I was shocked along with everyone else today when I learned the news of the closing of all Village Soup operations in the mid-coast area. Unfortunately, those of us who have spent a good part of our working life in the newspaper business could see the writing on the wall.
Had I written a review of Village Soup publications lately, I’m afraid it might not have been a good report. The problem I think from the beginning was that the management never understood what their “meat and potatoes” audience required from their local newspaper. Whereas the community can appreciate the arts we are fortunate to enjoy in our area, we don’t need a whole newspaper basically devoted to them. There are other publications that can do a better job of it.
Then too there are the traditions we depended on every year from The Courier Gazette. We knew that at Christmas time we could always look forward to seeing a local mother with her newly born child in her arms, dressed like Mary, and set up in a staged manger in someone’s local barn. It took some effort to dress the mother like Mary and set the whole thing up. We appreciated the effort. One year the mother and baby were my sister-in-law, Natalie and my nephew, Steven Sylvester.
Also who can forget the big picture and story on page one of the newest Sea Goddess every year?
If the Village Soup organization had taken the time to do a better focus group study, they may have avoided the pitfalls they fell into.
The Courier Gazette had its critics too, don’t get me wrong. There were gripes about it not being “national” enough. Only local news was covered. On the other hand, they covered stories that the Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News didn’t cover.
I have written more than one story which included my memories of the old Courier office on Main Street, which I worked in for a few summers. We were a family who worked together toward a common goal—getting the paper to bed three times a week. We also played together. I seem to remember the guys sometimes had a poker night, or went bowling together. Our big daddy, Sid Cullen, oversaw our efforts and supported us in our private lives as well as at the paper. He also put on a good lobster feed for us every summer at his place by the ocean.
If you want to reread these stories go to the archives and look for “Santa’s Mailbox,” Dec. 2011; “The Courier Company Picnic,” May 2011; “…and then the web broke,” May 2011. You might also enjoy Emmett Meara’s story, “The End of an Era,” which appeared on the blog in Feb. 2012.
I must admit that I was excited when The Village Soup was pointed out to me as an online newspaper. At that time, they were competing with the Courier site. They were winning that battle and maybe they should have stuck to that format. I very much enjoyed getting my hometown news from the Soup’s site.
I would also like to thank Dagney Ernest for mentoring me and providing a forum spot on the online Village Soup for my first blogging efforts. Some of my stories were even printed in the paper. I do also appreciate the coverage I got in the paper when I was promoting my book. Thank you.
Here is the story posted on today’s Village Soup Knox website:
Dear Bar Harbor Times, Capital Weekly, VillageSoup Gazette, VillageSoup Journal and the Scene subscribers, readers and users of our respective websites:
It is with deep regret that I inform you that effective Friday, March 9, 2012, we will discontinue these publications. The company will cease operation beyond that which is necessary to complete the closure process.
The profound changes in the newspaper publishing business, a weak economy and our investment in new products created severe financial challenges. Over the recent months, I have worked with outside professionals to achieve a financial restructuring that would allow us to continue. These efforts failed as of 3 p.m. today, March 9, 2012. We can no longer sustain our operations.
I am deeply saddened by the disruption this brings to the lives of our 56 dedicated staff members.
I am grateful for the loyal support and participation of current subscribers, members, users, advertisers, vendors and my staff. I am confident that others will step forward and replace the loss of professional journalism and community service previously provided by our publications.
Respectfully,
Richard M. Anderson
Here are excerpts from the Bangor Daily News, BDN Business site online as they appeared today:
These are quotes from that story today:
“I’m shocked and saddened,” said Rockland Mayor Brian Harden. “I loved my Courier, whether it was to read the obituaries or to see who had been arrested. A community our size needs to have a newspaper.”
Harden, who is a member of the Rockland Historical Society, said he has grown up reading the Courier and believes a newspaper is important for an informed citizenry. (Notice that he, like many others still called the paper the Courier.)
“Whether or not I liked what was written, it was important that something was written,” the mayor said.
Raymond Gross, who worked for The Courier Gazette for 33 years and retired in 1991 as publisher, said he is sad to hear of the closure but said he had seen the handwriting on the wall.
“I don’t think he [Anderson] wanted to be involved in the print media,” Gross said.
He said he understands the difficulties that newspapers are experiencing but that a county seat needs to have a newspaper. The retired publisher said he hopes someone will come in and start a new newspaper.
Belfast Mayor Walter Ash Jr. said he also was saddened by the news, particularly since the Journal had been such a part of Belfast.
“It hasn’t been the same paper the last two to three years,” Ash said. “A lot of people I talked to had not been buying it anymore. It’s been a long time since I bought one.”
Earl Brechlin, editor of The Mount Desert Islander and a former editor of the Bar Harbor Times, also expressed sadness.
“It’s a sad day when an institution of nearly 100 years evaporates,” Brechlin said.
Brechlin worked at the Bar Harbor Times in two stints totaling 18 years including 10 years as its editor.
Here’s what Anderson had to say in June 2008:
“We will transform the way these newspapers do business as well as how they serve their communities, all to the benefit of readers, advertisers and organizations across the region. We will breathe new life into these newspapers by combining energetic local journalism with a forum for neighbors to share their views and a place for local businesses and organizations to serve in new ways,” Anderson stated on the VillageSoup website in June 2008.
He founded a website in 1997 and started the weekly Knox County Times newspaper in 2003 and the weekly Waldo County Citizen newspaper in 2004. He closed those papers when he purchased the Courier Publications papers. He also closed the Waldo Independent when he purchased those papers and merged it into The Republican Journal.
Anderson, through RMA Properties, sold in January the building at 301 Park St. in Rockland that had been the headquarters of VillageSoup’s operations and Village Soup Gazette. The building was sold to Knox County for $500,000 for the expansion of its public safety facilities. Village NetMedia had until March 30 to leave the building and had not announced a new location.
RMA Properties owns the property where the printing plant was located at 1 Gordon Drive in Rockland.
The Future for Newspapers in our Area
So what does the future hold for newspapers in our area? We still have the Free Press, a good paper to be sure. Maybe they will expand their operations to print on more days of the week. Look also for the Rocktown Rag, an artistic publication currently being promoted online by our friend Tim Sullivan, to move forward with their plans for a printed piece.
Whatever happens I hope that we will once again have a true “hometown newspaper” to open and read with pleasure.
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