PHOENIX, Sept. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The owners of the iconic Village Voice Media family of metropolitan newsweeklies have agreed to sell the weekly papers and associated websites, along with an affiliated national advertising firm, to a new Denver-based venture named Voice Media Group.

After more than forty years of dedicated journalism – launched to draw attention and reaction to the 1970 shooting of students at Kent State University – Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey, who founded Village Voice Media Holdings, are ready to move on and hand the reins to a new generation of writers, editors and publishers.

Backpage.com, which is not included in the transaction, will become the centerpiece of a new online classified advertising company with business worldwide.

SOURCE Village Voice Media Holdings LLC