Head of the Eagle Takes Flight

Photo credit: The Dundalk Eagle. Steve Matrazzo and former owner Deborah Cornely

The long-time editor of the Dundalk Eagle, Steve Matrazzo, is out, according to a staffer that answered the phone at the paper.

A source contacted me with the information, and I followed up with a phone call to the paper to verify the news. When asked, the staffer replied that Mr. Matrazzo was no longer working at the Eagle and referred my request for a comment to the paper’s new General Manager, Paul Rosenberger.

Recently the Eagle was sold to Minneapolis-based Adams Publishing Group (APG), which also owns The Avenue, another local community paper that publishes out of Essex. APG also owns numerous other publications around the country.

The Eagle was known as a family owned and operated news publication for many years. Sadly, as with many locally owned publications, profit (or lack thereof) trumped local ownership.

Matrazzo’s career at the Eagle began in 2006, and he eventually became editor, succeeding Wayne Laufer. Matrazzzo began writing the column “The Talk of the Town” in 2009—that column covered a variety of topics from the local and national scene.

Matrazzo received numerous awards during his career as a journalist, including his most recent—The National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing. This was one of many accolades for Matrazzo during his long and distinguished career in the newspaper business.

Sadly, Mr. Matrazzo recently moved to the Dundalk area. Here’s hoping he can find another place locally to hang his journalistic hat, so to speak.

The Eagle now lists Bill Gates as Associate Editor.

I will wait to hear from Mr. Rosenberger before commenting further on this game changer.