By all appearances, the Berkshire Eagle isn’t dying. The western Massachusetts newspaper is wider, its paper thicker. There’s a second daily crossword puzzle, a Sunday lifestyle section focusing on the area’s culinary and natural charms, and an advisory board that includes world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It’s a leap of faith at a time of bad news for the local news industry.
Advertising and circulation declines have ravaged the newspaper industry for more than a decade. Three years ago, Fredric Rutberg, a retired judge, pulled together a group of investors who bought the small newspaper company from a media chain with a reputation for cost-cutting and layoffs.
“Our business plan was simply to increase the quality of the content and attract new readers,” Rutberg says.
The Eagle’s owners set out to transform the paper, down to replacing thin newsprint that curled in humid weather. They wanted a “world-class” arts and culture section, worthy of a region that boasts the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home and a theater scene that lures Hollywood stars.
The Eagle’s reporters delve into the troubles of communities overshadowed by New York City to the south and Boston to the east. They’ve won awards for investigations into the decaying state of bridges and the struggle to bring broadband internet to rural areas.
The hard part is persuading the people of the Berkshires to pay for such coverage. The Eagle’s overall paid circulation fell more than 20% during the first year under new ownership. On the bright side, digital subscriptions are ticking up.
It remains to be seen how sustainable the expanded Eagle will be under its new owners.
If they fail, it won’t be for lack of effort. “We are going to stick with this,” Rutberg says. “This is our commitment as long as humanly possible.”
(Copies of the Berkshire Eagle newspaper are placed in a machine before being bundled for distribution, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. AP Photo/Steven Senne)
