Deputy editor Joe Donnelly's position was cut by Village Voice Media, LA Observed reports. "I can tell you that Joe Donnelly was one of the reasons the L.A. Weekly has been so strong over the past few years," Weekly editor Laurie Ochoa says. "The good news is that Joe plans on doing a lot more writing, much of which we plan to publish. He's been the guiding force behind so many books through the years -- I think it's time he writes his own book." According to LA Observed, Donnelly will do just that -- he plans on writing a novel. Also, longtime copy editor Sheila Beaumont, who has worked at the paper for 26 years, has retired rather than make the commute to Culver City, where the Weekly is moving next week.

Continue ReadingL.A. Weekly Eliminates #2 Editor Position

"My invoking the argot of Black artists achieved a level of insensitive stupidity almost galactic in scale," writes the Village Voice Media executive editor in a blog post. "Whatever discussion lingers about the use of the words 'bitch' or 'ho' in hip-hop, comedy, film or literature, there is no question about the N-bomb coming out of the mouth of a 59-year-old white man." Lacey's post includes a link to Friday night's error-riddled FOX News segment from Hannity & Colmes about the incident.

Continue ReadingMichael Lacey Responds to Brouhaha Over Comments

The Village Voice Media executive editor's Friday night utterance of the "n-word" continues to be discussed in media circles and on the internet. Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas, who may be sued by Phoenix New Times soon, criticized Lacey's comments at a press conference on Tuesday, saying "this should be the Don Imus moment for Arizona's media," KTVK-TV reports. KTVK-TV also has the full video of the acceptance speech in which the offending comment was made. And Philadelphia City Paper publisher Paul Curci is weighing in as well, calling Lacey's comments "vicious and hateful" in an incensed letter to AAN News.

Continue ReadingFallout from Michael Lacey’s Comments Continues

The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist's Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips 1956-66 is set to be released by Fantagraphics in June. The book, the first of four volumes collecting Feiffer's entire run of weekly strips from the Voice, features a lengthy introduction and interview with Feiffer by Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth. The "world premiere book release reading and signing" is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, at 7 pm at the Strand bookstore in New York. In other Jules Feiffer news, last week he published a new political cartoon in the Voice for the first time in more than a decade.

Continue ReadingJules Feiffer’s Early Village Voice Comics Collected in New Book

The Village Voice Media executive editor ruffled some feathers when he used the "n-word" to refer to an old friend while accepting the President's Award from the local Society of Professional Journalists chapter, the East Valley Tribune reports. "My words, meant to honor a friend, were inappropriate," Lacey says. "All present have my sincere apology. It is regrettable that any phrase of mine offended those attending a First Amendment awards banquet." In other news, Phoenix New Times will receive a Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for standing up to last fall's grand jury probe. Lacey and VVM CEO Jim Larkin were both arrested and briefly incarcerated as a result of the probe.

Continue ReadingMichael Lacey Causes Controversy While Accepting SPJ Award