Stonebridge Press
Encyclopedia
Stonebridge Press Inc. is a privately held newspaper
company based in Southbridge, Massachusetts
. It was formed October 27, 1995, to operate the newspapers acquired through the purchase of Worcester County Newspapers.
In addition to its Massachusetts operations, the company owns the Salmon Press group of weekly newspapers of New Hampshire and also publishes four weekly newspapers in Northeast Connecticut under the name Villager Newspapers. In total, Stonebridge Press, Inc. publishes 23 newspapers with reaching over 200,000 households in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.
In addition to the daily paper, Stonebridge Press publishes three paid-subscription weeklies, all with circulations below 3,000; and eight total-market news weeklies, delivered to every home in the towns they cover.
Throughout its distribution area, Stonebridge's primary competitor is the daily Telegram & Gazette of Worcester
. It also competes in Winchendon with The Gardner News
, in Connecticut with the Norwich Bulletin
, and in the Blackstone Valley with The Milford Daily News
.
purchased the newspapers that now make up Stonebridge in a foreclosure sale from Loren F. Ghiglione in 1995. The price was not disclosed.
The deal, brokered by Fidelity Investments
' Community Newspaper Company
subsidiary -- one of Ghiglione's largest creditors -- suddenly ended a 26-year run of media expansion described by one observer as "Loren Ghiglione's News Empire".
s, specialty publications and shoppers
in adjacent communities, some 20 in all. By 1988, the chain had a circulation of 241,000, said to be the largest overall readership of any publishing company in the region. Ghiglione also oversaw a healthy commercial printing operation at the newspaper presses.
In addition to the Evening News and what became the Stonebridge weeklies, Worcester County Newspapers included several titles that were eventually folded: The Voice, a weekly covering Boylston
, Northborough
, Shrewsbury
and Westborough, Massachusetts
; Wachusett People, a shopper in Holden
and West Boylston, Massachusetts
; a chain of three Weekender shoppers in southern Worcester County
; The Observer Patriot, a weekly in Putnam, Connecticut
; and the Jaffrey-Rindge Chronicle in Jaffrey, New Hampshire
.
By the end of the decade, however, Ghiglione's "empire" began to look overextended and uneconomic. In 1986 he had paid US$3 million for two state-of-the-art presses at Worcester County Newspapers' Auburn plant. In 1987, he'd bought Worcester Magazine
, an alternative newsweekly with a large staff. As the 1990s approached, the region entered an economic recession, tanking demand for commercial printing, while newsprint
costs went up. In 1992, the competitor Telegram & Gazette daily in Worcester beefed up its suburban coverage with zoned editions, dealing another setback to Worcester County Newspapers.
Ghiglione attempted to stay afloat by reorganizing. He had already sold Worcester Magazine in 1990; in early 1995 he shuttered the Shrewsbury, Holden, and Putnam papers, which were losing money. The Evening News dropped its Saturday edition and switched to tabloid-sized newsprint. The Auburn printing plant was sold to Community Newspaper Company
. Following the loss of the Auburn plant, the remaining newspapers were printed by contract with Turley Publications
' presses in Palmer, Massachusetts
.
It wasn't enough. Ghiglione was bankrupt, and deeded the company over to Community Newspaper in October, effectively firing his 87 employees. Only 58 were rehired by Stonebridge. The papers were said to have a combined circulation of 90,000 at the time of the sale, far less than half the company's peak readership in the 1980s.
, a museum of journalism in Washington, D.C.
At the time of the sale, some of Ghiglione's former associates faulted him for spending too much time on news theory and high-flown journalism, and not enough on basic community news. George Geers, a longtime Southbridge Evening News editor, said "He was very good and very successful at playing the role of a small-town editor who could mingle and hold his own with big city, big paper publishers. ... But the issues he was really concerned with were not the local issues. The people of Southbridge were concerned with overcrowding at the high school or building a new police station, and Loren just wasn't all that interested in those things."
Stonebridge Press expanded into northeastern Connecticut
in 2005 by bringing back the Putnam weekly (christened the Putnam Villager) and two (later three) other free weekly newspapers, all under the Villager banner. The Villager name is also used for new free weekly newspapers started in July 2007 as The Sturbridge Villager, serving every home in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
as well as every home in Wales, Holland, and Brimfield, Massachusetts
. At the same time, the company launched the Charlton Villager, reaching every home in Charlton, Massachusetts
http://interestalert.com/story/07250000aaa03871.prn/siteia/PUBLISHI/publishing.html. It was also during this period that a new competitor entered the marketplace, The Tantasqua Town Common, started by Turley Publications, based in Palmer, Massachusetts. http://www.sturbridgetimes.com/images/times08.pdf) It also marked a period of change in circulation and distribution, as the Webster Times, Spencer New Leader and Blackstone Valley Tribune were converted to free total market coverage weeklies, mailed to each home in the papers' coverage areas. By remaining "relentlessly local", the company has been successful in outperforming larger daily newspapers, even during the economic turbulence of 2008-2010.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
company based in Southbridge, Massachusetts
Southbridge, Massachusetts
The Town of Southbridge is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,719 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. It was formed October 27, 1995, to operate the newspapers acquired through the purchase of Worcester County Newspapers.
In addition to its Massachusetts operations, the company owns the Salmon Press group of weekly newspapers of New Hampshire and also publishes four weekly newspapers in Northeast Connecticut under the name Villager Newspapers. In total, Stonebridge Press, Inc. publishes 23 newspapers with reaching over 200,000 households in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Holdings
The Southbridge Evening News is the flagship publication of Stonebridge Press, which is headquartered at the historic News building, 25 Elm Street, Southbridge. In addition to the daily newspaper and "back-office" functions, the Southbridge office houses the company's sports department, "Town-to-Town Classifieds" section, several of Stonebridge's weekly newspapers, and, at a remote location (the former American Optical plant), the printing presses.In addition to the daily paper, Stonebridge Press publishes three paid-subscription weeklies, all with circulations below 3,000; and eight total-market news weeklies, delivered to every home in the towns they cover.
| Newspaper | Type | Office | Towns covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn News | Paid | Southbridge Southbridge, Massachusetts The Town of Southbridge is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,719 at the 2010 census.-History:... |
Auburn Auburn, Massachusetts Auburn is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,188 at the 2010 census.- History :Auburn was first settled in 1789 and was officially incorporated in 1808 as the town of Ward, in honor of American Revolution General Artemas Ward... |
| Blackstone Valley Tribune | Free | Southbridge | Douglas Douglas, Massachusetts Douglas is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,471 as of the 2010 census. It includes the sizable Douglas State Forest, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation .- History :... , Northbridge Northbridge, Massachusetts Northbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,707 at the 2010 census. The Northbridge Town Hall is located at 7 Main Street in Whitinsville. The town is now a part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, of the National Park... , Uxbridge Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was first settled in 1662, incorporated in 1727 at Suffolk County, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. Uxbridge is south-southeast of Worcester, north-northwest of Providence, and southwest of Boston. It is part of... |
| Charlton Villager | Free | Southbridge | Charlton Charlton, Massachusetts Charlton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,981 at the 2010 census.- History :Charlton was first settled in 1735. It was established as a District separated off from Oxford on January 10, 1755, and became a Town in 1775 by a law that made all... |
| Killingly Villager | Free | Putnam Putnam, Connecticut Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,002 as of the 2000 census. It is home to WINY, an AM radio station.-History:... |
Brooklyn Brooklyn, Connecticut Brooklyn is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,173 at the 2000 census. The town center village is listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place... , Killingly Killingly, Connecticut Killingly is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 16,472 at the 2000 census. It consists of the borough of Danielson and the villages of Attawaugan, Ballouville, Dayville, East Killingly, Rogers, and South Killingly.... |
| Putnam Villager | Free | Putnam | Putnam |
| Spencer New Leader | Free | Southbridge | Brookfield Brookfield, Massachusetts Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,390 at the 2010 census.-History:Brookfield was first settled in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1718... , Leicester Leicester, Massachusetts Leicester is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,970 at the 2010 census.-History:Leicester was first settled in 1713 and was officially incorporated in 1714.... , North Brookfield North Brookfield, Massachusetts North Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,680 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place North Brookfield, please see the article North Brookfield , Massachusetts.- History :North Brookfield... , Spencer Spencer, Massachusetts Spencer is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,688 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Spencer, please see the article Spencer , Massachusetts.... , West Brookfield West Brookfield, Massachusetts West Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,701 at the 2010 census. Lucy Stone was born in West Brookfield, and Noah Webster published his dictionary there.... , East Brookfield East Brookfield, Massachusetts East Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,183 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place East Brookfield, please see the article East Brookfield , Massachusetts.- History :East Brookfield was... |
| Sturbridge Villager | Free | Southbridge | Sturbridge Sturbridge, Massachusetts Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques.The population was 9,268 at the 2010 census... , Brimfield Brimfield, Massachusetts Brimfield is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,609 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:... , Holland Holland, Massachusetts -Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Holland is bounded on the east by Sturbridge; on the south by Union, Connecticut; on the west by Wales; and on the north by Brimfield. Holland is equidistant... , Wales Wales, Massachusetts Wales is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,838 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :... |
| Thompson Villager | Free | Putnam | Thompson Thompson, Connecticut Thompson is a rural town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town was named after Sir Robert Thompson, an English landholder. The population was 9,458 at the 2010 census... |
| The Webster Times | Free | Southbridge | Dudley Dudley, Massachusetts Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,390 at the 2010 census.-History:Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732... , Oxford Oxford, Massachusetts Oxford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,709 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Oxford, please see the article Oxford , Massachusetts.-History:... , Webster Webster, Massachusetts -Media:* Worcester Telegram & Gazette * Webster Times, published every Friday* The Patriot, published every Wednesday* WGFP-AM 940, a country music station* Boston Globe* Boston Herald-Library:... |
| Winchendon Courier | Paid | Winchendon Winchendon, Massachusetts Winchendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 10,300 at the 2010 census. Home to Winchendon State Forest, the town includes the villages of Waterville and Winchendon Springs.... |
Winchendon |
| Woodstock Villager | Free | Putnam | Eastford Eastford, Connecticut Eastford is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,618 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.... , Pomfret Pomfret, Connecticut Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,798 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.... , Woodstock Woodstock, Connecticut Woodstock is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,221 at the 2000 census.-Annual events:*The Woodstock Fair, run by the Woodstock Agricultural Society has been held since 1860. The current President of the Woodstock Fair is Susan Z. Hibbard... |
Throughout its distribution area, Stonebridge's primary competitor is the daily Telegram & Gazette of Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
. It also competes in Winchendon with The Gardner News
The Gardner News
The Gardner News is a family-owned daily newspaper serving seven cities and towns in northwest Worcester County, Massachusetts. In addition to the city of Gardner, where it is headquartered, it also covers the rural towns of Ashburnham, Hubbardston, Phillipston, Templeton, Westminster, and...
, in Connecticut with the Norwich Bulletin
Norwich Bulletin
The Norwich Bulletin is a newspaper printed daily in eastern Connecticut, based in the city of Norwich and owned by the Gatehouse Media. It covers eastern Connecticut, with a focus on the Norwich area and points north. The circulation is 26,583 for every day except Sunday, which has a circulation...
, and in the Blackstone Valley with The Milford Daily News
The Milford Daily News
The Milford Daily News is a daily newspaper covering Milford, Massachusetts, USA, and several nearby towns in Norfolk and Worcester counties.The newspaper is managed and printed by The MetroWest Daily News...
.
History
Former executives with Capital Cities/ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
purchased the newspapers that now make up Stonebridge in a foreclosure sale from Loren F. Ghiglione in 1995. The price was not disclosed.
The deal, brokered by Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments
FMR LLC or Fidelity Investments is an American multinational financial services corporation one of the largest mutual fund and financial services groups in the world. It was founded in 1946 and serves North American investors. Fidelity Ventures is its venture capital arm...
' Community Newspaper Company
Community Newspaper Company
Community Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of GateHouse Media, is a newspaper publisher in eastern Massachusetts. It was founded in 1991 as a holding company for several suburban publishers bought by Fidelity Investments; in 2001, Fidelity sold it to the Boston Herald; in 2006, the massive chain—New...
subsidiary -- one of Ghiglione's largest creditors -- suddenly ended a 26-year run of media expansion described by one observer as "Loren Ghiglione's News Empire".
Worcester County Newspapers
Ghiglione's quarter-century foray in Central Massachusetts journalism -- known in its final years as Worcester County Newspapers -- began when he purchased the Southbridge Evening News from its founding McNitt family in 1969. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he acquired weekly newspaperWeekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
s, specialty publications and shoppers
Pennysaver
A pennysaver A pennysaver A pennysaver (or free ads paper, Friday Ad (British English or shopper) is a kind of free community periodical available in North America (typically weekly or monthly publications) that advertises items for sale. Frequently pennysavers are actually called The Pennysaver...
in adjacent communities, some 20 in all. By 1988, the chain had a circulation of 241,000, said to be the largest overall readership of any publishing company in the region. Ghiglione also oversaw a healthy commercial printing operation at the newspaper presses.
In addition to the Evening News and what became the Stonebridge weeklies, Worcester County Newspapers included several titles that were eventually folded: The Voice, a weekly covering Boylston
Boylston, Massachusetts
Boylston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,355 at the 2010 census.-History:Boylston was first settled by Europeans around 1706 in the north part of the present-day town, most notably by the Sawyer family...
, Northborough
Northborough, Massachusetts
Northborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The official spelling of the town's name is "Northborough", but the shorter spelling "Northboro" is also used...
, Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,640 people, 12,366 households, and 8,693 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 12,696 housing units at an average density of...
and Westborough, Massachusetts
Westborough, Massachusetts
Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,272 at the 2010 census. The town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed by a five member elected Board of Selectmen whose duties include licensing, appointing various...
; Wachusett People, a shopper in Holden
Holden, Massachusetts
Holden is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was founded in 1741, and the Town Square was donated by John Hancock, former Governor of Massachusetts.The population was 17,346 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
and West Boylston, Massachusetts
West Boylston, Massachusetts
-Library:The West Boylston public library was established in 1878. In fiscal year 2008, the town of West Boylston spent 1.6% of its budget on its public library—some $37 per person.-External links:******...
; a chain of three Weekender shoppers in southern Worcester County
South County (Massachusetts)
South County is a region comprising several towns in the south-central area of Massachusetts. As it has no legal standing in state government, definitions of the region vary....
; The Observer Patriot, a weekly in Putnam, Connecticut
Putnam, Connecticut
Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,002 as of the 2000 census. It is home to WINY, an AM radio station.-History:...
; and the Jaffrey-Rindge Chronicle in Jaffrey, New Hampshire
Jaffrey, New Hampshire
Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,457 at the 2010 census.The primary settlement in town, where 2,757 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place and is located along the Contoocook River at the...
.
By the end of the decade, however, Ghiglione's "empire" began to look overextended and uneconomic. In 1986 he had paid US$3 million for two state-of-the-art presses at Worcester County Newspapers' Auburn plant. In 1987, he'd bought Worcester Magazine
Worcester Magazine
Worcester Magazine is a weekly free alternative media magazine in Worcester, Massachusetts. Established in 1976, the magazine is distributed at more than 400 locations across Central Massachusetts....
, an alternative newsweekly with a large staff. As the 1990s approached, the region entered an economic recession, tanking demand for commercial printing, while newsprint
Newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...
costs went up. In 1992, the competitor Telegram & Gazette daily in Worcester beefed up its suburban coverage with zoned editions, dealing another setback to Worcester County Newspapers.
Attempts to stay afloat
The company's profits in 1985 were estimated at US$1 million per year. Ten years later, the company was US$3.5 million in long-term debt, with another US$1.9 million in unpaid bills.Ghiglione attempted to stay afloat by reorganizing. He had already sold Worcester Magazine in 1990; in early 1995 he shuttered the Shrewsbury, Holden, and Putnam papers, which were losing money. The Evening News dropped its Saturday edition and switched to tabloid-sized newsprint. The Auburn printing plant was sold to Community Newspaper Company
Community Newspaper Company
Community Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of GateHouse Media, is a newspaper publisher in eastern Massachusetts. It was founded in 1991 as a holding company for several suburban publishers bought by Fidelity Investments; in 2001, Fidelity sold it to the Boston Herald; in 2006, the massive chain—New...
. Following the loss of the Auburn plant, the remaining newspapers were printed by contract with Turley Publications
Turley Publications
Turley Publications Inc. is a privately owned commercial printer and publisher of more than a dozen weekly newspapers based in Palmer, Massachusetts, USA....
' presses in Palmer, Massachusetts
Palmer, Massachusetts
The Town of Palmer is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,140 as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...
.
It wasn't enough. Ghiglione was bankrupt, and deeded the company over to Community Newspaper in October, effectively firing his 87 employees. Only 58 were rehired by Stonebridge. The papers were said to have a combined circulation of 90,000 at the time of the sale, far less than half the company's peak readership in the 1980s.
Local focus returns
Ghiglione, who had built a reputation as a scholar of journalism, became a professional in residence at the NewseumNewseum
The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The seven-level, museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany...
, a museum of journalism in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
At the time of the sale, some of Ghiglione's former associates faulted him for spending too much time on news theory and high-flown journalism, and not enough on basic community news. George Geers, a longtime Southbridge Evening News editor, said "He was very good and very successful at playing the role of a small-town editor who could mingle and hold his own with big city, big paper publishers. ... But the issues he was really concerned with were not the local issues. The people of Southbridge were concerned with overcrowding at the high school or building a new police station, and Loren just wasn't all that interested in those things."
Stonebridge Press expanded into northeastern Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
in 2005 by bringing back the Putnam weekly (christened the Putnam Villager) and two (later three) other free weekly newspapers, all under the Villager banner. The Villager name is also used for new free weekly newspapers started in July 2007 as The Sturbridge Villager, serving every home in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques.The population was 9,268 at the 2010 census...
as well as every home in Wales, Holland, and Brimfield, Massachusetts
Brimfield, Massachusetts
Brimfield is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,609 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. At the same time, the company launched the Charlton Villager, reaching every home in Charlton, Massachusetts
Charlton, Massachusetts
Charlton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,981 at the 2010 census.- History :Charlton was first settled in 1735. It was established as a District separated off from Oxford on January 10, 1755, and became a Town in 1775 by a law that made all...
http://interestalert.com/story/07250000aaa03871.prn/siteia/PUBLISHI/publishing.html. It was also during this period that a new competitor entered the marketplace, The Tantasqua Town Common, started by Turley Publications, based in Palmer, Massachusetts. http://www.sturbridgetimes.com/images/times08.pdf) It also marked a period of change in circulation and distribution, as the Webster Times, Spencer New Leader and Blackstone Valley Tribune were converted to free total market coverage weeklies, mailed to each home in the papers' coverage areas. By remaining "relentlessly local", the company has been successful in outperforming larger daily newspapers, even during the economic turbulence of 2008-2010.