Village Voice loses another editor

The Village Voice, which has had four editors in just over a year, has fired its most recent one after a staff meeting on concerns about racial diversity, a spokeswoman said Saturday.

David Blum was fired Friday after just six months as editor in chief of the alternative weekly, Maggie Shnayerson said.

His termination followed a Wednesday meeting in which staffers discussed a lack of racial diversity in the paper's hiring. Staff member Wayne Barrett said Blum responded to concerns in a way some may have construed as offensive or dismissive, although he said he was surprised that Blum was ousted.

Shnayerson said that although the meeting was the "catalyst" for Blum's dismissal, the real reason was differences in management styles.

"David Blum is not a racist," she said. "It was not a decision that was reached in any kind of knee-jerk way. It was in response to concerns that had been growing. It's just an ongoing feeling that it wasn't working."

Blum declined to comment Saturday.

The newspaper has had turbulent turnover at the top. Veteran editor Don Forst resigned in December 2005, and his replacement, Doug Simmons, was fired last March after a fabrication scandal involving a reporter. Erik Wemple, who had been editing the Washington City Paper, was hired in June and resigned two weeks later. Blum took over in September.

The Voice, founded in 1955, covers arts, entertainment and news with an irreverent style that often stretches conventions at most major newspapers.

In January 2006, Village Voice Media, which runs the Voice and five other papers, merged with Phoenix-based New Times Media, publisher of 11 alternative weeklies. The 17 papers have a combined weekly circulation of 1.8 million.

Bill Jensen, a former editor of the Boston Phoenix who directs new media for Village Voice Media, will serve as the interim editor in chief in Blum's place, Shnayerson said.