New Times Media
Encyclopedia
Village Voice Media is a privately held corporation headquartered in Phoenix
.
The company owns the Village Voice, America's oldest (founded in 1955) and largest alternative weekly
newspaper, as well as LA Weekly
, OC Weekly
in Orange County, California
, Seattle Weekly
, City Pages
in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas Observer
, Westword
in Denver, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
, Houston Press
, Miami New Times
, Phoenix New Times
, SF Weekly
in San Francisco, Riverfront Times
in St. Louis
, and backpage.com, an online classified advertising website.
The company was previously named New Times Media. On October 24, 2005, New Times Media announced a deal to acquire Village Voice Media, creating a chain of 17 free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million and controlling a quarter of the weekly circulation of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. After the deal's completion, New Times used the Village Voice Media name.
In 2002, the previous Village Voice Media entered into a noncompetition agreement with New Times Media, another national publisher of alternative weeklies
, whereby the two companies agreed to stop publishing New Times LA (a product of New Times Media) and Cleveland Free Times (a product of Village Voice Media), so that the companies would not publish two, competing newspapers in any single city. This agreement and phasing out of the two newspapers, led to an antitrust
investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The investigation resulted in a settlement, requiring the companies to sell off assets and the old newspapers' titles to any potential competitors.
In October 2007, Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, chief executive, of Village Voice Media, were arrested in Phoenix
on charges that a Village Voice Media publication, the Phoenix New Times
, had published secret grand jury
information. A state special prosecutor
is investigating the newspaper's long-running feud with Maricopa County
Sheriff
Joe Arpaio
, including the publishing of Arpaio's home address, a crime under Arizona
law. The special prosecutor's subpoena
included a demand for the names of the readers of the New Timess website. It was the information about the subpoena which was deemed by prosecutors to be secret grand jury information.
The lawsuit states that the teenager was forced to prostitute by an adult, Latasha Jewell McFarland. McFarland pleaded guilty to posting ads that featured the girl's photo and advertised her for sex services on Backpage.com. The lawsuit also alleges that Backpage.com "had a strong suspicion" of illegal activity on the website.
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
The company owns the Village Voice, America's oldest (founded in 1955) and largest alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
newspaper, as well as LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, OC Weekly
OC Weekly
OC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
, City Pages
City Pages
City Pages is an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It features news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews, and music criticism. It is printed in a tabloid format, and is available free every Wednesday...
in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
, Westword
Westword
Westword is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Denver, Colorado.Westword was established independently in 1977. In 1983 it was bought by New Times Media. In 2005, New Times acquired Village Voice Media, and changed its name to Village Voice Media...
in Denver, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
New Times Broward-Palm Beach is an alternative weekly newspaper; it is part of the Village Voice Media chain. The paper split off from the Miami New Times in 1997, under the auspices of then editor-in-chief Tom Walsh. Walsh was succeeded by Chuck Strouse, who was replaced in 2005 with Tony Ortega...
, Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
, Miami New Times
Miami New Times
The Miami New Times is a free weekly newspaper published in Miami and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered near Miami's Design District.-Overview:...
, Phoenix New Times
Phoenix New Times
The Phoenix New Times is a free, weekly Phoenix, Arizona newspaper, put out every Thursday. It is the founding publication of the New Times Media , but The Village Voice is now the flagship publication of that company....
, SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
in San Francisco, Riverfront Times
Riverfront Times
The Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...
in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and backpage.com, an online classified advertising website.
The company was previously named New Times Media. On October 24, 2005, New Times Media announced a deal to acquire Village Voice Media, creating a chain of 17 free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million and controlling a quarter of the weekly circulation of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. After the deal's completion, New Times used the Village Voice Media name.
In 2002, the previous Village Voice Media entered into a noncompetition agreement with New Times Media, another national publisher of alternative weeklies
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
, whereby the two companies agreed to stop publishing New Times LA (a product of New Times Media) and Cleveland Free Times (a product of Village Voice Media), so that the companies would not publish two, competing newspapers in any single city. This agreement and phasing out of the two newspapers, led to an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The investigation resulted in a settlement, requiring the companies to sell off assets and the old newspapers' titles to any potential competitors.
In October 2007, Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, chief executive, of Village Voice Media, were arrested in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
on charges that a Village Voice Media publication, the Phoenix New Times
Phoenix New Times
The Phoenix New Times is a free, weekly Phoenix, Arizona newspaper, put out every Thursday. It is the founding publication of the New Times Media , but The Village Voice is now the flagship publication of that company....
, had published secret grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
information. A state special prosecutor
Special prosecutor
A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...
is investigating the newspaper's long-running feud with Maricopa County
Maricopa County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.0% White*5.0% Black*2.1% Native American*3.5% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.5% Two or more races*12.7% Other races*29.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Joe Arpaio
Joe Arpaio
Joseph M. "Joe" Arpaio is the elected Sheriff of Maricopa County in the U.S. state of Arizona. First voted into office in 1992, Arpaio is responsible for law enforcement in Maricopa County. This includes management of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, county jail, courtroom security,...
, including the publishing of Arpaio's home address, a crime under Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
law. The special prosecutor's subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
included a demand for the names of the readers of the New Timess website. It was the information about the subpoena which was deemed by prosecutors to be secret grand jury information.
Lawsuit
The Village Voice Media was sued in September 2010 by a 15-year-old sex trafficking victim (identified in court papers as "M.A") for allegedly aiding and abetting forced prostitution and the exploitation of children and child pornography by failing to investigate the prostitution ads on Backpage.com. Backpage.com is owned by Village Voice Media.The lawsuit states that the teenager was forced to prostitute by an adult, Latasha Jewell McFarland. McFarland pleaded guilty to posting ads that featured the girl's photo and advertised her for sex services on Backpage.com. The lawsuit also alleges that Backpage.com "had a strong suspicion" of illegal activity on the website.