A month after the sale of 狐狸视频鈥 alternative weekly newspaper, the Riverfront Times, the paper鈥檚 former owner bought a national ad agency.
Chris Keating is the new owner of Voice Media Advertising, the advertising arm of alt-weekly publisher Voice Media Group.
Keating announced the acquisition in an email to employees on June 27, a little over a month after Keating said he sold the RFT to an undisclosed buyer.
鈥淭his will give us national exposure in representing over 60 media properties with digital, social media, event sponsorship and print media,鈥 Keating wrote to employees of his company Big Lou Holdings, which owns Sauce Magazine in 狐狸视频 in addition to three alt-weeklies in the Midwest.
The sale of the RFT brought shock and a sense of loss to 狐狸视频. The paper, founded in 1977, provided an eclectic mix of reporting, from hard-hitting investigations to robust food and arts coverage. Its 11 employees were laid off in the fallout; a few took jobs at Keating鈥檚 company. Others landed gigs .
People are also reading…
In a June interview, Keating told the Post-Dispatch he sold RFT after a rough first quarter, and his bandwidth had been 鈥渟tretched incredibly far鈥 managing his other publications. The IRS had filed six federal tax liens against Keating for unpaid personal income taxes over the past 11 years, but Keating said RFT鈥檚 sale had nothing to do with his tax debt, which he paid off.
On Friday, Keating said VMG Advertising was a 鈥渞elatively small purchase.鈥 The agency had only three full-time staff members, and two will fill positions open in Big Lou鈥檚 business and events side.
鈥淰MG Advertising is well established with long-term employees with great relationships nationally, so I do not envision needing to spend a significant amount of my time operating it,鈥 Keating said.
VMG Advertising is now called Ruxton Media Group, a name the agency held previously, according to the . It works with advertisers to place ads where target demographics will see them. Ruxton will continue to be based out of Phoenix, Arizona and Big Lou Holdings will stay in 狐狸视频, according to Keating.
The RFT, in the meantime, is far from the publication it once was.
In the past week, over 30 articles about adult entertainment subscription service OnlyFans have been posted on RFT鈥檚 site. The posts promote women selling pornography on OnlyFans and lump them into 鈥渂est of鈥 categories based mostly on race or country of origin.
Voice Media Group CEO and president Scott Tobias did not respond to a request for comment.
Post-Dispatch reporter Monica Obradovic is a former employee of the Riverfront Times.