The New Yorker: The Village Voice 'Changed Journalism'

december 31, 2008  11:25 am
The Voice "is one of the most successful enterprises in the history of American journalism," New Yorker critic Louis Menand writes in a lengthy piece tracing the early history of the paper. "Impersonality and objectivity are part of the ethic of journalistic identity," Menand writes. "The Voice showed that you could disrespect those idols and still sell newspapers." He ends by arguing that the Voice of 50 years ago did what the blogosphere does now. "We say that's still true -- click around and see if you agree," the Voice's Roy Edroso writes. "As to the continuing relevance of the mission of our forebears, we're aware of it, and we do our best. The Voice covers the Village, and the Village, so far as we're concerned, is everywhere."