Gannett pulls plug on more newspapers

but still printing on paper, at least for now. I don't think many people are still reading either one, though :-(

As a former Newton Tab reporter (back in the day when the paper first started) watching the decline of the Tab chain has been horrible. The last year or so local reporting has disappeared in favor of using handouts from local organizations or articles from Gannett's daily newspapers without any insertion of local relevance.

Without the paper being available at local libraries, stores, and apartment buildings I'm afraid that the community is losing a source for general understanding of what's happening around them. If only the move to electronic-only would allow Gannett to put their resources towards reporting- but I don't hold out much hope.

There are some online alternatives (Newton's Village 14 is one) and I would hope some citizen journalists would take up the job of informing the community. Local government needs to be held accountable, issues of resource use, influence of special interest groups etc.- all are topics that local journalists have monitored in the past. There is still a need for this work.

Here: Gannett goes on a massive spree of closing and merging weekly newspapers

19 papers closing entirely

4 mergers, turning 9 papers into 4

Surviving intact for now at least: Cambridge, Belmont, Concord, and Lexington weekly papers. (The Concord paper absorbed the Lincoln one a few years ago.)

Especially for print. And by the time a story makes it into a weekly, even if written by a good journalist, most people in a community will have heard about the covered events on Facebook, Nextdoor, Patch, etc. or through word of mouth.

Advertisers have switched to online platforms because they're getting bigger bang for their bucks, and that's not going to change.

Harumph!

As long as I can get my Worcester Evening Telegram and a good five-cent cigar, everything's all right in the world.

oooops... Evening Gazette

Telegram was the morning paper