from Village Voice Media
[Updated March 3, 2007]
Per Gawker: The Village Voice editor-in-chief David Blum was let go from the hard-to-fill position today, a move which was explained to staff at a late-afternoon meeting as the result of comments he had made that, the staff was told, were "unacceptable."
According to one person who attended the meeting, and corroborated by Gawker's source, Blum had been asked why all his new hires had been white. Blum responded that he had been working with the diversity committee of the union to address that problem, and, according to our source, agreed that more had to be done to address it. Blum also noted that competition was fierce in the industry for qualified minority applicants and noted that it was an industry-wide problem. According to Gawker sources, the comments were not "outrageous" and the most Blum said was that he made no apology for being a "white male Jew from the Upper West Side" who couldn't reach "Joe Jones from Flatbush."
"Nothing he said at Wednesday's staff meeting was in bad faith," one staffer told ETP. "We are shocked."
Meanwhile, the timing of the dismissal is somewhat coincidental: Village Voice Media Director of New Media Bill Jensen arrived earlier this week from corporate headquarters — the same Bill Jensen who penned the angry, ranting Pazz & Jop essay that had been submitted to — and rejected by — Blum as a possible introduction the Voice's infamous music poll. After the piece was rejected, it was mysteriously leaked to music blog Idolator, which sleuthed out what appeared to be a point of origin in Denver and/or Phoenix, where VVM HQ is located. According to the staffer, and confirmed by other reports, it was Jensen who called today's staff meeting and explained the dismissal by citing Blum's "unacceptable" comments.
Gawker, who has been critical of the Voice under Blum in the past, suggested that the ouster was less the result of Blum's comments than management complaints regarding the Voice. This was later supported by a statement from Village Voice Media, released at "David Blum's position as editor-in-chief of the Village Voice newspaper has been terminated effective today. The decision was reached based on increasing concerns about the management of the paper, which intensified this week."
ETP's source on the staff said that Blum "had integrity and the respect of the staff," though another source on staff suggested that the dismissal was not a surprise, though the timing and manner of it was.
Blum is the latest Village Voiceeditor to leave a vacancy in the position: The rocky top spot saw the departure of longtime editor Don Forst upon the takeover of the Village Voice by alt-weekly chain The New Times, followed by the installation of managing editor Doug Simmons as acting editor, who was fired over a fabricated cover story. Last June, Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple accepted the position only to quit two weeks later. Blum took over the position on Sept. 12, 2006, and had just announced the hiring of a managing editor after at least two potential candidates had fallen through.
Related:
Intrigue At The Village Voice: Leaked Pazz & Jop Essay The Work Of One Lone Nutbar or Village Voice Media Conspiracy? [ETP]
Disclosure: In November, I wrote a cover story for the Village Voice which was assigned and edited by Blum, who was previously also a Huffington Post contributor.
