The Village Voice’s veteran film critic J. Hoberman was let go today by the downtown alt-weekly, Daily Intel has learned. Hoberman joined the paper’s staff in 1983 after working as a freelancer since the early seventies. He became senior film critic in 1988. “I’ve seen a lot of people lose their jobs there in the last five years,” said Hoberman, referring to the period after the legendary publication was sold to the newspaper chain New Times (now Village Voice Media). “I would be disingenuous to say I hadn’t considered the possibility that this would happen to me eventually,” he added. “I was shocked, but not surprised.” The company underwent national layoffs at the end of 2011, including a few at its flagship paper. “It’s not the same paper that I started working at,” said Hoberman. [Full disclosure: Intel Joe was formerly employed by the Village Voice.] Editor Tony Ortega assured, “The Voice is committed to providing comprehensive film coverage, and will continue to publish our many fine film writers, both in print and online.”
