In a short amount of time the Fig City News has become an absolutely essential source of news about all things Newton. This has been particularly important in the aftermath of the Newton Tab throwing in the towel on local news coverage.
They’ve got an attractive and content full web site that contains sections on government, a calendar, stories sorted and organized by topics (e.g Arts & Culture, Business, History etc) and by individual village. They also recently added a Letter to the Editor section.. Better yet, they send out two email newsletters a week. Monday’s covers Newton City government meetings and hearings and Wednesday’s covers everything else that’s happening around town.
My hats off to the entire Fig City Crew for taking on such an ambitious project and pulling it off so well and so quickly.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here and be sure to sign up for their email newsletters here.
If you like what you see you might consider sending them a donation. So far they have accomplished quite a lot on a shoestring budget so I’m sure they would appreciate any help defraying their expenses.
Does anyone know where they list donations & grants that they have received? On the website, it says they “will be disclosed as they occur,” but it doesn’t seem to be easy to find.
@Ben G: We have added a Sources of Funds page to the Fig City News website to acknowledge all advertisers, sponsors, and grantors, as well as all donors who give $500 or more per year and other donors who wish to be acknowledged.
The reason this was not available earlier is because until 3 days ago, there were no sources of funds except the out-of-pocket expenditures by founders. We started accepting donations this week, on Wednesday. We have no advertising, sponsors, or grants to acknowledge.
We have updated our About page to link to that Sources of Funds page and to more fully explain our policies regarding donations.
An educated, aware and engaged electorate is essential to holding public officials accountable in Newton. It is unfortunate that we no longer have a printed local newspaper. Hopefully Fig City will help fill that void online. I’m grateful for their efforts.
What would it cost to make Fig City News available as a physical newsletter? If not a weekly one, perhaps a monthly digest? Feeling deprived since the Tab shut down.
I can’t imagine there will be more than negligible demand for a printed paper. However, what’s stopping you from printing a copy yourself?
@Annie: It’s a lot of content to print. This Wednesday’s Fig City News newsletter, if printed out in full (all articles, not just the short excerpts in the newsletter) runs about 30-35 letter-sized pages.
Perhaps figcity news could offer a toally optional annual subscription of $100 which ‘might’ cover weekly mailed copy of the news.
A teen or entrepreneur might have a way to make work for much lower (doubt it as the stamp itself is at least 50 cents)
Hopefully one of the Fig City Folks will weigh in on your question.
I cant imagine though that it would be a practical possibility. Fig City is run by some energetic volunteers. To turn it into a physical newspaper would require lots of money and lots of staff – printing, distribution, billing, sales, etc
It is an assumption, but would you agree that 95% of the consumers of a print version would be over the age of 65?
If the new senior center has a print shop (and assuming Fig City Folks are not-for-compensation, no less profit, for the long haul), how about having some of the more industrious seniors regularly do the printing?
An opportunity for someones helping others by helping themselves? Pretty sure Fig City Folks don’t need more consumers wanting more of something for nothing (or at least paid for by someone else) than can already not be afforded with just devotion to community service …
Things used to get made here
@Mary Presumptuous
The soon-to-be former Senior Center barely had a working office copier/printer. It’s not very likely that there will be a print shop in the new building.
Hmmmm, as someone who is turning 67 next, with my Costco Readers, I do just fine reading Village 14, Fig City, and the Boston Globe online on my iPad. And I am happy to contribute, or pay a subscription fee.
Amy has initiated a vital source for community goings on that, ultimately, prove life-affirming. Her mission to ensure people in positions of power and authority are held accountable to taxpayers and citizens alike is typical of Amy’s stellar reputation. Community newspapers numbered 100 from Maine to Cape Cod upon my arrival in Newton in 1993. Ad revenues are any newspaper’s lifeblood. But the Digital Age has cut into those revenues for 25 years and hurt the two-century-old flourishing publishing and printing industries. For example, some 5,000 magazines in America have folded since 2005.
While I’ve written a column for the Boston Post-Gazette since October 2003, my journalism career spans 35 years with daily and weekly newspapers, as well as newsletters in both the private sector (Zogby International, political pollster; Bookbuilders of Boston) and public sector (Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission).
The thirst for accurate and factual news is never-ending. I eagerly await taking on Amy’s offer to write for Fig City.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!