That didn't last long. David Blum, editor in chief of the Village Voice, has stepped down after only six months on the job. Complaints about his insensitive discussion of race and diversity appear to have played a part in his ouster. Staff members learned at a meeting this afternoon that Bill Jensen, director of Web and digital operations for Village Voice Media, has been named interim editor.
A journeyman editor who had worked at New York, Esquire, and The Wall Street Journal, among other places, Blum was not the first choice to lead the paper in the aftermath of longtime editor Don Forst's December 2005 resignation. Doug Simmons, the interim editor who succeeded him, was fired after overseeing Nick Sylvester's notorious dating story "Do You Wanna Kiss Me?"—which contained fabrications. Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple took the job in June, only to change his mind before he could start.