The Loss of Local News—A Good Story

Episode 77

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The Loss of Local News—A Good Story
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Stat: 47 percent: The percentage decline of newsroom employees at newspapers between 2008 and 2018.

Story: Newspapers are cutting staff or closing altogether, but in the final episode of our local news series we visit The Berkshire Eagle in western Massachusetts, which is bucking that trend. We speak to the publisher and editor who are adding reporters and to community leaders who value a local paper in their civic life.  

Related resources:

Now That’s a Good Story: News Revival in Berkshires

Fredric D. Rutberg: Support Local Journalism Because It’s Good for You

U.S. Newsroom Employment Has Dropped by a Quarter Since 2008, With Greatest Decline at Newspapers

New PEN America Report Shows Local Watchdog Journalism Faces a Crisis Moment

Melissa Baehr of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, subscribes to the local paper, The Berkshire Eagle. Every morning before work as a program administrator at a local nonprofit, Baehr completes her daily ritual of buying her local paper at Palmer’s Variety Store a few blocks from home.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Dan LeDuc, host of “After the Fact,” speaks with Melissa Baehr in her office at Berkshire Community Action Council about the importance of her local newspaper. Baehr’s work as a program administrator requires her to rely on volunteer support for programs such as the annual children’s winter clothing drive in December.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Melissa Baehr reads The Berkshire Eagle in her office at Berkshire Community Action Council. “I think that social media and the internet really puts [out] just headlines, instead of digging deeper. And I think that, for me, that’s what the [local] paper is—it’s about digging deeper and getting to the real stories and the pulse of things,” said Baehr, “and I feel like sometimes that’s lost on the internet.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Peter Marchetti is city council president of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and a lifelong resident of the Berkshires. Through his work on the city council he notices the impact a local daily newspaper has within a community. “Ironically, when you ask a political figure what their opinion is of the media the answer is it depends on the day of the week and it depends on the issue,” said Marchetti. “But [The Berkshire Eagle is] putting out the information so that the general public knows what we’re doing [and] they’re reporting the stories as accurately as they can. They’re local reporters, so they know the players.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Carole Siegel reads The Berkshire Eagle at her home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Siegel has lived in the Berkshires for over 50 years and has seen the changes her local newspaper has undergone over the years. “When I first came here, The Berkshire Eagle had an amazing reputation,” said Siegel. “I read it every day, which I still do. I’m sad that it’s [now] much smaller than it was in those days.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Dan LeDuc sits down with Peter Marchetti and Carole Siegel at Dottie’s Coffeehouse and Lounge in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to talk about their community, civic life, and the value they each hold for their local newspaper, The Berkshire Eagle.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Copies of The Berkshire Eagle are spread out on a table at Dottie’s Coffeehouse and Lounge in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. “A lot of political people meet here for conversations [and] a lot of political rallies have taken place here,” said Peter Marchetti, city council president of Pittsfield, “so it’s kind of like a small, niche coffee shop that has opened its doors for all kinds of community activity.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Dan LeDuc interviews Fred Rutberg, publisher of The Berkshire Eagle, and Kevin Moran, executive editor, at The Eagle’s newsroom in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The newspaper has been with local ownership for four years. “We remember when The Eagle was a much [grander] paper than it was back in 2014, and it was the town square,” said Rutberg, “I used to say it was required reading. People would [quote] sentences assuming you’d read the paper in the morning. And it had let go of that under corporate ownership.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Fred Rutberg walks with Dan LeDuc down a hallway in The Berkshire Eagle newsroom. The walls display framed photographs that show the history of the paper, as well as some notable stories The Eagle has published over the years.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Berkshire Eagle’s printing press is located on-site. This intricate machine can cost tens of millions of dollars and reach seven stories high. While noisy, the press delicately imprints ink onto newsprint and assembles the newspaper into the correct sequence for distribution.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Above, copies of The Berkshire Eagle come off the printing press, ready for delivery.
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts
Kevin Moran, executive editor (left), and Fred Rutberg, publisher of The Berkshire Eagle, and their newsroom employees are working to bring quality back to The Eagle. “We’re developing what I like to call an “emotional connection” with our readers,” said Moran. “The saddest thing that can happen is when your local newspaper closes and no one cries.”
Dana Ullman for The Pew Charitable Trusts