Media guide: Vermont villages are publishing boom towns

Vermont Business Magazine, Feb 1994 by Youngwood, Susan

The Signpost was started four years ago by a group of 6 residents who wanted to improve communication among townspeople. The paper is separate from tie town government. "We don't have any town money and we never asked for it," she said. With no advertising, the Signpost relies on an annual fund-raiser to cover the costs of printing six issues a year.

These volunteer papers sometimes turn into more professional products. In South Burlington, a group of six volunteers started a nonprofit community newspaper 17 years ago. Slowly, five of the volunteers dropped out, leaving Ruth Poger. She got a bank loan, bought computer and office equipment, and transformed the paper into a for-profit company.

Several municipal governments in Vermont print newsletters that resemble community newspapers and go to all residents. "Fewer and fewer people are involved in town affairs, so it's harder and harder to get the word out," said Katherine Roe of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to explain the need for these publications. "There are fewer community wide meetings and events, so towns are now committed to do newsletters."

Keeping a clear demarcation between a town newsletter and an independent news paper is important, as citizens in Milton discovered a year ago.

Townspeople and municipal officers decided several years ago to create a Milton paper, and formed a nonprofit to print Milton Matters. Start-up funding came from the town, and several town officers were on the board of directors.

Editor Lynn Delaney came from a strong journalism background --she worked for NBC news, for example. "At one of our starting meetings, the question i raised was: do you want a newsletter or a newspaper. Because if they wanted. a newsletter, then I'm out of here. I was not willing to work on a newsletter if it was to be propaganda. I wanted both sides to be given, fair and honest."

Promised that a newspaper was wanted, Delaney became editor. But then, she said, the board of directors started wanting more control over the editorial content. When they decided to preview stories before the paper went to press, she and her staff resigned.

"It's not smart to have on the board people you are writing about," she concluded. "We had people on the board who didn't understand what an independent newspaper meant."

Delaney was contacted by Emerson Lynn, Angelo's brother and publisher of The St Albans Messenger. He and his wife, owners of Vermont Publishing Company, offered to provide start-up funds for an independent community paper. Delaney agreed, and became editor of The Milton Independent.

Vermont's community newspapers range in their professionalism. As a professional, Lynn Delaney was not willing to compromise her paper. The Herald of Randolph printed several revealing stories about Randolph's town manager which caused him to leave, and The Hardwick Gazette lost advertising because of its coverage of bank scandals.

But publishers of many of the newer papers know little about professional journalism issues. Although some of the newer papers try to be objective, others concentrate on "happy news" and fill the paper with every press release they receive.