Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1520501
10 Worcester Business Journal | May 13, 2024 | wbjournal.com Central Mass. media outlets Beyond the nearly dozen media outlets based in Worcester, more than two dozen primarily cover communities and regions outside the city. Here are some of the key ones. Organization Publishing platform & frequency Ownership (headquarters) Coverage area The MetroWest Daily News Daily print & online Gannett (Virginia) Metrowest region The Milford Daily News Daily print & online Gannett (Virginia), managed and printed by MetroWest Daily News Greater Milford Community Advocate Weekly print & online Bagdon Advertising (Westborough) Marlboro & Hudson edition, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Westborough, Grafton Fifty Plus Advocate Monthly print & online Bagdon Advertising (Westborough) Eastern and Central Massachusetts The Gardner News Daily print & online Gannett (Virginia) Ashburnham, Gardner, Hubbardston, Phillipston, Templeton, Westminster, Winchendon Gardner Magazine Online only Werner Poegel (Templeton) Ashburnham, Ashby, Athol, Barre, Gardner, Hardwick, Hubbardston, New Salem, Oakham, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Royalston, Rutland, Templeton, Warwick, Westminster, Winchendon Sentinel & Enterprise Daily print & online MediaNews Group (Colorado) Greater Fitchburg/Leominster Groton Herald Weekly print & online Deborah Johnson (Groton) Groton Nashoba Valley Voice Weekly print & online MediaNews Group (Colorado) Ayer, Devens, Dunstable, Groton, Harvard, Townsend, Shirley Wicked Local Online only Gannett (Virginia) Eastern and Central Massachusetts Local Town Pages Monthly print & online Charles and Nichole Tashjian (Medway) Ashland, Auburn, Bellingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Millbury, Millis, Milford, Natick, Northbridge, Oxford, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge Auburn News Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Auburn, Blackstone, Charlton, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Webster Blackstone Valley Tribune Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Douglas, Northbridge, Uxbridge, Whitinsville Charlton Villager Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Charlton Southbridge News Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Southbridge Spencer New Leader Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) East, West, and North Brookfield, Brookfield, Leicester, Spencer Sturbridge Villager Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Sturbridge, Brimfield, Holland, Wales Webster Times Weekly print & online Stonebridge Press (Southbridge) Webster Athol Daily News Daily print & online Newspapers of New England (New Hampshire) Athol, Phillipston, Royalston Vocero Hispano Weekly print & online Vocero Hispano Newspaper (Southbridge) Massachusetts The Grafton News Weekly print & online CherryRoad Media (New Jersey) Grafton The Clinton Item Weekly print & online CherryRoad Media (New Jersey) Clinton, Lancaster, Bolton, Boylston The Landmark Weekly print & online CherryRoad Media (New Jersey) Holden, Paxton, Rutland, Princeton, Sterling Leominster Champion Weekly print & online CherryRoad Media (New Jersey) Leominster Millbury-Sutton Chronicle Weekly print & online CherryRoad Media (New Jersey) Millbury, Sutton Franklin Observer Online only Alan Earls (Franklin) Franklin Sources: Organization websites, Secretary of the Commonwealth Corporations database "e people le [at the T&G] are scrambling to fill pages or meet so- cial media quotas," Shaner said when he started his blog in 2020. "ey're doing the work of two or three people, at least, and they have no time to substantively dig into issues. What we're le with is, at best, middling surface coverage of issues that deserve serious interrogation." Audiences' consumption of news has shied toward online news sources. In the past five years, the T&G's digital-only subscriptions rose from half of its sub- scription base to 72% in 2023, according to Brittany Prendiville, who manages advertising sales at the T&G. is shi has helped individual jour- nalists, like Shaner, form solid audiences through their social media platforms. Others who have grown a substantial following in the region include Talk of the Commonwealth radio host Hank Stolz, Manny Alvarado of Manny Jae Media, and Jennifer Julien Gaskin and Giselle Rivera-Flores of Don't Touch My Podcast. e proliferation of individual-run media has brought about criticism, though. Some, like Shaner's, have received criticism for melding opinion with journalism. "You've got elements of social media and opinion-oriented journalism with a certain ideological perspective that kind of fills the void," Timothy Murray, Worcester Regional Chamber of Com- merce president and CEO, said in a September episode of Common- Wealth Beacon's podcast Codcast. "It certainly does not always present both sides of an ar- gument. We think it's important to get that informa- tion that tells both sides of the story." Murray and the chamber are behind another movement within Central Massachusetts media: the expansion of nonprofit news organizations. Nonprofit news e chamber began researching the gap in local news coverage in 2022 aer receiving feedback and concerns from business and community leaders about the state of media in the region, chamber spokesperson Caitlin Lubelczyk said. As a result of the research, the chamber board approved the launch of a nonprofit news site in July. e Worcester Guardian launched offi- cially in September, following a growing nationwide trend of nonprofit news organizations. Now, the Guardian, which offers free access to its content, has published more than 530 stories and has about 7,114 subscribers to its mailing list, according to Tim Loew, the chair of the Guardian's Continued from previous page Brenda Prendiville, general manager for the Telegram & Gazette Timothy Murray, CEO and president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Caitlin Lubelczyk, vice president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Com- merce The new Worcester media: Part 2