In Newton’s news desert, Patch has become an incomplete, yet valuable, local news and events resource, particularly under the watch of Jenna Fisher who covers multiple municipalities for the online site. On Sunday, Fisher shared this announcement by email. I’m not sure what it really means but it’s an experiment worth watching...
Dear Newton neighbors,
My name is Jenna Fisher, and I have been the editor and reporter of the Newton Patch for about two years now. I grew up in Northern Virginia and happily moved to the area about a decade ago. You may recognize my name from my three years at the TAB – or if you’re a fan of The Office, well, you know me from there. I can often be found running around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, along Heart Break Hill or around Crystal Lake. You might see me working from La Aroma in West Newton or at Central in Newton Centre. I love this garden city.
Patch is launching a membership program in Newton to support local reporting in our community, while at the same time offering a real value to community organizers and influencers.
A membership is just $5/month or $50/year, and every dollar goes directly for additional local coverage on Newton Patch. You’ll also get:
- Monthly credits to promote your events and classifieds on Patch (a $14 value every month!)
- An ad-lite version of Patch when reading your local news
- A membership badge displayed next to your username when you post on Patch
- More local news coverage in Newton to keep you and your neighbors informed and connected
If you don’t become a member, you won’t lose out on any content. But membership will directly grow the local content available to everyone in Newton.
Thanks for reading and for your support. Click here to join.
Go Patch! Go Newton!
Jenna Fisher ([email protected])
Given the dismal state of local media, this is definitely worth a try. However, if the local coverage doesn’t improve within a certain period of time, I’d drop it.
Will its content improve? Newton Patch was awesome when it launched. Melanie Graham did a good job and there were cool columns like Whiz Kids. But there’s really not all that much content anymore. Jenna seems earnest in what she does, but sometimes I find her writing to be a little odd – like she makes light of serious news.
I just signed up for a year. I hope Jenna can expand coverage and I applaud her for trying!
@Sallee: Ditto.
I don’t understand this. I don’t think Jenna Fischer (actress who played Pam from the office) is writing for Newton Patch. Perhaps this line was meant as a joke?
I’m very interested in any and all serious efforts to improve the coverage of Newton news. The current lack of consistent serious coverage is problematic, especially given the many key decisions around development (among other issues) facing city decision makers.
In the last few years I’ve done quite a bit of reading about the state of local news across the country and the options that seem to be viable in the changing environment. The move by the Patch doesn’t make sense to me. Is this a pilot just for Newton? Or is this an effort in all the communities Jenna covers? What would be the news priorities? More breaking bulletins on car crashes … or more weather alerts? Or would there be an effort to dig deeper into critical issues: e.g., municipal, school, and developer proposals, goals, and actual ability to deliver on promises.
I would love to have Jenna give us more information about this move by Patch. I’m not naturally a cynic, but the need for some real solutions to the Newton news desert makes me not want to waste my time supporting a news effort whose goal is not clearly focused on giving Newton residents consistent critical information about matters impacting their community. I think many residents across the political spectrum in Newton are very thirsty for a major expansion of “real” news and even a bit of investigative reporting.
I’m with Anne. I’m looking at the front page of Newton Patch right now and here are the top articles:
– An article about making a Newton mural more diverse (I’d like to see more local human interest articles like this)
– Newton school bus crash
– A sponsored article about Father’s Day gifts
– Newton weather forecast
– An article about paying to become a Patch member
– A “featured classified ad”
– An article about 3 Newton homes for sale
I’d pay $5 to join Newton Patch, but not if this is the type of stuff they’re publishing. The story about the mural is the only unique story here. The school bus crash was covered by all the other local news stations, most people use an app or a weather website to see the local weather, and if people are interested in Newton real estate they’re probably looking at listings.
Bring back the columns and event reporting – why isn’t there an article about the farmers market kick-off that happened a few days ago? Or about David Gaita being honored last week? Or about the Boys and Girls Club Award Ceremony and highlight a few of the kids? that won awards? Or about the contention about the new equity guidelines in the schools This is all stuff that’s been going on here in Newton in June and crickets on Patch.
Sorry, there’s a misplaced question mark up there and I have no idea how it happened :-P
I didn’t know about David Gaita! A brave man who was openly gay before it was cool.