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Newspaper in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Berkshire Eagle is an American daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and covering all of Berkshire County, as well as four New York communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record for Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
![]() The 2 October 2020 front page of The Berkshire Eagle | |
Type | Daily newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Owner(s) | New England Newspapers, Inc. (John C. "Hans" Morris, Fredric Rutberg, estate of Robert G. Wilmers) |
Publisher | Fredric D. Rutberg |
Editor | Kevin Moran |
Founded | Daily since May 9, 1892, with weekly roots beginning with the Western Star, founded in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1789[1] |
Language | English |
Headquarters | 75 South Church Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201, United States |
Circulation | For 12 months ending 26 August 2023:
Average daily paid print: 9,158 Average daily paid digital-only: 6,841 Total paid circulation: 15,999 [2] |
ISSN | 0895-8793 |
Website | berkshireeagle.com |
Published daily since 1892, The Eagle has been owned since 1 May 2016 by a group of local Berkshire County investors, who purchased The Eagle and its three Vermont sister newspapers for an undisclosed sum from Digital First Media.[3]
For six consecutive years, 2018-2023, The Eagle's weekend edition was named Newspaper of the Year in its circulation class by the New England Newspaper & Press Association.[4][5]
The Eagle's roots go back to a weekly newspaper, the Western Star, founded in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1789. Over time, this newspaper changed its name, ownership, and place of publication multiple times, but maintained continuity of publication:
The weekly Berkshire County Eagle was purchased by Kelton Bedell Miller in 1891. The following year, on May 9, 1892, it commenced daily publication as The Berkshire Evening Eagle.[19] The Berkshire County Eagle, however, remained a part of the paper, as a weekly section within the Wednesday edition of the daily, until 24 June 1953.[18]
The Miller family retained ownership until 1995. After Kelton Bedell Miller died in 1941, ownership passed to his sons, Lawrence K. "Pete" Miller and Donald B. Miller, as editor and publisher, respectively.[20]
The Miller brothers focused on hiring talent and building the quality of The Eagle's newsroom. The newspaper became known as a great place for graduates of journalism schools to begin their careers, and many of those reporters went on to renowned careers throughout the journalistic world in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time magazine and others.[21][22]
In 1947, The Eagle launched a radio station in Pittsfield, WBEC (AM). An FM affiliate was added in 1948, but the company gave up the FM license because too few people had FM receivers at the time. The radio station was sold during the 1950s to Richard S. Jackson.
In a 1973 Time magazine article about The Eagle, then Boston Globe editor Thomas Winship is quoted as calling The Eagle the best newspaper “of its size in the country.” The article mentions that the paper carried occasional book reviews from Berkshire County residents such as James MacGregor Burns and William L. Shirer. At the time, the paper had nearly 20 local columnists, 23 stringers and a news staff of 35, considered large for a paper its size. (Circulation was 32,000 at the time.)[21]
Press critic Ben Bagdikian in 1972 stated that there were only three great newspapers in the world, each in its own way: The New York Times, Le Monde, and The Berkshire Eagle. The Washington Post, where he had served as editor and ombudsman, he said at the time, was “not yet a great paper.”[23]
The Eagle launched a Sunday edition in 1987.[20]
The next and final generation of Miller owners was headed by Michael G. Miller, grandson of Kelton Bedell Miller. In 1995 Michael Miller was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which then owned The Eagle, the Middletown Press in Middletown, Connecticut, and two daily newspapers in Vermont: the Bennington Banner and the Brattleboro Reformer, as well as a weekly newspaper, the Journal in Manchester, Vermont; his brother Mark C. Miller was editor of The Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. A sister, Margo Miller, a writer for The Boston Globe, sat on Eagle Publishing's board.[24]
In 1989, the Millers chose to renovate, as a new headquarters and printing plant for their company, a factory building complex in Pittsfield, originally the Eaton, Crane & Pike Company Factory. As a result of a recession, the company was unable to service the debt it had assumed to finance this $23.5 million project. Failing to find a white knight to help them weather the fiscal storm that ensued, in 1995 the Millers sold their holdings to MediaNews Group, a company founded by William Dean Singleton of Denver, Colorado.[24]
The transaction closed on September 1, 1995. Simultaneously, MediaNews Group sold the Middletown Press to the Journal Register Company.[25] The following year, MediaNews added the North Adams Transcript to its western New England holdings. In January 2014, the Transcript ceased operations and was merged into The Eagle.[26]
Immediately upon acquiring The Eagle, MediaNews group reduced the newsroom staff of 40 by more than 25 percent.[27] Later under MediaNews management, as newspapers in general faced increasing financial challenges there were multiple rounds of staff reductions as various functions were consolidated into centralized locations on a regional or national basis.[28] All the while, subscription prices were increased despite falling circulation levels.[22]
In April 2016, a team of local investors bought The Eagle, along with its Vermont sister newspapers the Bennington Banner, Brattleboro Reformer and Manchester Journal, from Digital First Media (DFM), the new name of MediaNews Group. The investor team consisted of former Visa Inc. President John C. "Hans" Morris, local retired judge Fredric D. Rutberg, M&T Bank Chairman Robert G. Wilmers and Stanford Lipsey, former publisher of The Buffalo News and former owner of the Omaha Sun newspaper group of Nebraska.[29][30] Lipsey died November 1, 2016. Wilmers died in December, 2017.[31]
In introducing the new ownership and its goals to The Eagle's readership, Rutberg wrote: “The goal is to make The Eagle a part of the finest community newspaper group in America,” Rutberg wrote. “Our business plan is simple. By improving the quality and quantity of the content in our publications, we expect to increase our readership which will, in turn, increase our revenues, and ensure the future of these publications.”[22][32]
Under the new owners, The Eagle has been able to hire additional newsroom staff, expanded its investigative team, and has launched new content including a Sunday arts-focused section called Landscapes.[33] In 2022, The Eagle launched a quarterly glossy magazine, Berkshire Landscapes,[34] and a monthly tabloid business newspaper, Berkshire Business Journal.[35]
The new ownership group also invested in new systems in order to transition off the centralized DFM technical infrastructure, including a new content management system. They established a community advisory board including journalists Linda Greenhouse and Donald Morrison, and authors Simon Winchester and Elizabeth Kolbert, all of whom have Berkshire area connections, and representatives of many local non-profits and businesses.[36][31]
In 2019, The Eagle's owners purchased a weekly newspaper, the Southern Berkshire Shopper's Guide, based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.[37]
In October, 2020, in response to economic challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, The Eagle reduced its print frequency to five days per week, Tuesday through Saturday, with the traditional Sunday package of supplements and inserts moving into the Saturday slot. On Mondays, while there is no printed paper, an electronic facsimile of a printed newspaper is available, and the paper's website is updated seven days a week. The paper also announced a new strategic direction it calls Being Digital, which entails "moderniz[ing] and enhanc[ing] our digital presence by expanding our use of digital tools in our reporting that incorporates the use of podcasts, video, interactive graphics, and links to underlying references and sources."[38]
In May, 2021, New England Newspapers, Inc. sold its Vermont newspapers to Vermont News and Media LLC, a company owned by Paul Belogour, a software entrepreneur.[39]
In November, 2021, The Eagle completed the installation of a new printing press, a Goss Community SSC Magnum,[40] and in August, 2022 it completed a major renovation of its office space.[41]
In March, 2023, The Eagle relaunched its quarterly magazine, renaming it from Berkshire Landscapes to The B.[42]
In June, 2023, The Eagle launched a new website, BerkshiresWeek.com, as a source of information about events and experiences in the Berkshires.[43]
In 1973, Roger B. Linscott, working at The Eagle, won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.[44]
In 1991, Eagle reporter Holly A. Taylor won a George Polk Award for reporting about fiscal mismanagement at a Pittsfield hospital.[45]
Recent awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association have included:
In 2018, The Eagle received the Media Support of Arts Education Award from Arts|Learning, a Massachusetts arts education advocacy organization.[58]
In 2019, The Eagle received the JFK Commonwealth Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, “for demonstrating the enduring civic value of community journalism.”[59]
In 2022, Eagle publisher Fredric D. Rutberg received one of four annual Massachusetts Governor's Awards in the Humanities, for his leadership of the group that returned The Eagle to local ownership.[60][61]
In 2023, Eagle editorial page editor David Coffey received the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize for newspapers under 35,000 in circulation, for editorials taking to task the Springfield (Massachusetts) Roman Catholic Diocese for demanding an Eagle reporter's notes for a series of stories about sexual abuse allegations against a powerful former bishop.[62]
The Eagle's editorial policy states: "The Eagle has taken certain key editorial positions consistently, and the editorial board will endorse changes to those positions only after deep discussion and research leading to consensus. These positions include a general predisposition toward free expression, as well as leaning toward progressive ideas, environmental conservation, the encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the promotion of tourism and cultural entities." The paper's editorials "focus most on local, regional and statewide concerns that then are articulated in the plurality (three of every five) of its editorials. As such, The Eagle's editorial voice and conscience is seen as the main convener and connector on issues of vital importance, including: civility in life and discourse, education – local and national; local economic development issues; environmental issues; and questions before local, state and national leaders and legislative bodies."[71]
As of 1 July, 2022, single copies of The Berkshire Eagle cost $2.00 Tuesday through Friday, and $3.00 on Saturdays. Home delivery plus digital access costs $385 for 52 weeks. Digital-only access costs $179 per year.