LA Weekly is an American free alternative newspaper, launched in 1978 and serving Los Angeles, California. It was established by Jay Levin (b. 1943), an ex-Los Angeles Free Press publisher, with a group of investors that included actor Michael Douglas (b. 1944) and promoter and manager Pete Kameron (1921—2008), among others. One of his editorial co-founders was novelist and critic Michael Ventura (b. 1945). The independent publication changed ownership several times, acquired in 1994 by Stern Publishing, the owners of The Village Voice. The entire group was purchased by New Times Media in 2004, rebranded as the "Village Voice Media" in October 2005; the publishing group at the time was managing 17 alternative weekly periodicals nationwide. In September 2012, after an internal buyout by a group of executives, the company was again rebranded to "Voice Media Group." In December 2017, a newly-established Semanal Media, doing business as Street Media, purchased LA Weekly.