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MetroWest Daily News to become MetroWest Almost Daily News in print
By adamg on Wed, 01/12/2022 - 2:13pm
The Gannett-owned MetroWest Daily News and Milford Daily News announced today they are halting publication of their Saturday print editions on March 5.
Subscribers will be able to sign up for a "a full digital replica" of what the newspaper would have looked like had it still been printed that day. The papers say this actually brings some advantages, like the ability to increase the size of fonts. Also, subscribers will be able to download any digital replicas from the entire USA Today network - as well as USA Today's crossword puzzle.
The papers say the move is in response to "continued rapid shifts toward digital news consumption." Last month, Gannett, formerly known as GateHouse, completely shut what was left of its weekly paper serving West Roxbury, Roslindale, Allston and Brighton.
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Comments
Milford is a tiny place
How does it support a daily newspaper when many much bigger towns, suburbs, and cities do not?
It's a regional center
It's not Milford, but Milford and the towns around it.
In the olden days, it amazed me that places like Malden had a daily newspaper, but it made sense that Newburyport or Southbridge did, since they covered more than just their city's news.
Yes, they don't cover just Milford
But all the surrounding towns as well. I could tell stories about them, from back in my days at the Middlesex News when we competed against them (not that it was that hard), but that was a long time ago.
So in that sense, they're like the MetroWest Daily News, which started out as the Framingham News, changed its name to South Middlesex News after it expanded past Natick and Ashland, then to just Middlesex News when it expanded past the southern part of Middlesex County (even though the towns it expanded into were mostly in Worcester County, such as, oh, Milford, and Norfolk County, well, along with some towns that were no longer quite so southern, like Maynard), then just finally gave up and made up a new name that proved remarkably resilient (I mean, there's even a MetroWest Medical Center now).
Before 495 was built Milford
Before 495 was built Milford was a vibrant industrial and commercial center surrounded by rural communities. Now it's just another highway town with a downtown that's barely surviving, although the folks from Mendon, Uxbridge, Hopedale still refer to it as "the city", albeit half jokingly. Anyway, its history as a regional center and being located roughly at the midpoint between Worcester and Providence created a viable market for a local paper. I agree that today it seems random, but given the history it makes more sense.
By the way, a population of 30,000 isn't exactly "tiny".
Ditto for Marlboro
Which at one point had three daily papers covering it, all with at least one full-time reporter (the News, the Telegram and Gazette and the Enterprise). Ditto for neighboring Hudson.
Metrowest Daily News, etc.
Gannett no longer publishes on certain holidays, nationwide. You really have to wonder if the dailys around the country will make it past 2022.
A handful of the Gannett
A handful of the Gannett papers did print on 12/24-25 & 12/31-1/1- believe the Providence Journal was among those few
Gannett also stopped Saturday editions of the Quincy Patriot-Ledger, Cape Cod Times, and a handful of other papers in MA
Magoo sez
Magoo is thinking about starting a weekly email called Magoo’s Mail. Magoo’s mail will feature current events and such. Any interest? Magoo.
If this is for real, I will
If this is for real, I will get it and cancel my Globe!
Magoo Direct™
Coming soon to a slippery plastic bag on your steps.
Pretty sure
we already see enough plastic bags full of Magoo's content littering our city streets...
no
n/t