Los Angeles’ feisty alternative weekly, the LA Weekly is up for sale, owner Voice Media Group has announced. Voice Media Group (VMG) owns several publications across the country, including Phoenix New Times, Houston Press, and Miami New Times, among others.
True to its irreverent roots, LA Weekly tweeted: “This cultured, free-spirited, deep-thinking 38-year-old is looking for a like-minded millionaire/billionaire for an LTR. Must love innovation as much as ink stains.”
In its press release, Voice Media Group calls LA Weekly “profitable” and touts the sale of the publication as “a special opportunity for anyone taking the cultural pulse of Los Angeles.” The statement calls LA Weekly the nation’s most widely-read alt weekly, with more than 3 million active users visiting laweekly.com each month. In 2007, LA Weekly became the first newspaper to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for restaurant criticism for Jonathan Gold, who now writes for the Los Angeles Times.
In the same statement, VMG calls the sale “part of the ongoing diversification of its portfolio,” an effort that includes building its digital agency business while making “targeted reductions” in its print newspaper holdings. In 2013, Voice Media Group sold the SF Weekly to the San Francisco Newspaper Company and the Seattle Weekly to Sound Publishing.
The announcement comes on the heels of November’s announcement that longtime owner Sue Laris has put her 44-year-old Los Angeles Downtown News up for sale.
Reporter Diane Haithman can be reached at dhaithman@labusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @dhaithman for the latest in L.A. business news.
