Today is a good day for the future of alternative newsmedia, thanks to a shrewd business move by the newly-created Voice Media Group, headed by Scott Tobias.

Voice Media Group is a holding company that will take ownership of existing print publications and digital properties purchased from Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC. The company’s 13 alternative newsweeklies are all AAN members.

Village Voice Media Holdings will maintain control of Backpage.com.

Now, each company can focus on what it does best: Voice Media Group will make sure its news organizations continue to publish the high-quality, local journalism that we’ve come to expect, while Village Voice Media Holdings will concentrate on revenue through its extensive digital classifieds sales.

“This move allows us to truly center our attention on the growth of the renowned weekly publications included in our portfolio, and continue our expansion into new and exciting mobile and online platforms,” said Tobias.

Voice Media Group now owns some of the most well-known publications in the business, including LA Weekly and Miami New Times. These papers publish many of the country’s best writers and reporters, who can continue to do top-notch reporting and tell the important stories in their communities.

This change reflects a dedication to the core mission of the alternative press: to bring local coverage of arts, culture, and news to our vibrant cities, with an emphasis on individual freedoms, social advocacy, and critical, long-form narrative journalism—often with an edge and a touch of irreverence—written by reporters living in the very communities they cover.

Norman Mailer, Voice co-founder, once said, “Growth, in some curious way, I suspect, depends on being always in motion just a little bit, one way or another.” This move signals growth for the alt-weekly industry as it continues to prove its staying power on the local news and entertainment level, confirms its business savvy in monetizing content on digital platforms, and continues to thrive while speaking truth to power in a way that other media can’t or won’t.