Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Thursday's edition of the Waterbury Record will be its last.
In a front-page story announcing its own demise, the weekly newspaper explained that the coronavirus pandemic had "accelerated what we hoped would never happen."
"Clearly, this decision is precipitated by the coronavirus crisis, but it's also about economics," the story quoted publisher Greg Popa as saying. "The Record has never been profitable, but we were in this for the long haul."
Though a newspaper with the same name was published from 1895 to 1947, the current incarnation was founded in 2007 by Biddle Duke, who then owned the Stowe Reporter. Since 2014, it has been held by a publishing group now called the Vermont Community Newspaper Group.
Tags: Waterbury Record , Greg Popa , Biddle Duke , newspapers , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Three Chittenden County weeklies — the Milton Independent, Essex Reporter and Colchester Sun — announced Tuesday that they will cease publishing print editions "until further notice." The papers will continue reporting local news online, executive editor Michelle Monroe wrote on their respective websites.
"This is a fast-changing and developing situation so we will be assessing our publishing plan real-time to determine the next print publication date," she wrote.
The papers are owned by Jim O'Rourke, who also publishes the St. Albans Messenger. It was not immediately clear Tuesday night whether the Messenger, a six-day-a-week paper, would follow suit.
In her note, Monroe said that the three weeklies have no plans to lay off employees "as we work through the crisis."
Tags: Essex Reporter , Colchester Sun , Milton Independent , St. Albans Messenger , Michelle Monroe , Jim O'Rourke , Valley News , Maggie Cassidy , Addison County Independent , Angelo Lynn , Web Only , Image
Monday, March 23, 2020
According to publisher and cofounder Paula Routly, the cuts will allow the Burlington-based weekly “to be more nimble while fulfilling our critical public service mission during the pandemic.” She said she hopes to rehire those who lost their jobs in 10 weeks.
The layoffs represent close to 15 percent of the paper’s staff of roughly 50 people. According to Routly, the publishing team chose one person from each department — web, design, sales, news, arts, features and editing — in order to “minimize the impact on remaining staffers and the important journalism they produce.”
The company plans to continue paying health insurance premiums to those who were laid off, Routly said, “with a goal of bringing them back when COVID-19 has run its course and this nightmare is over.”
Tags: Seven Days , Paula Routly , layoffs , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 20, 2020
"This is hard and it has the potential of getting harder," Pappas said.
On Friday, it got much harder. That morning, he got the word from the papers' owner, Pennsylvania-based George "Scoop" Sample, that they would have to take extraordinary measures to stay in business. The men agreed to lay off 20 out of 42 employees and reduce the frequency of the papers' print editions from five days a week to three.
The changes, Pappas hopes, are temporary.
"I've been told this will be for two weeks," he said. "I'm holding Scoop to his word that in two weeks, we will have accumulated enough revenue to restart the engine in full."
Tags: Coronavirus , Rutland Herald , Times Argus , Steve Pappas , George "Scoop" Sample , Web Only , Image
Thursday, March 19, 2020
The public health crisis has forced newspapers to publish remotely and broadcasters to go live with skeleton crews. Many Vermont news outlets have expanded coverage, dropped paywalls and launched coronavirus-focused email newsletters. All appear focused on how the scare has affected their readers, listeners and viewers.
"This shows why every community needs a small-town newspaper," said Steve Pappas, publisher of the Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. "When these kinds of things happen, we prove how indispensable we are."
According to several newsroom leaders, the economic shock of the outbreak has already led to drastic reductions in advertising revenue — accelerating a trend that has threatened the industry for two decades. Newspapers, which have been hit hardest by that decline, have begun cutting costs.
In a memo to employees on Tuesday, the publisher of three southern Vermont newspapers — the Brattleboro Reformer, Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal — wrote that all full-time staff members would be furloughed for one of the next five weeks. He encouraged his employees to file for unemployment during that period.
Tags: coronavirus , Brattleboro Reformer , Bennington Banner , Manchester Journal , Seven Days , Valley News , Rutland Herald , Barre-Montpelier Times Argus , WCAX , Vermont Public Radio , Addison County Independent , Fredric Rutberg , Paula Routly , Steve Pappas , Maggie Cassidy , Jay Barton , Scott Finn , Angelo Lynn , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 27, 2020
The move appears designed to save costs by merging Free Press operations with those of the Portsmouth Herald. Last November, the papers' parent companies, Gannett and GateHouse Media, merged.
"The unfortunate reality of this new partnership is that about two dozen press people will lose their employment," Free Press executive editor Emilie Stigliani wrote in an email. Employees at the press facility declined to comment Thursday.
The fate of 137 South Winooski Avenue, the downtown Burlington property that houses the presses, has not been decided, Stigliani said in an email. It's assessed at $1.5 million, city records show.
The paper announced the plans in an article published Thursday afternoon on its website. As part of the move, the Free Press will switch from its current tabloid format back to a traditional broadsheet. The paper will continue to publish each day and home delivery will not be affected, according to the article. The newsroom and advertising staff will remain in Burlington.
Tags: Burlington Free Press , layoffs , Gannett , Gannett-GateHouse , Web Only , Image
Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield), who proposed the amendment, told her colleagues on the House floor that allowing cannabis advertisements goes against what she believes is the bill's main intent.
"The purpose of the bill is safety for current users," Donahue said. "If there are more people who start using because they see ads, that means there are more people potentially on the highway driving impaired; there are more children exposed — the negative things that we don't want to see happening."
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , S.54 , pot bill , advertising , First Amendment , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 20, 2020
WCAX-TV weeknight news anchor Galen Ettlin and Burlington Free Press multimedia journalist Ryan Mercer separately announced their departures in social media posts this week.
Ettlin, who has spent nearly two years with WCAX, told Seven Days that he has accepted an out-of-state journalism job, though he said he can't say where it is until next week. He said working in Vermont has been a "surreal experience," particularly given the access that media has to those holding the state's highest offices.
Tags: Galen Ettlin , Ryan Mercer , Media Note , WCAX , Burlington Free Press , Web Only , Image
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Issued last September, the 3-2 decision found that government agencies can charge members of the public for copies of records, but they cannot charge people for merely viewing the records.
Some officials — including Gov. Phil Scott and Attorney General T.J. Donovan — have interpreted the decision differently, prompting lawmakers to consider whether they need to "clarify" the legislature's intent of the public records law.
"This is more than just about one office or one agency or one department," Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) said during a Thursday hearing before the House Committee on Government Operations, which she chairs. "This is intended to be a look at what, if anything, do we think needs to be done to clarify the public's right to access the operations of its government."
Tags: public records , legislators , Jeanette White , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , TJ Donovan , Jim Condos , Web Only , Image
Monday, January 6, 2020
The newspaper's founders, Paula Routly and Pamela Polston, publicly announced the transition on Monday. The development is part of Seven Days' succession plan, which began in 2009 when three veteran staffers — Cathy Resmer, Don Eggert and Colby Roberts — were named junior partners. Routly and Polston founded the paper in 1995.
The 13 workers' 1 percent holdings, combined with the three minority owners' 12 percent, represent a 49 percent ownership stake in Seven Days, a company press release said.
"We wanted to make sure the company would continue beyond us," Polston said. "We have such a great team right now."
"We want to send a message that this is a viable business, and we're here to stay," Routly added. She maintains a 51 percent stake in the company.
Tags: Seven Days , ownership , Paula Routly , Pamela Polston , Web Only , Image