Long-rumored Village Voice/New Times merger is announced

The company that publishes The Village Voice and five other alternative newspapers [including City Pages] is to announce today an agreement to be acquired by New Times Media, the largest publisher in the market. The deal would create a chain of 17 free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million.

The merger--coming in the same week as The Voice's 50th anniversary--will undoubtedly raise questions about whether The Voice and its siblings can preserve their anti-establishment roots as part of a growing corporation.

But in an increasingly rocky media landscape, an equally important question is whether conglomeration will give the chain--which would include LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Miami New Times and The Dallas Observer--the editorial and financial muscle to compete against free competitors, both online and in print.

--NYT

Read David Schneiderman's memo to VVM staffers here.