Jim Larkin (publisher)

Jim Larkin was publisher of Village Voice Media and co-owner of Backpage. He is currently under a 93-count federal indictment for facilitating prostitution.

Early career

Jim Larkin, a Phoenix, Arizona native, started his career in publishing in the 1970s as the business manager of a 1970s Phoenix alternative weekly newspaper.[1] In 1977, he and fellow Arizona State University dropout Michael Lacey took the newspaper private and changed the name to the Phoenix New Times. Lacey became editor and Larkin became publisher. The editor-publisher duo were called "Lacey'n'Larkin," and over the decades, they bought and started alternative weeklies across the country.[2]

Newspaper business

The Phoenix New Times was an early and sustained success. Beginning in 1983, Lacey and Larkin bought multiple other alternative newspapers, and by 2000 they owned eleven. In 2005 they bought The Village Voice and five others. The company, now called Village Voice Media, had a market value of $400 million and a combined circulation of 1.8 million.[3][4]

The Internet devoured advertising profits.[5] Village Voice Media reacted to decreased Internet advertising with Backpage.com, beginning in 2004, trying to maintain the company’s hold on ads for adult services. By 2010, after Craigslist shuttered its adult content section, Backpage.com had become the main financial driver of the company.[6] In 2012 Lacey and Larkin left journalism, sold their interests in all 13 newspapers, but kept ownership of Backpage.[7]

The Phoenix New Times was consistently critical of Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This led to a 2007 subpoena requesting the I.P. addresses of all who had visited the Phoenix New Times website over the past three years.[8] When, as an act of civil disobedience,[9] the Phoenix New Times published the subpoena, Lacey and Larkin were arrested for this act. Freed the next day, charges were dropped.[10] Maricopa County settled with them for $3.75 million.[11]

Backpage

Backpage earned $135 million in 2014, according to a U.S. Senate report. A February 2015 appraisal said the company was worth more than $600 million.[12]

The Justice Department used information from a Senate hearing to come up with a massive 93-count indictment in March 2018. The indictment centered on Lacey and Larkin, and accused them and other company officers of money laundering, participating in a criminal conspiracy, and facilitating prostitution.[13] In April it was announced that Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer had pleaded guilty and would testify against other Backpage officials.[14] Company officials insist they hosted trafficking sites unwittingly.[15] Backpage was shut down by federal authorities in April 2018.[16][17] With the closure of Backpage, "devastated" sex workers turned to social media. To them, Backpage’s demise meant the end of safeguards and a reliable revenue stream in a profession that’s not going anywhere.[18]

Honors
  • Arizona Civil Libertarian of the Year, 2008[19]
  • Phoenix Business Journal, "Professional Recognition" (for standing up for migrants' rights) 2017[20]
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References
  1. "A Knock in the Night in Phoenix". New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  2. "New Times, Inc. -- Company History". www.company-histories.com. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  3. "New Times To Merge With Village Voice". Phoenix New Times. 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  4. Bercovici, Jeff. "Village Voice Alt-Weekly Chain Sold In Management Buyout". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  5. "Print Is Dying, Digital Is No Savior: The Long, Ugly Decline Of The Newspaper Business Continues Apace". News. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  6. "The Sex-Trafficking Case Testing the Limits of the First Amendment". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  7. "Phoenix New Times founders selling company". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  8. "Subpoena request" (PDF). media.phoenixnewtimes.com.
  9. "Village Voice executives jailed in Phoenix". CNET. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  10. Shafer, Jack (2007-10-19). "The Subpoena Weenie". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  11. Hendley, Matthew (2013-12-20). "Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  12. "Backpage founder charged by feds after human-trafficking investigation". azcentral. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  13. "DOJ issues 93-count indictment against Backpage over sex ads". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  14. "Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer pleads guilty to conspiracy, money laundering". ABC News. 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  15. Board, The Times Editorial. "Congress' pursuit of Backpage.com is risky". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  16. Backpage shut
  17. Magid, Larry. "DOJ Seizes Backpage.com Weeks After Congress Passes Sex Trafficking Law". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  18. "It's not just the Florida spa investigation allegedly tied to Robert Kraft. Sex trafficking is rampant across US". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  19. "ACLU Foundation of Arizona to Honor New Times Executives at Annual Bill of Rights Dinner on March 29". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  20. Larkin recognized for supporting migrants' rights
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