I like Gail Spector. She does a good job as the Newton TAB editor. It’s too bad that she’s decided to leave her post. I’ll miss her. But, the fact that she’s leaving is not particularly upsetting. People leave jobs. It happens.
What’s upsetting is the possibility, if not likelihood, that she won’t be replaced or fully replaced. Gatehouse Media is deep in debt. Companies with financial problems don’t fill job requisitions. They eliminate jobs through attrition. They consolidate positions.
It will be bad for Newton if the Newton TAB ends up with no editor or a shared editor. We are lucky to have a vibrant newspaper, with real reporters and reporting, even if it has been diminished in recent years. Blogs, even this one, are not an adequate substitute. (In fact, we often rely on the reporting of others as the basis for the our brilliant analysis.) As a simple matter of math, a Newton TAB that reflects fewer hours of editor input, with editorials that reflect only part-time attention to the city’s issues is going to be a lesser product.
I’m not sanguine.
Great closing word. It could be the takeoff for our new public Gateway lobbying campaign.
Restore Newton Sanguinity – Appoint a Tab Editor Now !
I agree. Without a strong editor like Gail and reduced total staff, it sure sounds like the Tab may be heading in the same direction as so many other local newspapers that have been reduced to a community bulletin board for posting meeting notices.
OK, here’s my alternative slogan:
I’m a Tab Reader – I’m Not Sanguine
Let us not be Mesozoic. It’s a business, guys. And while I love a newspaper as much as anyone, it is a very inefficient (and un-environmental) means of information distribution and it cannot compete with digital, targeted advertising.
The best possibility going forward is that Greg gets enough eyeballs here to attract advertising, and that he can then at some point hire reporting services. So, for the sake of Newton and sanguinity, be interesting.
Where does the Patch fit in?
An informed electorate is a key to democracy. Newspapers have and will [to a lesser degree than in the past] continue to be a vital source of reliable information. Because of a lack of news options, a newspaper is even more essential on a local level. It can be enhanced by blogs, but not replaced by blogs.
Frankly, Gatehouse Media is failing to live up to their obligation to the Newton Community. That was most apparent when the brain trust there decided to let go an incredibly talented professional like Greg Reibman. It has become more evident recently when they failed to provide Gail Spector with the resources necessary to run a truly professional newspaper. Case in point, The Tab’s inability to cover the Denzel Horne story, because of a lack of resources. I don’t blame Gail for leaving, and I sense frustration played a role in her decision. Here’s hoping someone takes the plunge, and starts a new Newton newspaper.
@mgwa – I think the Patch is a great community resource too, especially for breaking news and community events but I think it fills a different (though certainly overlapping) role than the Tab. The Tab has (had?) more resources for reporting more deeply on important stories. Also the Tab editorial page – the newspaper’s editorials, the letters to the editor, and the various guest Op-Eds has been an important forum for talking about the important local issues in the city.
Likewise, blogs like Village14 are also a good community asset for the city but as Sean pointed out they are primarily filled with citizens opinion and analysis of the stories reported in the Tab.
Jerry – Thanks. I agree that the Tab has been a deeper resource than the Patch, though I’ve also been sad lately to see that it has done a better job with breaking news.
Oops – I wasn’t clear. I’ve been sad lately to see that the Patch has done a better job with breaking news.