Russ Smith and Ellen Willis
Entry 19:
ELLEN:
I'll finish our delightful exchange with just a brief word or two. In the parlance of mainstream newspaper morons, and perhaps Slate editors as well, we'll agree to disagree on the horrendous problems unions have caused in the last 30 years.
But thank you for making my case about the current Village Voice. You might not like 50 or 60 or even 90 percent of NYPress, but you have to admit it's a writer's paper. As for your naive idea about free papers, I'll let that go. The Voice turned to free distribution because their paid circulation was in free fall; now they act like they invented free papers. Looking forward to meeting you in the city.
Best,
RUSS
Russ Smith is the editor in chief and owner of New York Press, the Manhattan weekly he founded in 1988. He writes the column "Mugger" for the paper. Ellen Willis directs the cultural journalism program at New York University. Her latest book, Don't Think, Smile! Notes on a Decade of Denial will be published this fall.