Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The final print edition of The Village Voice is out today



The last print edition of The Village Voice — a 176-page commemorative issue — is out today with Bob Dylan on the cover.

Facing declining ad revenues, among other factors, owner Peter Barbey (since 2015) announced the end of the print era last month.

Here's part of editor Stephen Mooallem's farewell letter in this issue:

When I talk with people about the Voice, they often refer to it as an “institution.” But I think of it more as having a constitution. By that, I don’t mean a document containing a statement of essential principles by which the Voice is governed — I mean a constitution in the way that a person has a physical constitution. If you treat it well, then it can flourish; if you don’t, then it withers. Its existence is not inevitable. It needs to be fought for. When I look at what this paper has been for the past (almost) 62 years, I see the names of many people who have done just that for the Voice, and we’ve decided to dedicate this final print issue to them. The Voice may be bigger than print and ink or any owner, editor, medium, or era, but this paper belonged to New York, and the people who have worked for it have served both the Voice and the city in exemplary fashion.

The Village Voice was founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer. It will continue on as an online publication.
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6 comments:

  1. GarSeptember 20, 2017 at 6:20 PM

    Darn it! I need to save myself a copy!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 20, 2017 at 7:19 PM

    With the advent of the digital age, this was the writing on the wall. Sad. The end of an era.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2017 at 9:22 AM

    I was out yesterday evening and there were no copies to be found in any boxes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2017 at 11:16 AM

    End of an era. Nobody can withstand this inexorable march of technological change. For a while in the early 2000s, the Voice was the only printed paper that really mattered in my world. Imagine that. A simpler time for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Conan1982September 21, 2017 at 7:18 PM

    I got my copy today, and it wasn't an easy task as most of the Voice kiosks I came upon on Broadway, south of 96th street, were already empty. Farewell and adieu to The Village Voice ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Scuba DivaSeptember 21, 2017 at 10:09 PM

    My roommate died over a year ago, and had worked in the production department at the VOICE for over 25 years—and had written four cover stories as well in that time—before he retired. Having been on the inside, it's likely he wouldn't have been surprised at this turn of events.

    ReplyDelete

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