I’m sure some of you have been following the AOL Patch story. Today, they began layoffs which I have read will encompass about 40%, or 400-500 staffers. I have heard that Boston Regional Editor Karla Vallance (an old colleague from Christian Science Monitor days) has been let go.
As of early this afternoon, the Newton Patch Twitter account was still posting, so it seems it (and Brooklyn Lowery) are still around? If anyone knows or hears anything new, please chime in in the comments.
I’ve enjoyed having Patch as one of a few sources of local news, as they seemed to have some enthusiasm for the local reporting, and some appetite for community-building within their sites as well. Let’s hope that it continues and that AOL (or someone) finds a way to make these profitable.
Newton was really lucky to have had seen Patch at its best under editor Melanie Graham, who left in May after three years there.
Brooklyn checked in via Twitter. She’s still out there.
Patch has gotten pretty terrible recently. The local articles are buried under ads and blog posts, Brooklyn Lowery doesn’t edit well on Newton Patch, and all of the excellent columns (like the food and green Newton columns) are long gone. It seems like all of the other local Patches are getting worse as well. Melanie worked hard to make Newton Patch good, so it’s disappointing to see what it has become. I used to check Newton Patch several times a day, now I rarely check it.
I’ll admit I see Patch more on Twitter than on their site- regardless of comparative quality, I like the idea of having the extra dedicated local news and community source.
Besides, the people who take their ball and leave Village 14 need somewhere to go, don’t they? ;P
A.E.M- Hey, as the former Patch food writer, thank you! 😀 I personally think Brooklyn is doing as good a job as anyone could with the new Patch format and the…er, refocusing (she said, diplomatically), but there’s no question Melanie is missed.
Everything going on with Patch makes me happy I coincidentally got out when I did (I moved to CA and have gone back to teaching full-time), but sad that what was a terrific idea and a brilliant execution in some markets (Newton included) is having such a rough ride, to say the least.