncovering wrongdoing," Jane Levine, former publisher of the Chicago Reader, told the Boston Phoenix (of New Times) last month. "It is generally accepted that they don't have a political position. But I think it's pretty clear that they're bulldogs about uncovering corporate or governmental malfeasance."
