The owners of three central Vermont newspapers — the Stowe Reporter, Waterbury Record, and the News & Citizen of Morrisville — are expanding into Chittenden County with the purchase of the Shelburne News and the Citizen, which covers Charlotte and Hinesburg.
According to the Stowe Reporter, which announced the sale Wednesday in a story on its website, the deal took effect last week. The article quoted Stowe Reporter group publisher Greg Popa as saying that the company’s move into Chittenden County was a “natural” one, since it already had advertising connections there through its membership in the Burlington Area Newspaper Group.
Holly Johnson, president of Wind Ridge Publishing and Wind Ridge Books, previously owned the Citizen and the News. Her buyers, not identified in the Reporter story, are Bob Miller and Norb Garrett, who own a trio of weekly newspapers in San Clemente, Dana Point and Capistrano, California. Miller and Garrett acquired the Stowe Reporter Group in 2014.
Popa will serve as publisher of all five newspapers, according to the Reporter. He told the paper that no immediate changes were planned but that the new owners would beef up the Chittenden publications’ news coverage in the long run. The editorial staff will also be reorganized. Hannah Marshall, who had been assistant editor of the Stowe, Waterbury and Morrisville papers, has been promoted to managing editor of the three weeklies. Tom Kearney, who had been executive editor of the three, is now deputy managing editor — and will work with Boston Neary, managing editor of the Citizen and the News to “strengthen” those papers.
The Citizen and the News are the latest in a series of Vermont news organizations purchased in the past year by those living outside the state.
Last September, Maine and New Hampshire investors bought the Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus from a Vermont family. Earlier this month, an Atlanta-based conglomerate bought WCAX-TV from another local clan. In May 2016, Massachusetts-based investors bought three southern Vermont newspapers from another out-of-state company.
Neither Popa nor the new owners returned calls seeking comment for this story.
Corrected June 1, 2017, at 12:31 p.m. to accurately describe staffing changes at the five newspapers.
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This is the best news for Shelburne in quite a while. The Shelburne News has been a biased local paper for many years, under it’s former ownership. There was a familial connection between the owner/editor and a Selectboard member.
Look no further than the articles about when they attempted to oust another Selectboard member off the board (Josh Dein), just prior to the March elections. Only an outcry from residents prevented it from happening, along with a State court injunction. The other Selectboard members were acting as judge, jury, witnesses, and trial attorneys, all at the same time in their witch hunt.
The Shelburne News intentionally deleted all the online postings in support of Josh Dein, as well as refusing to print LTEs. Yet it did print those critical of him and praising the Selectboard…even though what the Selectboard was doing was patently illegal.
This is the best news for Shelburne in quite a while. The Shelburne News has had very biased reporting for several years under its former ownership, due to a familial connection they had with a Selectboard member. They would not print anything critical of the Selectboard, even when the board broke State statues or had offensive and egregious behavior which the residents protested. And important issues were often completely ignored, if it reflected poorly on the Selectboard or its leadership.
Look no further then when the Selectboard attempted to oust another member of its board back in February (Josh Dein), just weeks before the March elections. Only an outcry from residents (which got little coverage in the local paper), and a State court injunction kept it from happening. The other Selectboard members were acting as plaintiff, judge, jury, witnesses, and prosecutor…all at the same time. Patently illegal. The Shelburne News deleted all its online comments critical of the Selectboard, and refused to print similar LTEs. Yet they kept the ones praising the Selectboard. It was censorship at its absolute worst.
The new owners need to completely clean house. They would be wise to talk to several prior editors who had very short tenure there because they were ordered not to print certain articles.