The Village Voice has come under new ownership and will restart from next month, The New York Times reports. According to the Times, the publication has been purchased by Brian Calle, current owner of LA Weekly and general manager of Street Media. Calle plans to restart The Village Voice digital in January 2021, with quarterly print releases at the beginning of the year.
The Village Voice officially shuttered in 2018, almost a year after the last print issue was released. Calle acquired The Village Voice from owner Peter D. Barbey, who bought the publication in 2015 from the Voice Media Group. In addition to buying the newspaper, Calle has hired Bob Baker, a former editor of The Village Voice, as senior editor and content coordinator. Calle told Times that he hopes to get former employees back on board.
Calle’s purchase of The Village Voice comes about three years after acquiring it LA Weekly (also from the Voice Media Group) – one event was controversial. After Calle’s takeover of the publication, nine of the 13 editors were there LA Weekly were fired, a boycott followed, and Calle and others LA Weekly donors were hit by a lawsuit from David Welch, who claimed the newspaper had been mismanaged. The suit was settled in 2019.