Village Voice Media executive editor Mike Lacey and C.E.O. Jim Larkin were arrested in Phoenix last night on charges the newspaper revealed information that was sealed by the court as a part of a grand jury proceeding, The New York Times' David Carr reports.

Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, chief executive, where arrested at their homes after they wrote a story that revealed that the Village Voice Media company, its executives, its reporters and even the names of the readers of its website had been subpoenaed by a special prosecutor. The special prosecutor had been appointed to look into allegations that the newspaper had violated the law in publishing the home address of Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s home address on its website more than three years ago.

The weekly and its leadership has been in a long running battle with Mr. Arpaio, after the weekly published a series of stories about his real estate dealings.

The company owns a sprawling network of altweeklies including The Village Voice here in New York.

Here's a question: Given Village Voice Media's less-than-stellar reputation in journalistic circles--a result of its focus on cost-cutting, and the firings of a host of iconic veteran alt-weekly writers, particularly at the flagship Voice--could this news, in which VVM executives are seen to be taking a stand on behalf of press freedom, be exactly what the compay needs? Just asking.

Village Voice editor Tony Ortega has fired his number two, managing editor Deborah Kolben. Ms. Kolben, who started at the Voice last February mere days before then-editor David Blum was fired, is the eleventh woman to leave the newspaper since Mr. Ortega took over in March.

A full breakdown of those eleven after the jump.

   read more »

Although he says it ain’t so, Tony Ortega appears to be playing tricks again with a recent cover promoting a story about the health risks of WTC rescue workers.  read more »

Maggie Shnayerson is leaving her post as publicity director of the Village Voice for a reporting job at Gawker.com, crossing back over onto this side of the game for the first time since just after college.

Replacing Doree Shafrir (who starts at the Observer Monday!), Ms. Shnayerson will start at Gawker at the end of the month as an associate editor covering media.

Gawker editor Choire Sicha posted an item announcing the new hire early this afternoon. "We were most impressed with Maggie when dealing with her on stories about the Voice: She was a complete hardass. Kind of a bitch, in fact! But a superfun bitch," Mr. Sicha wrote. "This is a prime requirement for working here. I also liked that she has experience with how the business side of media things are run—and also a great ear for how PR spin is propagated."

"I know I'm going to miss her terribly," said Voice editor Tony Ortega this morning. "But I think she's got something really good going."

Adult ads have come under fire lately. So The Village Voice's Tony Ortega decided “the best response from the newsroom was to poke some fun at ourselves.”  read more »

“This was a mild stunt, not a heavy editorial,” he said.  read more »

The Village Voice has added another staff writer to its roster: Graham Rayman, formerly of Newsday, starts May 14.

An email from TonyO (that's how he tags himself in the subject line!) announced the decision to staff today.

Rayman's done a lot of investigative work "covering New York City's courts, politicians, crimes, and disasters."

Besides naming him a "staff writer" and saying he'll be "a tremendous asset to the Voice's long-standing investigative news tradition," it's not clear from the email what he'll be covering.

And we wonder how tremendous an asset Wayne Barrett will find him to be.

The full text of the press release follows:  read more »

• Michael Pescatore ran the East Coast's biggest "chop shop" (stolen cars galore!), and then he meticulously built a kingly "14,431-square-foot mansion on Long Island's Gold Coast." If only he hadn't messed with the interior designer, he wouldn't be in prison now. [Village Voice]
• How expensive is New York real estate? Expensive. The Real Deal breaks down the boroughs' priciest blocks: from Columbia Heights to East 78th to Douglaston (to Staten Island's Todt Hill). [Real Deal]
• "Findologist" Professor Solomon has written a 152-page illustrated book on the rainbow-colored history of Coney Island. And the masterwork is free. [Boing Boing]
• "Several of the top kitchens" in Manhattan are listing some charming snapshots (at top) of Times food critic Frank Bruni. The headline says "Wanted Dead or Alive," and below it are listed his 24 common eating companions. New York kitchens are pretty creepy. [Eater] - Max Abelson]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35964#comments Real Estate Coney Island Frank Bruni Gold Coast Village Voice Media Inc. Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:22:59 -0400 Observer Staff 35964 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/36915 On two occasions when executives of Village Voice Media came to visit The Village Voice’s then  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/36915#comments Media David Blum Mike Lacey Tony Ortega Village Voice Media Inc. Sun, 11 Mar 2007 20:00:00 -0400 Michael Calderone 36915 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/33002 "I'm trying not to worry about all that crap on Gawker," said Tony Ortega, the newly named editor in chief of the Village Voice. "I don't feel it reflects the people and the work there."

  On Mar. 4, two days after the previous editor in chief, David Blum, was fired, Village Voice Media boss Michael Lacey called Ortega up and offered him the job. Despite four editors' worth of turnover since January 2006, when New Times purchased the paper and took the Village Voice Media name, Ortega decided to accept.

  "Why would I hesitate?" Ortega asked. "It's the Village Voice. It's a terrific newspaper with a storied past, and what journalist wouldn't want to do it?"

  "I'm sure this will be criticized since I'm not a New Yorker," said Ortega. Ortega said he's looking forward to learning from the Voice's staff.

  What about his relationship with Lacey, who's often accused of micromanaging the newspaper from Phoenix?

  "I never really had that problem with him," said Ortega. "I've always had complete freedom to do what I wanted." Ortega has worked for Lacey at multiple New Times papers, most recently as the top editor at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

  He will greet his new staff on Friday, Mar. 9.

  "I'm a half-Mexican kid from L.A. without New York experience," Ortega said. "We'll just see."

  -Michael Calderone ]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33002#comments Media Michael Lacey New Times Inc. Tony Ortega Village Voice Media Inc. Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:54:48 -0500 Observer Staff 33002 at http://www.observer.com