While other newspapers, such as the Daily News and the New York Post, have cut back on arts coverage in recent months, Barbey plans to increase the Voice’s arts coverage.
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Barbey, president and CEO of Reading Eagle Company, announced through his investment company, Black Walnut Holdings, that he is the new owner of The Village Voice.
The deal comes after Voice Media Group said in January that it had hired Dirks, Van Essen & Murray and its subsidiary CAL DVM to explore sales of its publications. “The Voice deserves to be the best it can be”.
The Village Voice, the iconic New York alternative newsweekly co-founded by Norman Mailer, has been sold to a private company, changing hands for the second time in three years.
Over the last decade, however, the Voice had struggled along with much of the newspaper industry, as print advertising and circulation started sliding steeply. He also vowed to expand resources for both print and digital so editors can place more attention on content and attract additional top writers. It was sold on Monday to Peter Barbey, a member of one of America’s wealthiest families, reports the New York Times. Over the years, the paper has won Pulitzer Prizes for its reporting, and this year film critic Stephanie Zacharek became a finalist for the award.
Following the sale of the Voice, VMG will continue to own and operate V Digital Services, its digital agency, along with Phoenix New Times, Denver Westword, LA Weekly, Miami New Times, the Dallas Observer, the Houston Press, OC Weekly and New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
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It was purchased from the Voice Media Group, which owns a number of weekly newspapers.
