Patch In New Hampshire Becomes A Preteen: Here’s To Turning The Awkward Age Of 12

CONCORD, NH — It has been 12 years since Patch started online news and community websites in New Hampshire.

In other words, Patch has become that awkward preteen in media circles in the state.

The lights were turned on here at 3 p.m. on June 17, 2011. Patch started with the flagship site in Concord, along with nine others. Two more were added later, bringing us to 12. After AOL sold the majority share of the company to Hale Global, a statewide news site and a Manchester newsletter site were added, bringing us to 14 out of around 1,250 sites nationwide.

Since most Patch readers are adults and you all grew through the awkward years, you know what I mean when I joke about being an awkward preteen.

Gone are the years when you were a baby or toddler and were fawned all over for being cute and cuddly — the shiny new thing. You were allowed to be creative but not too much. Things seemed silly when they were severe and the silly things were overblown to the point of calamity and crisis. And you were given excuses for being a little odd but also were allowed to find your inner self.

We live in complicated times. We always have. And I am not just speaking about everything going on nationally. It is local, too. As hard as we work today in media, we only scratch the surface of what is happening and what you need to know.

And, frankly, having been perusing the archives of newspapers the past few years, when legacy media outlets were adequately staffed, many didn’t tell readers what was happening. That is one of the big myths I have learned after more than 35 years in media and politics: the good old days were not all that great, even if we thought they were.

Today, one could contend readers have more information in front of them than ever before. Does this mean the current state of our media is ideal? No. But many people are working hard to get you as much information as possible against all kinds of walls and impediments. And those outlets are working with a fraction of the expense and revenue — with much bigger audiences than in the past.

Tony Schinella, Jeffrey Hastings of Frame of Mind Photography, and Nancy West of InDepthNH.org at the 2022 New Hampshire Press Association Distinguished Journalism Awards Banquet.

More Awards In 2023

On Thursday, Patch in New Hampshire earned nine more New Hampshire Press Association Distinguished Journalism Contest awards for the news cycle of 2022 — five for me and four for Jeffrey Hastings, one of our news partners, who is a photographer (he won about a half-dozen other awards for his site and other work).

Since Patch has a single employee in the state, our work falls into the Class II, small news organization category of one to four employees. This cycle, there were changes in the categories, after tweaks in previous years, too, that have streamlined the process. Many weekly newspapers and even NH Journal, a Patch news partner that won awards last year, did not offer entries, disappointingly.

Many media outlets have winnowed away into smaller news operations than there were in the past (and in some cases, fewer larger ones). This year, there were nine news orgs in the Class I category — 5 or more employees, and 10 news orgs in the Class II category with four or fewer employees. A few Class II category entrants used to have more than four employees. One has four, while three others have more than four people paid some money (either part-time or a stipend). Eighteen awards went to those news orgs.

In other words, the competition was fiercer. So, winning five awards is a significant accomplishment.

Also Read: Patch Wins 9 NH Press Association Distinguished Journalism Awards

Admittedly, when analyzing the body of work from last year while putting the entries together, I was not as impressed with some of the stories produced compared to prior years. And 2022 was a busy year for Patch in New Hampshire, with thousands of posts and stories that generated 8.9 million page views (in my name alone).

Self-reflection is a good exercise even when the award deadline is looming … it helps to give a year’s worth of work a healthy overview. When entering something for an award, it needs to be remarkable. And unique things are not always easy to produce compared to the daily grind of churning out news copy.

Fun Fact: About half the city, each day, visits the Concord NH Patch site.

Judge's Comments

On Saturday, the press association released a complete list of winners and some of the judge’s comments. These are always fun to read.

For the three stories about the “Retired Concord Couple Missing, Found Murdered,” which won first place for Spot News, the judge said, “I was impressed with the speed and accompanying video of this story. This spot news developed into a much bigger story.” Truth, indeed it did!

For the “Dead Body Found In Merrimack River: Video” Spot News third place prize, the judge said, “Spot news of a death, and one as public as this one, with video, is compelling.”

In Government Reporting, “NH Legislative Garage Project Could Be A Windfall For Developers,” came in second place. The judge wrote: “There's extra money burning a hole in the pockets of our elected leaders and they just want to spend it. But should it be done on a new parking garage for lawmakers? That's the very question Tony Schinella asks — and one he asked quite well — providing readers with every single pertinent detail and leaving the final call up to them.” Exactly!

The state and nation have been hit with all these school shooter hoaxes, putting people on edge. That drama was not lost on the judge who awarded “New Hampshire Schools Hit With 'Active Shooter' Hoaxes: Watch” first-place for Best Use of Video: “The lights, sirens and scanner traffic really add to the drama of this video. This is a perfect example of how video can tell a story that just can't be as easily portrayed via the written word alone.” This is one of the reasons I love producing videos.

One of the coolest stories, I think, I put together last year was about Ted Arcidi, a former wrestler, weightlifter, and business owner, purchasing Ryefield Farm, a 125-acre corn and hay farm in Milford along Route 101A, preserving it from development (“Former WWF Wrestler Saves 125 Acres Of Farmland In Milford: Watch”). The story was picked up nationally, which was excellent. The judge found the wind noise distracting and wanted to see a more extended tour of the property, both relevant points. “Great profile on a great subject,” they wrote. “Really entertaining interview … (and) overall a terrific accompaniment to the written piece.”

For the next six months of the year, I’ll work harder to find more interesting stories and information to share. Stay tuned.

Most Read Stories, 12-Year Edition

Here are the most-read posts on Patch during the past 12 years:

1. 'She Made a Lot of Bad Decisions': Family's Heartbreaking Obituary for NH Woman Who Died of Heroin Overdose
2. 10 Things Every High School Graduate Should Hear
3. NH Educator Becomes One Of The Oldest Women To Give Birth In U.S.
4. NWS Issues NH Winter Weather Advisory for Upcoming Multifaceted Storm
5. UFO Update: Craft Was Seen in Concord, Boscawen
6. Shredded Chicken — Who Knew it Was So Easy?
7. More UFO Lights Seen Over Concord
8. 2 People Dead At Bedford Hotel; Guest Describes 'Machete Attack'
9. Immigration Checkpoint On Major New Hampshire Highway
10. Couple Going At It On Hood Of Car Arrested: Cops
11. 8 Tiny Houses for Sale in NH
12. Dead Body Found In Merrimack River: Video

Fun fact: Between Sept. 4, 2014, and June 16, 2023, the 14 Patch sites in New Hampshire derived more than 119.8 million page views.

There was no b-day cake this year … too busy. But enjoy the past birthday cake and singalongs below (Read the 8th and 9th b-day posts for more profound overviews of the history of Patch in New Hampshire).

Celebrating B-Days At Patch In NH

• Happy Birthday, New Hampshire Patch 'Goes To 11': Watch

• NH Patch Turns 10; Editor Named Journalist Of The Year Finalist
• Patch In New Hampshire Turns 9: Thank You, Concord!
• Concord NH Patch Turns 8: Thank You, Capital Region Readers!
• Concord NH Patch Turns 6
• Concord NH Patch Turns 5
• Concord NH Patch Turns 4
• Happy Birthday Concord NH Patch!
• Where is the 2nd Birthday post? I have no idea …
• Happy Birthday, Concord NH Patch!

I’ll close this birthday column by saying, again, “thank you” to all of you. I know that times are complicated and you have various media options to give your time to. I’m exceedingly grateful for your time.

At the same time, because you know there is competition in our news market and technology is changing how we receive news, I have some requests.

First, if you are not subscribed to Patch newsletters in your city or town, click here and enter your community or zip code.

Patch has very active Classified and Calendar sections. Notes and info can also be posted in the Neighbor Posts section. When you visit our sites, nose around a bit — on many of them, there are all kinds of things going on, with the newsletter providing the best way of accessing them.

If you run a business, reach out to our Advertising team. Patch offers a big bang for the buck, and when you advertise, I stay employed, which is a good thing, right?

And, yes, please keep the news tips coming. I cannot get to all of them, but I do try.

Thank you all so much for making the last year a successful one.

Got a news tip? Could you send it to tony.schinella@patch.com? View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.