houston press's new direction

Pioneering Houston alternative media outlet sold to mysterious new owner

The Houston Press will have a new owner.

Photo via Houston Press

Houston’s most pioneering voice in alternative journalism will have a new owner.

The Houston Press, the city’s first arts and entertainment weekly newspaper (now strictly online) announced on November 9 that its ownership company Voice Media Group will sell to a new — and unnamed — buyer.

This new owner promises to “continue the normal operations of the Houston Press for years to come,” per a company statement.

Voice Media Group (VMG), via its digital arm V Digital Services, will continue to service and support its digital agency customers in Houston, per the announcement. “VMG is proud of its history in Houston and is excited to move forward serving its digital customers in the Bayou City,” the company added in a statement.

Longtime Press editor Margaret Downing, the publication’s stalwart force in the local journalism community, declined to comment to CultureMap on the pending sale. The Press has yet to provide any information about the new owner or ownership group's identity.

Press publisher Stuart Folb also did not return CultureMap’s request for comment.

VMG will continue to operate the other local publications in its portfolio: Denver Westword, Phoenix New Times, Miami New Times, the Dallas Observer, and New Times Broward-Palm Beach, the company noted.

Founded in 1989, the Press quickly rose to prominence and popularity with its irreverent, edgy tone and aggressive investigative reporting.

Severe budget cuts forced the laying off of a large majority of the publication’s editorial fulltime staff, as well as a move from weekly print publishing to a digital-only presence, one that included reader donations for additional financial support.

Honors for the paper include first-place for staff blog in the 2016 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards; winner in the 2016 Clarion Awards for feature writing; winner for Outstanding Newspaper Article in the national 2016 GLAAD media awards; three first places in the 2016 First Amendment Awards competition for Texas and Oklahoma; and seven first places in the statewide 2016 Lone Star Awards.

Notable alumni include award-winning food critic Robb Walsh and reporter Steve McVicker, who penned the novel I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks, later to become a Jim Carrey-led film in 2009.

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that's baller

Houston hypes FIFA World Cup with new Guinness World Record

World Cup Guinness World Records soccer balls

Courtesy of Airbnb

DaMarcus Beasley, Bun B, and the Guinness World Records adjudicator.

Houstonians continue to show enthusiasm for the arrival of the FIFA World Cup this summer. On Saturday, April 11, local politicians, celebrities, and youth soccer players contributed to setting a new official Guinness World Record for the longest continuous line of soccer balls.

Held at Hermann Park, the effort lined up more than 1,000 soccer balls to set the new record. DaMarcus Beasley, the only American to play in four World Cups, and Houston hip-hop legend Bun B participated in the event. An official Guinness World Records judge was on hand to confirm the feat.

All of the more than 1,000 soccer balls used in the record-breaking event were donated to Grow the Game, a collaboration between the FIFA World Cup 2026 Houston Host Committee and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Foundation. The program aims to expand access to soccer for underserved youth across Houston through free and low-cost programming, including clinics, tournaments, and more.

“Today’s event is about more than breaking a world record, it’s about celebrating Houston and investing in its future,” Airbnb executive Laura Spanjian said in a statement. “As the world prepares to come to Houston for the FIFA World Cup 2026, we’re proud to support programs that ensure local communities, especially young people, can be part of that moment in a meaningful and lasting way.”

As Spanjian notes, Airbnb has committed more than $1 million to helping Houston get ready for the FIFA World Cup, which will feature seven matches between June 14 and July 4. These efforts include money for improvements along the Green Corridor, a 14-mile long path connecting multiple major landmarks in Houston through safe, walkable paths that include shade trees and other improvements.

Airbnb expects that Houston will welcome more than 31,000 visitors during the World Cup, generating an estimated $372 million economic impact, according to Deloitte.

Courtesy of Airbnb

DaMarcus Beasley, Bun B, and the Guinness World Records adjudicator.

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