Worcester Media Landscape is Now in Chaos

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

GoLocalProv Business Team

In just the past few months the leading newspaper has sold three times, the top talk radio host moved to Atlanta, dozens of journalists have been laid off, and according to data, if central Massachusetts resident are anything like the rest of the world their media behavior has transformed to a "digital first" or nearly digital-only behavior.

It may be the second largest city in New England, but Worcester is the only major city in New England without its own licensed TV station. The lack of TV coupled with the steep decline of the longstanding daily newspaper has created a transformation in media - a proverbial jump ball for consumers' attention and engagement.

While small cities like Bangor, Maine (population 33,000) and Burlington, Vermont (42,000) each have multiple television stations, Worcester with a population of more than 182,000 but is nothing more than a broadcast suburb of Boston.

Former Telegram Building, left polluted by the NYT, now rehabbed

Telegram Once Stable is Now In Steep Decline

The recent departure of investigative reporter Tom Caywood from the Worcester Telegram is just the latest of more than 30 to be laid off -- or who quit -- the Telegram in the past nine months.

For decades the delivery of local news was consistent -- the Worcester Telegram and Gazette was the only game in town. The Telegram and the Gazette were once separate newspapers and in 1986 the two papers were merged form separate papers with one delivering in the morning and the other delivering in the evening into the combined paper morning edition.

The newspaper news structure and staffing and the content remained fairly consistent until the paper was sold to the New York Times Company in 1995 for $295 million. The building was sold to the New York Times Company in a separate transaction. Once the Times Company took over, the Telegram lost its local ownership and local touch.

During the past 16 months the Telegram has been sold three times. First, the Telegram was sold by the New York Times Company as part of the deal with the Boston Globe and some other media assets to John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, for $70 million. Then, after John Henry had pledged to find a local ownership group or continue to operate it, the paper was sold to Halifax Media Group headquartered in Daytona Beach Florida. Then, just a few months later Halifax sold it to New Media Investment Group in New York. New Media is the publicly traded parent company to GateHouse media who will operate the Telegram. GateHouse emerged from bankruptcy after shedding more than $1.2 billion in debt just a little over a year ago.

The decline at the Telegram in revenue and circulation is consistent with national numbers. U.S. newspaper ad spending has declined 56 percent from $48.5 billion in 2004 to $21.4 billion in 2014. U.S. newspaper employees have fallen from near 60,000 in 1990 to nearly 35,000 today, creating challenges around value creation for readers.

Former Telegram editor Harry Whitin told CommonWealth magazine in an interview regarding the sale by John Henry that was published in November of 2014, “Your sales agents are marketing the T&G as a bloated organization that seems to be making a profit in spite of itself,” Whitin wrote in his letter (to John Henry, owner of the Globe and at the time the Telegram). “They are telling potential owners that cost-cutting, including staff reductions of between 20 and 30 percent, will produce a sustainable business model with a stronger bottom line. That’s really putting a lot of lipstick on the pig. It actually means a diminished product, which in turn means erosion of advertising and circulation and the eventual loss of a strong independent newspaper in New England’s second-largest city.”

Lots of change in talk radio including one station that left Worcester

Not Just the Telegram

Maybe no city in America has seen so many changes in the media landscape in such a short time. The last three years stand in contrast to decades of one newspaper stability.

The changes started in 2012 and have only increased in pace through to today. Michael Graham, the conservative talk show host that anchored WCRN in Worcester, left for a job in Atlanta, Georgia. Then this past fall, the station packed up and moved out of Worcester over a weekend -- without even an announcement -- to go to Westborough, Massachusetts.

Long time editor of Worcester Magazine Brittany Durgin left the alternative weekly to go to graduate school. The highly respected Durgin spearheaded the magazine for more than five years.

Jim Polito left WTAG to go to Fox Boston and was replaced by Paul Westcott. In August, Westcott was out and he was replaced by Polito. The only radio constant in the news and talk space in central Mass is former Mayor Jordan Levy who covers afternoon drive time.

Digital Growth

The transformation has been driven by the changing consumer media behaviors, who want their information delivered via digital platforms to their smartphones, tablets and laptops rather than printed on paper. Second, new data from Pew Research shows that social media continues to have a greater role in consumers' lives. “Facebook continues to be the most popular social media site, but its membership saw little change from 2013. The one notable exception is older adults: For the first time in Pew Research findings, more than half (56%) of internet users ages 65 and older use Facebook. Overall, 71% of internet users are on Facebook,” said a January 2015 report from Pew.

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Changing Media Landscape

The Worcester media is in a constant state of change.

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New Magazine

Worcester Journal

This new magazine is lead by James Dempsey, the former Telegram reporter and columnist who teaches at WPI.

The Worcester Journal is designed to be the place for emerging new writers in Central Massachusetts.

As the magazine describes itself:

The Worcester Journal is a magazine of excellent writing by new writers. We reach out to all promising and talented writers in Central Massachusetts and beyond, whether or not they are connected to educational institutions, and help them produce, edit, publish, and distribute their work in an attractive, professional form. The Journal will also feature the work of young photographers.

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Durgin Leaves

Brittany Durgin

Former Editor-in-Chief of Worcester Magazine

On December 24, Brittany Durgin finished her time with Worcester Magazine after nearly six years. Durgin began as a temporary staff photographer in 2009, but worked her way up the ranks, serving as Online Editor for two years, before serving the last two years as Editor-in-Chief.

So what's in store for Durgin now? She is going to back to school. Starting in January, Durgin will be working on a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science at Simmons. Fittingly, Durgin was also recently selected to serve on the Worcester Public Library's Board of Directors.

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Atlanta bound

Michael Graham

Talk Show Host WCRN

Graham was a big time talent and far bigger than the AM station. Graham packed up and left Worcester for Atlanta in 2014.

Today, he is a top local voice in the South. He commands over 18,000 Facebook Likes.

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Caywood Quits

Tom Caywood

Investigative Reporter, Worcester Telelgram

The remianing investigative reporter at the Telegram quit. He outlined that he had only received one pay increase in seven years.

Now, Caywood is looking at the next phase of his career.

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Sutner Quit

Sean Sutner

Investigative Reporter, Worcester Telegram

Like Caywood, Sutner was an investigative reporter for the Telegram. He left the paper in the summer of 2014 to take a position with Tech Target.

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Polito Returns

Jim Polito

Talk Host, WTAG

He left to go to Fox Boston and then returned like the prodigal son. Made his bones as a TV reporter in Springfield. He returns to Worcester to try and bring the magic back to the AM station.

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The Constant

Jordan Levy

Talk Host, WTAG

The former Mayor of Worcester is the steady voice of Worcester. He has been the glue that has kept WTAGconsistent over the past decade. Once a member of the City Council, then he was the first popularly elected mayor in 40 years when he won the office in 1987.

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Short-term

Paul Westcott

Talk Host, WTAG

Westcott hosted the moring show after Polito and before the return of Polito. He came to the station from New Hampshire and did a solid job for a guy outside of the market.