Early on in Spotlight, my favorite journalism movie, Boston Globe editor Marty Baron ascends a set of stairs to the publisher’s office.
Baron needs permission to challenge the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in court. He wants to file a motion to unseal classified documents that — spoiler alert — will show that the church shuffled a pedophile priest from parish to parish for decades.
In this movie, the reporters, editors and their quest to uncover the truth get all the attention. The scene in which publisher Richard Gilman gives Baron the green light to proceed lasts 70 seconds. Despite his crucial role supporting groundbreaking journalism, the publisher is very much not in the spotlight.
That’s typically true of journalism contests, too, but this year our trade organization, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, created a Publisher of the Year prize as part of its annual awards to recognize the work required to run a media organization.
At last week’s convention in Madison, Wis., Seven Days walked away with five first-place editorial wins — more than any other outlet. (See the list on here.) And Seven Days publisher Paula Routly took home the first-ever publisher honor.
Why add the prize now? Because every news publisher in the country is waging a 24-7 battle against a multiheaded hydra of challenges. To name a few: Advertising revenue hasn’t rebounded from pre-pandemic times; uncertainty around tariffs and a drop in international tourism are making things worse; AI summaries on search engines are decimating website traffic; health care costs keep skyrocketing; and legal threats to our organizations and physical threats to our reporters are on the rise. The current presidential administration has dubbed the press “the enemy of the people.”
My colleagues and I have watched Paula face every trial. Her editorial vision, sales instincts, relentless drive and commitment to the community have set Seven Days apart.
A former ballerina, Paula has exacting standards and pushes everyone at Seven Days to meet them. But she’s not in it to make money or win awards — she cares deeply about this institution she’s built and the audience it serves. She and cofounder Pamela Polston could have made millions years ago by selling to an out-of-state chain. Instead, from 2010 to 2019, as Pamela started planning for retirement, Paula used the company profits to buy her out and gift Pamela’s shares to 16 longtime employees, myself included. That forward-thinking investment in the sustainability of the company is unheard of in our industry. It’s not a coincidence that several of our employees, like me, have been here 20 years or more.
To ensure the quality of our journalism, Paula has recruited seasoned reporters and editors to our team, while also cultivating a pipeline of interns and influential connections who will recommend our small weekly to young talent.
When 2020 brought a new batch of existential dilemmas, Paula started writing this weekly column to reassure readers that Seven Days would survive. It’s since become a place for her to share her perspectives, celebrate our talented staffers and make the case for why journalism — and, in particular, this free newspaper — is worth supporting financially. Paula also helped secure a fiscal sponsor, Journalism Funding Partners, that enables us to receive grants from philanthropic entities such as the Argosy, WaterWheel and Lintilhac foundations.
For all these reasons, Seven Days was cited as one of 12 “bright spots” in local news around the country in a 2024 report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
“Vermont wouldn’t be Vermont without Bernie, Ben, Jerry, or Paula.” Bill McKibben
In a nominating letter for the AAN award, local environmental writer Bill McKibben praised Paula’s “sheer doggedness, her great talent, and her bone-deep affection for the people and communities that make up the Green Mountains. Vermont wouldn’t be Vermont without Bernie, Ben, Jerry, or Paula.”
When I presented Paula’s award onstage in front of our peers, I shared a story that inspires me, about how she and Pamela started Seven Days in 1995. Paula had been tasked with creating an arts and entertainment weekly for the now-defunct Vermont Times. She recruited Pamela, and together they launched a paper called Vox. It was successful immediately — so much so that it helped the Vermont Times owners sell the company.
When the new bosses found out that “the Ps” were planning to leave Vox and start a competing paper, one of the guys said to them, “I don’t know if your dad is paying for this, Paula, or if Pamela’s is, but you girls better have a business plan, because we’re going to bury you.”
For the record, Pamela and Paula borrowed $68,000 from friends to start Seven Days, which is still going strong 30 years later. That sexist, condescending threat didn’t stop them — it motivated them.
At this precarious time for news organizations, it’s important to recognize and encourage courageous leaders. Paula is one of them.
If you’d like to congratulate her on this well-deserved award, I know there’s just one item on her wish list: a donation to Seven Days.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Spotlight on the Publisher”
Related Stories
Seven Days Wins Five First-Place Honors at the 2025 AAN Awards
Letters to the Editor (7/30/25)
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2025.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!