The troubled Voice Media Group is importing an editor from its St. Louis weekly to head its flagship Village Voice in New York two months after former editor Will Bourne quit in protest over staff cuts.
Tom Finkel, who edited the Riverfront Times for the past 10 years, will take over as editor later this summer.
Bourne resigned in May, after he said the owners told him to lay off five on his 20-person staff. Several other longtime writers followed him out the door, including veteran gossip columnist Michael Musto.
The chain of weekly newspapers and web sites was sold to a management-led group in September. The move came after the company’s adult classified ad section, known as Backpage, drew scrutiny from advertisers, investors and law enforcement officials, who claimed it was a conduit for sex trafficking ads.
The company split in half with the previous owners, CEO Jim Larkin and editorial director Michael Lacey, keeping the adult classified side.
kkelly@nypost.com