California Superior Court Judge Marla J. Miller ruled on Tuesday that she has no authority to amend a 2008 predatory-pricing judgment since the case is already pending before the California Court of Appeal. The San Francisco Bay Guardian had asked the court to include Village Voice Media LLC and Village Voice Media Holdings LLC, as part of its efforts to collect the money it was awarded in the judgment against SF Weekly. The Weekly has refused to pay the $21 million it owes the Guardian, saying it will pay once it exhausts its options to appeal.

Continue ReadingJudge Won’t Include SF Weekly Parent Co. in ’08 Judgment

While he didn't win the top prize, Michael Feingold was one of three Pulitzer finalists this year for criticism. Feingold was recognized by the Pulitzer board for his "engaging, authoritative drama reviews that fuse passion and knowledge as he helps readers understand what makes a play or a performance successful."

Continue ReadingVillage Voice Theater Critic Named Pulitzer Finalist

"Mr. Kamer may cite The Village Voice's co-founder, Norman Mailer, as a personal inspiration, but online he comes off a bit like a wifi era hybrid of J. J. Hunsecker and H. L. Mencken, delivering missives on the news media, politics and New York culture in an acerbic, knowing tone -- even by Gawker alumni standards -- sometimes at lengths that call to mind Op-Ed essays more than gossip items," the Times writes in a story on nine "rising stars of gossip blogs."

Continue ReadingNY Times: Village Voice’s Foster Kamer One of Web Gossip’s ‘Rising Stars’

San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond writes that while he thought Eli Sanders' recent story on the feud between the Guardian and SF Weekly in The Stranger was mostly right, he faults Sanders (and others) for casting the legal battle as a clash of egos. "The thing is, Bruce [Brugmann] and Mike [Lacey] haven't hated each other for decades," Redmond writes. "They weren't terribly close, but they got along fine -- and sometimes, they were political allies." He points to their unlikely alliance at the 1997 AAN Convention (three years after New Times purchased SF Weekly) to push a bylaws measure (and digs up a photo of the two arm-in-arm) as proof. "They were almost, sorta, kinda pals," he writes. "At least for a few minutes."

Continue ReadingBay Guardian Editor: The SF Weekly Suit ‘Wasn’t Personal’

"Now everyone in the world is a blogger, which means everyone on earth is a gossip columnist," the longtime Village Voice gossip columnist tells The Awl. "I used to compete with maybe five people, now you're competing with like five billion people." He says the increased competition is "kind of fabulous ... It certainly makes me scramble harder to stay relevant, but it also means everyone in the world has a voice."

Continue ReadingMichael Musto: ‘In a Way I Was the Original Blogger’

The IFC-owned Independent Film Center, which is owned by Cablevision and Jimmy Dolan, has pulled its $400/week print advertisement from the Village Voice, "following our trenchant commentary on the sale of Gothamist to Rainbow Media, replete with a joke about Mr. Dolan's penis that required the attention of his corporate publicity and legal affairs crews," writes the Voice's Foster Kamer. "In a rare breach of editorial and sales, I'd like to openly apologize to the ad salesperson who closed that account: I'm sorry Jimmy Dolan's penis cost you some commission," Kamer continues. "If you'd like me to write your child's college admission's essay, I'll do it pro-bono. I'd just give you the money, but I've spent the last four days considering Jimmy Dolan's penis. The pay is proportionate."

Continue ReadingWas it Something They Said? Cablevision Pulls IFC Ad from Voice

In a Monday post about the rumored purchase of the Gothamist blog network by Cablevision, the Village Voice's Foster Kamer wrote: "Wonder how [Gothamist publisher Jake] Dobkin's gonna feel with Jimmy Dolan's cock in his mouth?" Dolan, the Cablevision CEO, has a reputation as being aggressive and sometimes litigious. That reputation seems to be well-deserved, as his corporate communications team pounced on Kamer's post with multiple emails and a follow-up call to a Voice editor that said Cablevision lawyers were looking into the post to see if it could be considered defamatory. "As a guy who was once named as a defendant in an employee's high-profile (and ultimately successful) sexual harassment lawsuit, Dolan should understand the difference between what one could and could not get away with when discussing things like where one puts one's penis," Kamer shoots back. "And thankfully, there's no law that's going to force us to take Jimmy Dolan's figurative cock out of anyone's mouth. Least of all ours."

Continue ReadingCablevision Upset Over Village Voice Dick Joke