Local News: Print or Online - Next Generation

"Community journalism, at its best, can be a way to bring people of different viewpoints together to work toward common goals. At a time of deep divisions, that's more important than ever before." - Ellen Clegg

Some of us like to hold a newspaper in our hands, flip the pages, carry it with us. Others find everything online and appreciate the ease of use and access from anywhere. Some appreciate and expect printing of official town notices and documentation for Town Meeting while others welcome access to everything on line.

The League of Women Voters of Brookline held a virtual discussion October 13th about these topics, with guests Ellen Clegg, a journalist for 30 years and former editor of the editorial page of the Boston Globe and Julie Rafferty, a communications and fund raising specialist for nonprofits. Together they provided background about the demise of print newspapers and their proposal to create a new non-profit publication Brookline.News to fill the void left by the discontinuation of the print Brookline Tab.

They were followed by Aone Wang and Alec Lebovitz, both Town Meeting Members from Precinct 8, who discussed Warrant Article 7 that will come before November’s Town Meeting. The Article would reduce printing and mailing costs by making digital document distribution the default for the town. Warrant Article 8, submitted by the Select Board, would amend the town's General By-laws to provide an alternative to publishing public policy notices in a newspaper of general circulation - clearly impossible if a newspaper does not exist.

Why Brookline.News? Clegg declared “local news is in crisis”. It isn't just the shutting down of the Brookline Tab in May of this year; its owner, Gannett, closed newspapers all over MA. And its online version,Wicked Local, is now regional. But this news desert began earlier. More than two thousand print newspapers nationwide have shut down in the past 15 years, and about six thousand newspaper jobs have disappeared in the past three.

What went wrong? Newspapers have depended on advertising for between 40-60 percent of their revenue. Craig's List started offering free classified advertising; now Google and Facebook control around 75% of digital advertising, with ads often down to pennies. Corporate chain and hedge fund ownership has cut into the bottom line of newspapers, stymied innovation, and taken on lots of debt - Gannett has $1 billion of debt. To make ends meet, jobs are cut, reporters are put on furlough or have unpaid leaves of absence. Many newspapers are sold or closed down.

Democracy begins at the local level, and many studies show that local news is more trusted in a time of polarization. A recent report by the Carnegie Endowment finds that local news is one of five strategies needed to sustain democracy. A lack of town coverage erodes community identity; there is less civic engagement; people vote at lower rates; and there is more corruption. Think about multiple happenings in Brookline with residents pretty much in the dark about them since the closing of the Tab: the process for hiring the new Town Administrator; the reasons for the recently hired police chief's administrative leave and subsequent firing; movement to make Brookline a city; opening of new restaurants and businesses; etc.

The Proposal: There are three goals of Brookline.News - to develop a hyperlocal news organization with a news website and print product run by paid professional journalists; to use that news entity as a test bed to train a next generation of journalists with internships from university journalism programs; and to lead by example by creating a regional ecosystem for hyperlocal news outlets.

Papers have been filed for Brookline.News as a non-profit. The founding steering committee, now the Board, is composed of co-chairs Ellen Clegg and Julie Rafferty; Colette Phillips, founder and CEO Of Colette Phillips Communications, providing diverse marketing and public relations solutions for local and global clients; Iris Adler, former executive director for programming, podcasts and special projects for WBUR’s local and national programming; Irene Sege, a Brookline resident, news reporter, feature writer and editor; and Fred Perry, businessman and former member of Brookline Advisory Committee, the Brookline Conservation Commission and co-founder of the Brookline Greenspace Alliance,

Democracy is not free, and neither is journalism. The anticipated budget is $500-$600,000/year to fund an editor, two reporters, and printing. The Board is committed to no paywall for users and to full transparency on funding. Projected funding streams are Foundation grants (20%), major individual donors (40%), voluntary reader subscriptions/membership/donation (20%) and advertising from local and regional businesses (20%).

If you want to get updates as plans progress, visit https://brookline.news.

The Brookline League of Women Voters has created and published a Voters Guide for the May town elections for many years, relying on the Tab’s printer and their distribution network. The League hopes to work with Brookline.News to keep this tradition going.

Warrant Article 7: Town Meeting Members (TMM) Aone Wang and Alec Lebovitz (Precinct 8) presented the rationale for and content of WA 7. It would reduce printing and mailing costs by making digital document distribution the default for the town. Many town by-laws currently incorporate the word “print” as the means for distribution – e.g. of town notices, of the Combined Reports on Town Meeting Warrant articles for TMMs, etc. The speakers demonstrated the cost savings of at least $50,000/year ($.5 million over 10 years), with additional savings generated by lessening or eliminating the need for town employee overtime to do all the print mailings.

They emphasized that throughout WA 7, the opportunity to request print copies is available. The WA requires timely notification by mailed postcard to all TMMs about options. They stressed that in a time of structural deficit, any savings for the Town is beneficial.

Warrant Article 8: League President Betsy DeWitt explained that many town by-laws require print notice, usually in the print version of the town’s newspaper. Making this legal change to allow, among other things, posting of relative materials on the town’s website, in public locations such as town hall, copies at town libraries, etc. could complement the intent of WA 7.

Stay tuned, join the conversation.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed discourse and active participation in government and that works to influence public policy through education and advocacy.