• by Sara Guaglione , May 23, 2016

Suzan Gursoy, the former publisher at Adweek, will take on the same role at The Village Voice. She told Publishers Daily that the newspaper is also working on formalizing an in-house agency.

It is working on custom integrations across all of their platforms with specific targeted partners.

Gursoy will report directly to Peter Barbey, who acquired the company in October 2015 and has since also taken on the responsibilities of publisher.

“Once we were seeing progress editorially on the product, then [Barbey] turned to the business side and sought out a publisher,” Gursoy told Publishers Daily.

As the new publisher, Gursoy will oversee integrated sales, marketing, events, circulation and overall revenue for The Village Voice.

According to a statement from the publication, Gursoy will “spearhead relaunch strategy on the business side” for the brand.

“Suzan is one of a very select group of people in publishing with the skills and experience to translate a vision into a sophisticated and sustainable business strategy,” Barbey stated. He said the two hope to create a future for a pub that “once helped invent and define an entirely new category of journalism and publishing.”

The free weekly was co-founded in 1955 by Norman Mailer and has recently struggled to stay relevant. Barbey’s family is reportedly worth $6.1 billion, according to Forbes, and Barbey plans to invest heavily in The Village Voice.

He has already increased the paper’s circulation and created a quarterly-style supplement called Seen to attract high-end advertisers.

The newsweekly will continue to roll out upgrades and redesigns this year in preparation for “an extensive relaunch” slated for 2017, according to the statement.

“We look to dance along that fine line where their brand intersects with ours ... And that’s really where great partnerships live. There is a tremendous amount of potential for that type of partnership and business strategy in the long term,” she said to PD.

Gursoy added that native advertising and branded content projects “would be very appropriate and work very well at The Village Voice.”

Gursoy has held pivotal roles at the launches of Conde Nast Sports for Women, Gear and Adweek magazines. She also held key managerial roles at Women’s Wear Daily, Mademoiselle, Mirabella, Premiere and Bridal Guide magazines.

She previously served as founder and CEO of her own marketing company for more than 10 years and most recently, held the title of chief strategy officer at the creative agency Watson & Company.