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"I'm trying not to worry about all that crap on Gawker," said Tony Ortega, the newly named editor in chief of the Village Voice. "I don't feel it reflects the people and the work there."

On Mar. 4, two days after the previous editor in chief, David Blum, was fired, Village Voice Media boss Michael Lacey called Ortega up and offered him the job. Despite four editors' worth of turnover since January 2006, when New Times purchased the paper and took the Village Voice Media name, Ortega decided to accept.

"Why would I hesitate?" Ortega asked. "It's the Village Voice. It's a terrific newspaper with a storied past, and what journalist wouldn't want to do it?"

"I'm sure this will be criticized since I'm not a New Yorker," said Ortega. Ortega said he's looking forward to learning from the Voice's staff.

What about his relationship with Lacey, who's often accused of micromanaging the newspaper from Phoenix?

"I never really had that problem with him," said Ortega. "I've always had complete freedom to do what I wanted." Ortega has worked for Lacey at multiple New Times papers, most recently as the top editor at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

He will greet his new staff on Friday, Mar. 9.

"I'm a half-Mexican kid from L.A. without New York experience," Ortega said. "We'll just see."

-Michael Calderone

Tony Ortega, 43, has been named editor of the Village Voice. The hiring comes the first business day after Friday's firing of Village Voice editor David Blum.

Ortega is an 11-year veteran of Village Voice Media, the paper's parent company--specifically, of the New Times chain, which merged with the Voice chain in January 2006, taking the Voice name.

He was previously editor of New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

-Michael Calderone

"When eight people are laid off from an institution, it's not a happy day," said David Blum, incoming editor-in-chief of the Village Voice.

Blum was on the phone after a meeting with staff at the newspaper's Cooper Square office. Last week, his superiors-to-be at Village Voice Media dismissed eight staffers from the weekly paper. Today, six days before his official Sept. 12 start date, Blum told the remaining staff that no more layoffs were in the works, and that any future dismissals would go through him, according to a staffer present at the meeting.

"I felt it was important for them to hear from me," Blum said.

About 40 Voice employees and freelance contributors crammed into the newspaper's third-floor conference room at 3 p.m.

During the half-hour meeting, several long-time staffers, including Tom Robbins, Nat Hentoff and Wayne Barrett posed questions to Blum. Topics included whether more writers will be hired and how the paper will approach international and national news coverage, according to a staffer.

As expected, Village Voice Media, the company that purchased the alternative weekly this past November--then under the name New Times--came up often.

The Voice is a unionized paper, and New Times was accustomed to working with nonunion shops. Blum, a member of the Writers Guild in his previous job as a television writer, told the staff that he was a "union guy," though now in a managerial role.

"He had strong words about how he is in charge," said a Voice staffer. "If he doesn't think that something's right, he's not going to do it."

"Beginning Sept. 12, what happens at the paper is my responsibility," Blum said. "I wanted them to put a face to future developments so they know who to blame--or shower with praise.

On Sept. 7, Blum is scheduled to fly out to Denver to meet with Michael Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice media, and other company executives. Although Lacey hired Blum, the pair only met once, during a job interview at the Hotel on Rivington.

And what issues might come up in Denver?

"I think the main concern seems to be that the staff wants [to] see its content provided by its own writers, and not by writers outside of New York," Blum said. "By and large, I agree with that."

-Michael Calderone

On April 18, The Village Voice’s music editor Chuck Eddy was fired by Village Voice Media. Mr.  read more »

On April 18, The Village Voice’s music editor Chuck Eddy was fired by Village Voice Media.  read more »

While Village Voice music editor Chuck Eddy was terminated yesterday—the 17th staffer to leave or be fired since the New Times merger in November, 2005—Voice rock critic and senior editor Robert Christgau is still employed at the paper, despite rumors of his termination. "It would appear my optimism about the arts coverage was optimistic," Mr. Christgau said from home last night. "Chuck Eddy was fired. That's the fact. I'm not going to explain it." — Gabriel Sherman

Village Voice investigative reporter Jennifer Gonnerman resigned from the paper on Monday, according to Voice sources. Gonnerman, 35, was a Livingston Award winner in 2000 and a National Book Award finalist in 2004. Her 2004 book Life on the Outside chronicled the effects of the Rockefeller drug laws through the story of Elaine Bartlett, a first-time offender sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Gonnerman left to further pursue book writing, Voice sources said. Amid turnover at the Voice, Gonerman was said to have told executives from the paper's new owner, New Times, that they should be tapping into the talent of current staff.

Gonnerman couldn't be reached for comment. Interim editor in chief Ward Harkavy said of her resignation, "I consider that personally and professionally a real loss. I'm saddened by that. Anybody who's worked with her would be saddened by her loss."

--Gabriel Sherman

Three hours after Village Voice Judy Miszner stepped down, Voice CEO Jim Larkin announced the appointment of Michael Cohen to fill the post. The memo follows:

Dear Village Voice Staffers:

I am pleased to announce that Michael Cohen has accepted the position of Publisher of The Village Voice. Cohen is currently Publisher of Miami New Times, a position he will resign immediately. He will take the Voice helm on Monday January 30, 2006. Michael has been in the alternative weekly publishing business for 22 years and has worked with New Times in South Florida for ten of those years. He has published or launched alt weeklies in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Miami. He has been responsible for 5 weeklies in the New Times organization since 2004 and has molded the New Times papers in Dade-Broward-Palm Beach counties into one of the strongest weekly groups in the country with circulation of 170,000. Cohen graduated from the University of Maryland in 1983. He is married and has one son. When you see Michael in the halls next week please welcome him aboard the Voice.

thanks,  read more »

Jim Larkin Village Voice Media

Late last year, Village Voice editor-in-chief Donald Forst resigned on the eve of the merger with New Times. Now, Voice publisher Judy Miszner steps down. Her farewell memo follows:

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know that today is my last day as Publisher of the Village Voice. I thank all of you for making these the 7 best years of my career. During this period we have faced incredible challenges: 9/11, blackouts, a transit strike, the proliferation of free dailies and the transformation of the internet into a major competitor. Through it all, you have shown unsurpassed loyalty and commitment to the Voice.

I am confident that a successful future lies ahead for you in the new organization and wish you the best of luck. I will miss you.  read more »

Best regards, Judy

I don’t know why my date’s first words to me were “You’re late,” even though I arrived jus  read more »