According to the Times and other media outlets, Morales' dismissal was only one of several at the Voice, which has lost many of its best-known writers since Village Voice Media merged with New Times Media, a corporation that owns and runs many alternative weeklies across the U.S.

Among the newly fired is Robert Christgau, the famed rock critic who began writing for the Voice in 1969.

According to the New York Times, nearly 20 people have either been dismissed or left voluntarily since the merger took place.

David Blum, a journalist at the New York Sun, was recently announced as the new editor in chief. Blum told the Times that the decisions to let people go "were made by Village Voice Media before I was hired." He will not begin his job until Sept. 12.

Jorge Morales replaced Charles McNulty, who left to become the drama critic of the Los Angeles Times. In addition to his editorial role, Morales was responsible for administering the Village Voice Obie Awards. He joined the paper in 2001. McNulty held the position for a brief two-year period. Prior to that, Brian Parks was editor for five years. Parks assumed the post shortly after the death of legendary Voice editor Ross Wetzsteon in 1998.