August 31, 2006

The Village Voice has undergone a staff restructuring intended to both streamline its internal operations and to reconfigure the editorial department to place an emphasis on writers as opposed to editors. This involved the layoff of eight employees: five editorial employees and three employees in the art department. Those layoffs took place today. Painful though they may be in the short term, these moves are consistent with long-range efforts to position the Voice as an integral journalistic force in New York City.

As part of these efforts, the Voice has already increased its arts coverage. Those additions include a greatly expanded calendar section, the hiring of an additional full-time staff film reviewer, a larger music section, the new art column “Best in Show” by R.C. Baker, and a larger theater section that features more reviews and, for the first time, complete and comprehensive theater listings. These steps will culminate with the hiring of additional writers over and above existing staff after the arrival of incoming editor-in-chief David Blum on September 12.

Contact: Michael Lacey, (602) 229-8404