An Open Letter to Peter Barbey, Owner of the Village Voice
An Open Letter to Peter Barbey, Owner of the Village Voice:
We the undersigned have all written for the Village Voice over the course of our careers. We each found it to be a paper where journalists and critics such as ourselves could hone our chops, find our voices, and receive the freedom and encouragement to become the writers we are now. Though we have moved on from its ranks for one reason or another, our admiration and affection for the publication remain strong.
We are disappointed to learn that you and your leadership want to weaken the Village Voice Union, one of the proudest legacies of the paper. As writers and journalists, we understand all too well the challenges that face print media today. That said, we wish to see this beloved paper continue to produce the highest caliber of work — work that deserves and demands your fullest support.
We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the Village Voice Union. We hope you will meet its members with a fair and reasonable contract, upholding their hard-won rights and benefits. If you do, our entire field will be much richer for it.
Respectfully,
Vince Aletti
Photography Critic, The New Yorker
Hilton Als
Theater Critic, The New Yorker
William Bastone
Founder/Editor, The Smoking Gun
Raillan Brooks
Senior Staff Editor, The New York Times
Robert Christgau
Music Critic and Essayist
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Writer
Joe Conason
Editor-in-Chief, The National Memo
Joe Coscarelli
Culture Writer, The New York Times
Araceli Cruz
Writer
Manohla Dargis
Co-Chief Film Critic, The New York Times
Camille Dodero
Writer, Editor, and Reporter
Jen Doll
Writer, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Glamour; Author, Save the Date and Unclaimed Baggage
David Edelstein
Film Critic, New York Magazine
Gary Giddins
Author
Richard Goldstein
Author
Jennifer Gonnerman
Staff Writer, The New Yorker
Vivian Gornick
Critic, Journalist, and Memoirist
Ed Halter
Author and Critic; Co-Director of Light Industry
LynNell Hancock
Education Reporter; Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Rob Harvilla
Staff Writer, The Ringer
Molly Haskell
Author and Critic
Doug Henwood
Journalist and Broadcaster; Contributing Editor, The Nation
Elizabeth Hess
Author
J. Hoberman
Author
Andrew Hsiao
U.S. Publisher, Verso Books
Sharyn Jackson
Staff Writer, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Foster Kamer
Managing Editor, Mashable
James Ledbetter
Editor and Author
Dennis Lim
Author and Critic; Director of Programming, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Stan Mack
Cartoonist
Brian McManus
Special Projects Editor, VICE
Coco McPherson
Writer
Anna Merlan
Senior Reporter, Gizmodo Media Group
Michael Miller
Editor, Bookforum
Michael Musto
Writer
Ed Park
Novelist; Executive Editor, Penguin Press.
Brian Parks
Senior Editor, 4Columns
Dan Perkins (a/k/a Tom Tomorrow)
Creator, This Modern World
Tejal Rao
Reporter, The New York Times; Columnist, The New York Times Magazine
B. Ruby Rich
Editor-in-Chief, Film Quarterly; Professor, Film and Digital Media Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
Carrie Rickey
Movie Critic and Independent Film Historian
James Ridgeway
Founder and Co-Director, Solitarywatch.com
Tom Robbins
Investigative Journalist–in-Residence, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Jerry Saltz
Senior Art Critic, New York Magazine
Albert Samaha
National Reporter, Buzzfeed News
Peter Schjeldahl
Art Critic, The New Yorker
Harry Siegel
Senior Editor, The Daily Beast
Robert Sietsma
Senior Critic, Eater New York
Alisa Solomon
Professor & Director, Arts Concentration, M.A. Program, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Mark Alan Stamaty
Cartoonist and Illustrator
Laurie Stone
Author
Tessa Stuart
Staff Writer, Rolling Stone
Eric Sundermann
Editor-In-Chief, Noisey
John Surico
Contributor, The New York Times; Reporter, VICE
Jonathan Tasini
Writer
Amy Taubin
Contributing Editor and Critic, Artforum and Film Comment
Steven Thrasher
Writer-at-Large and Senior Columnist, The Guardian US
Michael Tomasky
Special Correspondent, The Daily Beast; Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
Jeff Weinstein
Writer and Editor; Trustee at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art
Eric Weisbard
Organizer, MoPOP Pop Conference
Colson Whitehead
Novelist
Lynn Yaeger
Contributing Editor, Vogue
Stephanie Zacharek
Film Critic, Time
