[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4608-4609]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    BRATTLEBORO REFORMER CENTENNIAL

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in visiting with fellow Vermonters in and 
around Brattleboro in southern Vermont last weekend, I appreciated the 
opportunity to be in town during the month The Brattleboro Reformer 
marked its centennial anniversary. Local newspapers serve their 
communities in so many vital ways, and we in Vermont are blessed to 
have so many that have endured and served for so long.
  These are challenging times for newspapers, as newsrooms and 
publishers adapt to rapidly changing technologies and public 
preferences. The Brattleboro Reformer has been quick on its feet to 
meet these challenges. I join with all Vermonters in congratulating The 
Reformer's hard-working staff on this historic anniversary, and we wish 
them many more.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a recent news 
article about this milestone.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   The Brattleboro Reformer Turns 100

                [From the Vermont Digger, Mar. 10, 2013]

                        (By Randolph T. Holhut)

       BRATTLEBORO--The Brattleboro Reformer celebrated its 100th 
     anniversary as a daily newspaper with cake, coffee, and an 
     open house for well-wishers on March 1.
       For Publisher Ed Woods, the fact that a small town in 
     Vermont has held on to its daily newspaper while other major 
     cities have seen their daily papers cut back in publishing 
     frequency, or close down altogether, is a testament to the 
     uniqueness of Windham County.
       ``Southern Vermont is different from the rest of the 
     country,'' said Woods, who has been the Reformer's publisher 
     since 2008. ``We're providing news and information in the way 
     that our customers request it.''
       That means delivering a paper-and-ink edition of the 
     Reformer every day but Sunday, while gradually building up an 
     audience that wants its news online.
       According to the most recent circulation figures for the 
     Reformer by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper's 
     total average daily circulation was 6,756 print editions and 
     1,093 digital editions, or a total of 7,849 as of March 31, 
     2012.
       For the Saturday Weekend Reformer, circulation was 8,155 
     print and 1,091 digital for a total of 9,246.
       By comparison, in the March 31, 2007, report, total average 
     circulation was 9,684 on weekdays and 10,709 on Saturdays.
       Although print circulation is down, Executive Editor Tom 
     D'Errico is quick to point out that the digital reach of the 
     paper is growing.
       The paper currently has 6,000 followers of its Facebook 
     page, which D'Errico said it is using as a breaking news site 
     that complements www.Reformer.com, and there are 1,200 
     subscribers to the paper's Twitter feed.
       ``These things didn't exist for us two and a half years 
     ago,'' said Woods. ``Social media is bringing our news to a 
     new audience. The transition to digital is going to happen, 
     but it's going to happen more slowly here.'' He cited the 
     slow progress of bringing universal broadband coverage to 
     southern Vermont, and the older population of the county that 
     still prefers a paper-and-ink news source.
       D'Errico, who became the managing editor of the Reformer in 
     2007, said that social media--Facebook, Twitter, and the 
     like--has become critical to the way his paper gathers and 
     disseminates the news. ``That's how people tip us off to 
     stories now,'' he said. ``It's easy and instantaneous, 
     compared to email or a phone call.''
       And, with a newsroom that is smaller than it used to be, it 
     allows the four full-time reporters to cover more ground than 
     before.


                              Long history

       Although the Reformer published its first daily edition on 
     March 3, 1913, the paper had long history prior to that date.
       Charles Davenport, a stalwart Democrat, started The Windham 
     County Reformer in 1876 as a weekly paper to counter what 
     Davenport believed was the pro-Republican bias of The Vermont 
     Phoenix--then the dominant weekly newspaper in Brattleboro.
       Howard C. Rice bought an interest in the paper from 
     Davenport in 1905, and two years later, moved it into the 
     American Building on Main Street--the Reformer's home for the 
     next seven decades until it moved to its present location on 
     Black Mountain Road in October 1981.
       Few had faith that Brattleboro could support its own daily 
     paper, but Rice eventually convinced Windham County that it 
     could consume its news in daily bites, and like it. That 
     began in 1913, when the Phoenix and Reformer merged. The 
     Phoenix continued as the weekly edition of the Reformer until 
     it was discontinued in 1955. By that point, the daily 
     Reformer's circulation had grown from less than 2,500 to more 
     than 7,000.
       Rice stepped down as editor and publisher in 1950 and was 
     succeeded by John S. Hooper. The Rice family continued to own 
     the paper until 1966, when it was purchased by the Miller 
     family, owners of The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
       Under the Millers, the changes came fast and frequent. 
     Offset printing was introduced in 1969, and molten lead and 
     Linotypes gave way to computerized typesetting and paste-up. 
     Typewriters gave way to video display terminals in the late 
     1970s. The biggest change of all, besides the move to the new 
     plant off Putney Road, was the switch from afternoon to 
     morning publication in 1982.
       All of these changes were overseen by Norman Runnion, who 
     started at the Reformer as Hooper's assistant in 1969 and 
     became the managing editor in 1971.
       By the time the Reformer celebrated its 75th anniversary as 
     a daily in 1988, circulation had grown to more than 10,000. 
     Runnion retired two years later, leaving a legacy of building 
     what former Boston Globe editor Tom Winship once called the 
     best small newspaper in New England.
       But the next big change came in 1995, when the Miller 
     family sold the paper to Denver-based MediaNews Group (MNG), 
     ending more than eight decades of local ownership.


                           Change is constant

       In the years since the sale of the paper to MediaNews 
     Group, the paper has made the change from analog to digital, 
     in the design of its news pages as well as its photography.
       Delivery of the news changed also. The World Wide Web went 
     from a curiosity to a disruptive force in publishing in the 
     space of a decade, and papers large and small have scrambled 
     to keep up.
       Meanwhile, MNG acquired the Town Crier family of free 
     weeklies in the late 1990s, and expanded the Black Mountain 
     Road plant to accommodate their new purchase. They also 
     bought the Original Vermont Observer, another weekly, in the 
     mid-2000s. The papers were ultimately merged into one weekly, 
     and were discontinued in 2012.
       But for all the turmoil of a changing industry, and 
     changing economics, the Reformer endures. With MNG joining 
     the Journal Register Company to form Digital First Media in 
     2011, there has been a greater emphasis on transforming the 
     two newspaper companies into one online media company.
       ``John Paton [the CEO of Digital First] has brought to us a 
     business model to make the transition to digital media,'' 
     said Woods. ``We are beginning to see the resources arrive 
     here to make that transition. Our mission to provide the news 
     hasn't changed, just the way we deliver the news.''
       And both Woods and D'Errico say they have come to realize 
     what a humbling experience it is to run a newspaper that 
     people still feel passionate about, and are quick to offer an 
     opinion about.
       ``A lot is changing in this industry, and it is impossible 
     not to embrace the change,'' said Woods. ``But our core 
     responsibility is not changing at all.''
       ``Small-town newspapers offer something that can't be found 
     anywhere else,'' said D'Errico. ``While big city newspapers 
     are

[[Page 4609]]

     struggling, our focus on local news makes us as valuable 
     today as we were in 1913.''

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