The 175-year-old Claremont, N.H. Eagle Times publishes its last issue today after filing for bankruptcy. Publisher Harvey Hill informed the 100-plus staffers only yesterday of the shutdown of the near-daily (the morning paper doesn’t publish on Saturday) as well as three companion weekly and advertiser papers serving surrounding areas. Employees get their last paycheck next week and health insurance through the end of the month.
The Eagle Times website (circ. about 8,000) has no news of the impending closure. New England Cable News does, however. It has the video clip below, including interviews with staffers choking back tears but otherwise showing little outrage. One man mourns the fact that the immediacy of the move gave the staff no chance to say goodbye to readers. The publisher filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which mandates immediate closure of the business. (via Martin Langeveld)
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As noted on my blog, WCAX-TeeVee in Burlington, VT interviewed one longtime Eagle Times reader who heard about it on the 11 PM news. Apparently most of the employees were also blindsided by the last minute announcement.
Which leads to my proposal for a new revenue source for shrinking mainstream media, at least TeeVee. Instead of using email or a phone call to avoid eye contact with the employee getting screwed, have the local TeeVee station run a special feature called “Job Watch” during the 11 PM news that would announce any sudden shutdowns while the company CEO is out of town. For a fee the CEO could use the news media in its most traditional role: the bringer of bad news.
Stan
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[…] Claremont Eagle […]