New Village Voice Editor Says Paper Is Healthier Than It’s Been in Years

After months of editorial changes and staff upheaval, the newly appointed editor of The Village Voice, Tom Finkel, said he was walking into his new job well aware of the turmoil that precedes him.

Voice Media Group, the weekly’s parent company, announced on Monday that Mr. Finkel, the editor of The Riverfront Times in St. Louis, would begin editing The Voice sometime this summer. In an e-mail exchange, Mr. Finkel said he would be starting sooner, “if it weren’t for trivial matters like moving my family halfway across the country.” He added that he recognized that those changes are part of business.

“No business is immune to economic realities -- not even the media -- and The Village Voice was slow to come to grips with that," he said. "But right now the paper is healthier than it has been in more than a decade.”

Mr. Finkel added that many of the challenges for The Voice stem from its celebrated past.

“The Voice’s history makes it susceptible to a reflexive kind of nostalgia that can distract folks from its actual purpose,” he said. “Our aim should be to provide New Yorkers with constantly smart takes on New York news and culture.”

In May, Will Bourne, the paper’s editor, and Jessica Lustig, the paper’s deputy editor, both resigned because they said they could not carry out the layoffs the Voice Media Group insisted they make. The following week, a spokeswoman for The Voice confirmed that Michael Musto, the paper’s gossip columnist, and Robert Sietsema, its restaurant reviewer would be leaving. Michael Feingold, the Voice’s longtime theatre critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist, also left.

Mr. Finkel is joining the paper after it hired three new writers from other weekly papers. They include Albert Samaha, Tessa Stuart and Anna Merian.