The Village Voice, the Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative weekly is going out of business after 63 years.
The paper's publisher, Peter Barbey, announced Friday that the pioneering paper is ceasing publication entirely because of financial problems, a year after it stopped circulating in print. "This is a sad day for the Village Voice and for millions of readers," he said in a statement. Barbey bought the Voice in 2015 in an attempt to save it following a series of ownership changes, staff departures, and audience and advertising losses.
He tried to stem its losses by giving up print publication last summer and publishing online only — a move that removed the paper from the sidewalk distribution boxes that were a fixture on New York City street corners for generations. The company said eight of the Voice's 18 remaining staffers were laid off Friday. The Voice was the country's first alternative newsweekly, founded in 1955 by a group that included writer Norman Mailer. It once had a weekly circulation of 250,000 and was a home for some of New York's best investigative journalists and music writers.
Eminem has a new album
Eminem has surprised his fans with a new album — "Kamikaze." The 13-track CD includes the song "Venom," which will be featured in the upcoming film of the same name. The cover shows the rear end of a fighter plane — recalling a similar cover of the Beastie Boys' 1986 album "Licensed to Ill." The rapper dropped the album just after midnight Thursday, tweeting: "Tried not 2 overthink this 1... enjoy." The album doesn't find Eminem in a peaceful place. It kicks off with "The Ringer," in which he says he wants to "punch the world" in the face.
Peace on the Boardwalk
The official arrival of the 51 hopefuls vying for the title of Miss America went off Thursday without direct mention of the recent public tensions between the reigning titleholder and the pageant's leadership. Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson has feuded on Twitter with reigning Miss America Cara Mund after Mund said she'd been "silenced" by pageant officials seeking to control what she says publicly. Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper also have come under fire for their decision to discontinue the swimsuit competition. Many state pageant officials have called for Carlson and Hopper to resign. Mund and Carlson were separated by several seats during Thursday's introduction ceremony on the boardwalk but didn't appear to have any interaction.
Associated Press
