RFT's New Step-Sister

The New York Times reports that New Times Media, owners of the Riverfront Times, announced today a merger with the company that publishes The Village Voice and five other alternative weeklies. The new company will retain the name Village Voice Media. New Times effectively acquired Village Voice Media, though no money will change hands, New Times will own 62 percent of the new company.

Though there are assurances that the pugnacious and iconic Village Voice will not be negatively affected, at the least it will start taking a more apolitical stance and ending its tradition of endorsing candidates.

Similar assurances were floated following Ray Hartmann's sale of the RFT to New Times in September of 1998. Devoted readers of the RFT then predicted that the alignment of the RFT's design with the national chain's image signaled a coming abdication of the paper's role as an credible, combative, and alternative hometown voice. Many pre-sale RFT supporters hold that that time has come to pass, though others believe it still contributes a good deal despite questionable editorial decisions and significant staff shuffling these past seven years.

As for the Voice, we'll have to wait and see.
Matthew