Dear Neighbor,
THIS IS NOT A "NEWS" LETTER
If you've been reading this "newsletter" for a while, you know that it rarely has breaking "news," Sometimes I'll describe a particular day's activities or a bill the Senate voted on. Mostly I write when I have time to talk about a particular issue.
Would you like to know more about what I'm testifying on or what local events I'm attending? My communications director, Laura Gomez-Arango, posts regularly about those. You can follow me on Facebook and Threads to get some updates. We no longer post on Twitter: let me know if you agree or not.
Next week is budget week, so we'll post about that pretty often.
It's not always that easy to learn about the legislature from metro news sources. In a recent Commonwealth column, Margaret Monsell of Cambridge noted that even the Globe, which reports at length on Patriots coaches and now covers RI and NH, has reduced coverage of the State House. Neither metro nor local papers generally report roll call results in news stories. Local papers often carry roll call votes from Beacon Hill Roll Call.
DISAPPEARING LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
The local newspapers we counted on for generations have been downsized, consolidated, and eliminated.
The Somerville Journal, for example, was founded in 1870 Kat Powers, who was editor from 2000 to 2012, wrote in the short-lived Somerville Wire that "We had two full-time reporters, one part-time sports reporter, a part-time guy who typed out and formatted SpeakOut, plus a typist/calendar/secretary/good egg I split with Cambridge and Watertown. I also paid for a columnist."
The Journal made a difference with its reporting and editorials. It was so widely read that before the 1979 primary, supporters of mayor Tommy August bought out newstand copies of the Journal containing an endorsement opposing his re-election. While August won the primary, he lost to Gene Brune in November.
In recent years, there was a single staff member, and then in March 2022, Gannett stopped printing 19 local newspapers, and merged 9 into 4. Among the mergers: the Arlington Advocate with the Winchester Star, and the Medford Transcript with the Somerville Journal. Now you can read the Medford/Somerville Transcript & Journal and learn NOTHING about either city. Instead, you can enjoy articles about Natick, Norton, Framingham, Northboro, and other places.
Today Gannett papers no longer run editorials or endorsements. Just as well, since they don't know the communities they "cover."
LOCAL NEWS SOURCES
Fortunately, some local news sources continue or emerge. You may want to subscribe (free) and support those in your community:
Cambridge Day, both online and print, covers Cambridge AND Somerville
Winchester News online (subscribe at bottom of their page)
The Somerville Times both online and print
More on local sources next time. Send your suggestions!
"WHEN LOCAL PAPERS DIE, THE GHOULS RUSH IN"
Jim Hightower wrote a terrifying newsletter about what the loss of local media means, with the above title.
He reported that, as of 2022, the country had lost 1/4 of its local papers since 2005. And the control is now far away: Gannett controls over 1000 "local" news outlets, and over 100 dailies. Gannett itself is owned by SoftBank Group, a multibillion-dollar Japanese financial consortium.
Hightower wrote that "the greatest loss is in civic power...A decent local newspaper (printed or digital) is a community’s main repository of shared information, its broadest public forum for shaping and monitoring a common agenda, and its principal means of exposing corporate and governmental corruption–and rallying opposition to it."
Metric Media has 14 "local" "news" "papers" in Massachusetts, though not in our district. Hightower reports that Metric Media has run tens of thousands of Fake News articles claiming that the Critical Race Theory is infiltrating public education, in order "to demonize and 'replace' white society with un-Christian multicultural rule."
I'm pretty worried about these trends, and may write more about them. As usual, I love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Where do you get local news?
Now I'll go back to looking at the 1100 proposed amendments to the Senate budget...
Stay in touch,
Pat Jehlen