Friday, March 4, 2022
Stigliani's last day is Monday, March 7. She's spent nearly nine years at the Free Press, including the last three as the top editor. Stigliani penned a goodbye letter that the paper published online Friday morning.
Tags: Emilie Stigliani , Burlington Free Press , executive editor , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
“Our newspapers have not been getting into the hands of our motor route carriers on time,” editor Steve Pappas wrote on November 29 to Times Argus readers, explaining the problems. A similar editorial ran in the Rutland Herald. “Certain inserts have not been in the papers, or delayed beyond their usefulness, which is unacceptable to us.”
Pappas works for Sample News Group, the Pennsylvania-based parent of the Times Argus, Rutland Herald, and the Vermont Journal in Ludlow. He’s asking readers to be patient while the printer, Upper Valley Press in Haverhill, N.H., finds a way around the supply chain and worker shortage crises that are delaying production.
Meanwhile, Pappas has found another printer to produce some of the company's papers, and he’s contemplating a wholesale move to another press. However, no Vermont companies do the kind of printing he needs, and Pappas said suitable ones in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Québec tend to have their hands full.
Tags: printer , newspapers , Rutland Herald , Times Argus , Upper Valley Press , Quebecor , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Ray Small, the editor and owner, said Tuesday that the Gazette’s advertising revenues dropped by 90 percent after the pandemic hit, “and they really haven’t come back.”
There are no plans to stop publishing altogether, Small said, though the paper is losing money. In fact, he'd like to bring back the print version someday.
"We’re fine, all things considered," he said.
Tags: Hardwick Gazette , newspaper , Northeast Kingdom , Vermont , essay contest , offices , remote , advertising , Web Only , Image
Friday, October 15, 2021
After nearly 200 years in the Queen City, the local daily has given up downtown digs for an office park in suburban Williston.
While staffers have been working remotely since the pandemic began in March 2020, executive editor Emilie Stigliani said several members of the 12-person newsroom gathered on Thursday for the first time at the new location. The circulation department also works out of the space.
She noted that most of the newsroom will continue to work remotely, though staffers can go to the office.
Tags: Burlington Free Press , Williston , newspaper , Web Only , Image
Thursday, September 23, 2021
A veteran journalist and broadcaster, Johnson took over Seven Days' weekly political column, Fair Game, in June after its previous writer, Dave Gram, retired because of health issues.
Johnson wrote 14 columns during his short tenure, covering a wide range of topics, from water quality to broadband expansion. In one, he took a stab at answering the perpetual question of whether Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt). will run again.
Johnson's most recent column — published Wednesday — will be his last. In an email, he said the demands of producing a quality column each week "requires more bandwidth than I can sustain."
Tags: Mark Johnson , Seven Days , Fair Game , columnist , Web Only , Image
Monday, June 28, 2021
Van Hoesen joined VPR in 2001 as news director. He said in an announcement he posted on LinkedIn that his most recent role has been helping VPR and PBS establish their new mission for the combined organization. VPR did not put out a statement about Van Hoesen’s retirement.
VPR and PBS announced in September their plan to merge. The stations haven’t publicly released much information about programming or operational changes expected from the merger, apart from a blog by VPR President Scott Finn in March that said the new entity will be more inclusive and more reflective of all of the people in the region, including those from diverse backgrounds. Finn said then that it will prioritize coverage of education and will expand journalism coverage. The new entity will be legally incorporated as Vermont Public.
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Drysdale passed away in the company of his wife Marjorie and his sons Robin and Jamie, the paper noted, adding that a full obituary would appear in the next issue.
"He was a really avid newsman, but he was also a really intent member of the community," said the paper's publisher, Tim Calabro.
Calabro was a photographer when, in 2015, he purchased the then-140-year-old paper from Drysdale. At the time of the purchase, the paper was called the Herald of Randolph.
Tags: M. Dickey Drysdale , the herald of randolph , white river valley herald , journalism , new england newspaper hall of fame , Web Only , Image
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Heady Vermont, the cannabis industry group that expanded in 2019 into a new 3,000-square-foot headquarters in Burlington, is on an indefinite hiatus, said founder Monica Donovan.
Donovan said that no events or publications are planned, and she doesn't know if she'll continue with Heady. "I’d love to, but won’t know positively for a while," she said by text on Wednesday.
The 5-year-old membership organization published a weekly "News Roll Up" and organized events for businesses and consumers, including an annual trade show at the Champlain Valley Expo. At its peak last year, it had an all-female staff of six. But the pressures of the pandemic shutdowns were too much for Heady, said Kathryn Blume, the former communications director, who left last summer as work dwindled.
“Events were one of our primary income streams, and if you can’t have events, that makes things really hard,” said Blume, who now works in communications for NurseGrown Organics CBD in Underhill. “Also, the fact that it took so long to get the tax-and-regulate bill passed meant that a lot of businesses who would have been business partners for us were on hold as well, and then the financial uncertainty of the pandemic was, I think, a perfect storm.”
Tags: cannabis , tax-and-regulate , Eli Harrington , Heady Vermont , Cannabeat , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Connor Cyrus and Mikaela Lefrak will become cohosts and senior producers of the popular news program, the Colchester-based station said.
Cyrus is a morning reporter at WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I. A graduate of Lyndon State College, he previously worked at WCAX Channel 3 and radio stations in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Presque Isle, Maine.
“One of the reasons I became a journalist was for opportunities like this one: the chance to make a difference and guide the conversations on the important topics in Vermont," Cyrus said in a statement. "And I’m thrilled to be returning to Vermont for everything the state has to offer.”
Tags: "Vermont Edition , " Jane Lindholm , VPR , Mikaela Lefrak , Connor Cycus , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
"We’re surprised and very sorry to see him go," Seven Days publisher Paula Routly wrote in an email to staff. "But we congratulate him on this new chapter in his journalism career and look forward to competing with him."
Heintz, a Dartmouth College graduate, has worked at Seven Days since 2012, including stints as political editor, Fair Game columnist and most recently as a staff writer.
Tags: Paul Heintz , VTDigger.org , Vermont Digger , Media Note , Web Only , Image