Silenced!
Valley Voice could be history in 2012

Visalia - Visalia is losing its Voice.

After more than 30 years of providing the “news you need to know” in Tulare County, the Valley Voice is about to be silenced. Without an eleventh-hour development, this will be the paper's final edition.

Decreasing advertising revenues, adversarial lawsuits directed at the paper by the Gannett Corp., parent company of the Visalia Times-Delta and an overall sour economy appear to have all combined to bring about the demise of the “people's paper.”

“It is with the deepest regret and sadness, especially at this time of the year, that I share with the community the disheartening news,” said George Lurie, editor and publisher of the Voice. “The newspaper's editorial and advertising staffs as well as the community-based owners of the Voice have been fighting for months to keep the paper alive and are still actively pursuing a solution that will allow the paper to survive. But, barring a 'holiday miracle,' the decision to stop publishing will likely be made at a special Board of Directors meeting later this month.”

The Valley Voice published its first issue in November 1979. Over the years, the scrappy little tabloid has grown in both size and stature, breaking big local business and news stories on a regular basis and providing balanced, accurate and unbiased coverage of Visalia, Tulare and the surrounding county.

The Voice debuted as a monthly publication and converted to a bi-monthly about a decade later.

A major turning point in the paper's history came in 2005 when founder John Lindt sold the majority of the company to a group of local investors.

In 2007, the Valley Voice went weekly and after winning legal adjudication in a court battle with the Visalia Time-Delta, the Voice gained the right to publish legal advertising in 2009. The legal ads provided the paper with an additional steady stream of revenue.

A flurry of lawsuits filed in 2008 by the investor group against Lindt related to a case of embezzlement by a former bookkeeper resulted in Lindt's divestiture from the ownership group and exit from the company.

In 2010, the Voice made the decision to change to an out-of-county printer in order to deliver to its readers a crisper, cleaner newspaper. The change of printers triggered another court challenge from the Times-Delta and ultimately resulted in the loss of adjudication and legal advertising in the Voice.

The decreased ad revenues combined with operating in one of the most challenging economies in modern times has finally compelled the ownership group to schedule a vote on ceasing publication. Because the paper only publishes 48 issues a year, going dark any month that has five Thursdays, this will be the last Voice published in 2011.

“With the holiday season upon us, the timing – both for Voice employees and readers – could not be worse,” said Lurie. “It looks like Visalia will ring in the New Year without its cherished Voice.”

Lurie encouraged supporters of the paper to contact him personally at 635-3200 or send an email to George@valleyvoicenewspaper.com with any suggestions, orders for advertising or offers of financial support.

“If this really is the end of the line for the paper, the staff and the Voice's owners want to thank the community for so many years of strong and loyal support,” said Lurie.

The above story is the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.