Email us!
LiL Fundraising for Elizabeth Warren!
Lowell Area Bloggers/Forums
- Art is the Handmaid of Human Good
- Blog from the Office of the City Manager, Lowell MA
- Captains Log (Paul Belley)
- Choosing a Soundtrack
- Corey Sciuto
- Downtown Lowell Blog
- Dracut Forum
- Dracut Musings
- Dracut Politics
- gerrynutter'slowell
- JackieDoherty.org
- Lowell Deeds
- Lowell Police Dept WebNews
- Lowell Public Schools Blog
- Lowellest Common Denominator
- lowellresident
- Middlesex Community College Blog
- MV Homlessness Blog
- RichardHowe.com
- Right-Side-of-Lowell
- Tewksbury Issues
- The New Englander
Lowell Politics
Mass Bloggers
- - Leftyblogs MA Blogroll - Almost all of my favorite lefty blogs in Massachusetts can be found here. Linking here keeps my own blogroll short but still up to date! Below are some other MA blogs which are not listed at LB.
- H2Otown (Watertown, MA)
- MargeBLOG (Williamstown)
- Michael Forbes Wilcox (Western MA)
- The Gazebo (Worcester area)
Media in Lowell
- Chelmsford Mass News
- Community Connections The online archive of many of WUML's radio shows.
- LTC :: Our community cable access channel (8 & 10). Excellent people, I've worked with them before.
- Open Source :: Chris Lydon's new show, broadcast on WUML and WGBH locally.
- The Lowell Sun :: Love it or hate it, it's the big newspaper in town.
- WCAP radio :: Talk radio in Lowell - still locally owned, and in transition.
- WUML :: The student- and community-run radio station of UMass-Lowell. Lynne hosts a radio show, Thinking Out Loud, 10am on Fridays.
Media in MA
Other Daily Reads
Politics Online
- City Council Agenda Past City Council agendas, posted in a mostly timely manner
- Lowellma.gov Official city website
Progressive Local Orgs
Snark and politics
The Arts in Lowell
- 119 Gallery - Art gallery with exhibitions of many local artists, interesting events, and living, breathing culture.
- Arts League of Lowell (ALL) - Artist community group, a recent but welcome addition to the arts scene in Lowell.
- Brush Art Gallery - Come and meet working artists in their natural habitats!
- Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL) - Great local calendar of events.
- Lowell Opera Company - Community opera.
- Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra - Local community orchestra.
- Lowell Poetry Network
- Lowell Rocks - List of live music events
- Merrimack Repertory Theatre - A local theatre "presenting an exciting mix of contemporary and new plays in historic downtown Lowell."
- OUtlET - Paper and online 'zine making a splash locally with events in art, poetry, music, and everything in between!
- Revolving Museum Contemporary, local, public art space with a plethora of children's programs and art by and for the community.
- The Fine Print - Socially aware, themed, arts and issues periodic publication available throughout Lowell.
- The Image Theater - Theatre company which puts on all original works by local playwrights.
- Whistler House Museum - A great collection of contemporaries of Whistler at his historic birthplace.
January 16th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
If the Sun comes under new ownership, one can only hope they’ll clean house at the top.
January 16th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Wow That is big news. Like the people who run the paper or not at least we still have a local paper. We can only hope that if it gets sold it is to local ownership but the days of turning a profitable local paper may be gone.
January 16th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Forget recycling. The Sun is in bankruptcy.
January 16th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Funny how the Sun didn’t think this was news worthy of a story in the paper. Guess it doesn’t involve a cat since that seems to be the central theme of so many Sun stories.
January 16th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I hear from good sources that the group looking to by the sun are Kenndall Wallace, Waren Shaw, Bill Taupier, Mike Kunenzlur, Brian McMahon, Steve Pangy, Terry McCarthy, Tom McKay and Leo Cregan along with money from the guy from Joan Fabrics I also heard when they do Campy and Scott are the first two out the door and they are looking to hire DJ Deeb as an editor
January 16th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Hey Joe: your post sounds like one of Kendall’s Saturday Snoozes. These guys have all the juice in the city anyway. You want slanted news? Wait til these guys take over.
January 16th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Local ownership would be awesome! My personal opinion is that newspapers (exc for USAToday, WS Journal and possibly NY Times) need to focus on LOCAL news if they are going to survive. And who better to focus on “local” than local ownership?
January 16th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Chris Scott is an awesome reporter. I was just speaking to Erin Smith, the Dracut Sun reporter, and she mentioned that Scott is unable to write as often as he would like because he is tending more to the business. But when he does write he does a fantastic job so losing him would probably hurt the paper.
January 16th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
What will happen to contributor Mike Hayden? Poor guy might be out of another job.
Take a glance at my blog to read one of Mikes better columns where he rips and rants and tears me a new one. Good thing I gave him a place to vent his anger and keep it managed.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Oh god…pray that Joe isn’t right. News will be even more slanted. Why can’t we get real news people to run the paper, not wannabees or people who see it as their own clubhouse.
January 17th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Why don’t all you journalism EXPERTS take over? Unbelievable
January 17th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I can tell you right now that I write far better than Mr. Campanini.
This is not a bragging thing; I hope most people write better than him. And have better logic skills.
January 17th, 2010 at 11:04 am
And you know what, observer? We *ARE* taking over! The string of events that triggered Lynne’s initial post on this issue was a BLOG (citizen journalism!) that I happen to read faithfully. I posted an email to a Google group that both Lynne and I belong to (more citizen journalism!) and Lynne then wrote this post (again more citizen journalism!!) Now the *real* “experts” i.e. the professional journalists who publish the ONLY newspaper in town chose NOT to perform ANY journalism on this story. The original article appeared in Friday’s Wall Street Journal so the Sun has had two days to to report on this story and they have chosen NOT to. So you tell me, if I hadn’t forwarded the news to a place where Lynne could learn of it, then how would YOU have learned about the story?
January 17th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Ya know, I’m wondering if Lowell needs a daily hardcopy paper after all? With the world aTwitter, blogs, Facebook and the old fashioned over-the-fence news, this may be a good time to go weekly. The only reason those cronies want a paper is to promote their own agenda (Kinda like now). The radio station (yeah, I know theres another one) has made some strides in the past year. I only pick up a paper occasionally and that’s out of habit. I usually get what I need to know online. I just pick up an occasional copy to get their spin on things. And laugh.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
The string of events that triggered the post was a story in the WSJ — a *gasp* NEWSPAPER. It is in today’s Sun, btw.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Wow, observer, defensive much?
Lowell doesn’t need more bias in its “paper of record.” It’d be nice to see it go to local hands (NOT the ones listed) especially if they fire Campanini (I’ve been hoping for years that the parent corp would grow up and realize that they sell a PRODUCT and their product was being undermined by him).
If it can go on in a better capacity I will applaud that very much. I’ve said that I would subscribe (and many others would too) if Campanini went. Now, there’s a caveat that if they bring someone in who’s just as bad then I won’t, but seriously, I’ll subscribe to the dead tree edition AND the online edition if only I could be assured that the stories, headlines, and photography were not in the hands of the likes of Campanini. That guy is a menace to good journalism.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I think any “local” ownership would be dangerous. This city is too small. It wasn’t all rainbows and puppies under the Costelllos either.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I think it depends who does the owning.
January 17th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Anyone with enough $$ to “do the owning” is too connected, either on one side of the fence or the other, both of which would be bad.
January 17th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Observer, Lowell is not too small for a daily newspaper…case in point Laconia NH which has two daily newspapers and a population of just over 17,000!
http://www.city-data.com/city/Laconia-New-Hampshire.html
The Lowell Sun is failing because the Lowell Sun failed it’s readers and abandonded local news coverage so circulation dropped and so did ad revenue on top of what would have been lost to the down economy.
January 17th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Look back on all the Saturday Snoozes you can find and you will see Kendall blowing smoke up every one of the aformentioned asses. It would be worse than it is now. Careful what you wish for….
January 17th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I meant it is too small for local ownership. I disagree that the paper abandoned local news coverage. There is more local coverage now than 10-15 years ago when all of the stories on the front page were AP stories.
January 17th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
OK, it abandoned (with some exceptions and maybe recently) *decent* local coverage.
January 17th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Just curious, Lynne, if you were running the paper how what kind of coverage would you add?
January 17th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Unbiased and more thorough coverage, for starters. A little more of what we saw this last election (over Campy’s protest I am sure) versus what we saw in 2007, the most pathetic coverage of the context of a local election I ever saw in my life.
I’d also add some different voices on the editorial page - that section is just stupidly one sided. What was it someone said when that new guy just got hired? Another old white conservative to add to the collection? There is not a lot of diversity of opinion or of voice in the editorial section.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:15 am
I think this story underscores the points I made on RH.com:
http://richardhowe.com/2010/01/13/partisan-hackery-on-the-op-ed-page-by-michael-luciano/
January 18th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Like it or not, a local newspaper for a city the size of Lowell is extremely important to it’s growth! The Lowell Sun’s got to hang on as far as I’m concerned!
January 18th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Observer wrote:
“I meant it is too small for local ownership. I disagree that the paper abandoned local news coverage. There is more local coverage now than 10-15 years ago when all of the stories on the front page were AP stories.”
Let me preface this by saying I just responded to Observers post and when I clicked submit the post disappeared!
I am a lifelong resdident of Lowell and decades long reader of the Lowell Sun. The lowell Sun used to publish multiple editions aimed at different geographical areas with the news content targeted to those readers. When the editions were consolidated many local stories and reporters were dropped. So to try to sell us on the idea that there is more locan news now? Seriously, you are either Campy himself or have no idea what you are talking about!
The future of the Lowell Sun as a publication lies in someone with deep pockets and a committment stepping up to the plate. Do I think that the group mentioned above is the right mix? No way. And outside of Wallace I doubt that any of them would be interested in an investment like that!
As for a LOCAL ownership not being able to make it? Again, you know not of which you speak.
If you look at the example I mentioned, Laconia NH with a population of 17K supporting TWO daily newspapers, you will find that BOTH of those daily’s are locally owned an operated.
The Laconia Citizen is owned by Foster Daily Democrat, a local company based in Dover NH
The Laconia Daily Sun is owned by Lakes Region News Club which is a partnership between editor/publisher Edward J. Engler and the owners of Country News Club of Conway, New Hampshire, which prints it.
So the two daily’s in Laconia NH, with a population about 17% the size of Lowell’s, have found a way to operate and make money.
I guess it just depends on whether you give the readers and advertisers the service they demand…something the Lowell Sun has forgotten and now it is costing them, and us, dearly!
January 18th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
ER: and keep in mind that the Lowell Sun purports to actually serve the greater Lowell and upper Merrimack Valley, with stories in it from many surrounding towns, so we’re talking about a lot larger population actually.
I agree, the real shame is that we’re a one-newspaper (or rather, news outlet) town. We could use a second one…
January 18th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Thought you might like to see what one of those two Laconia papers looks like.
http://www.laconiadailysun.com/LaconiaPDF/2010/1/18L.pdf
One page of local news. ONE.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Lynne, that is my point. The Sun purports to serve a much much larger population and yet it’s local news coverage is very very slim and some people claim it’s impossible to support the paper in a city THIS SMALL…while Laconia NH with a population only 17 percent that of Lowell alone has two daily papers!
Teddy P. Look again, the Laconia Daily Sun puts its paper on line in a pdf format. The link you put up shows a paper with 16 pages (and it’s free). I hadn’t gotten my “value added ‘morning’” paper by the time I left the house THIS AFTERNOON…how many pages is it?
My point is the business plan the Lowell Sun is following has failed them, they cut back on the product that their customers (readers and advertisers) want. If a company no longer provides customers with the product or service they want, they will go under…no rocket science!
January 18th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
16 pages Eleanor, but pretty much 16 pages of nothing. There’s a front page with 3 quasi-local stories that are continued on a couple of the back pages…in essence, one page of what a normal paper gives you. The rest is AP stories, ads, letters to the editor, horoscopes, comics, national sports, etc. No real content whatsoever, never mind local content.
I’m no expert on the finances of newspapers, but I do know that news operations cost more money than they bring in these days. That goes for TV and Radio, too, which is why all aspects of traditional local media are cutting back on news operations. I’ve seen it first hand, having been a casualty of a television station that completely did away with an award winning news operation.
As for the papers, it’s not the Lowell Sun business plan that is faulty. It is the entire newspaper industry that is a mess. Heck, the Boston Globe almost went away, and still might. Major papers throughout the country are dying. The local models are the ones that’ll work in the long run, but you will never have the same newspaper that existed in the “good old days.” In some way, shape or form, the internet will fill the gap.
In the meantime, it would be wise for Lowellians and others in the Merrimack Valley to put aside editorial and political differences and do as much as possible to support local media. Sure you might have differences of opinion on policy and stance, but on the whole, local media that supports, promotes and covers a region is an incredibly valuable commodity that most people don’t realize the value of until it is gone.
My two cents……..everyone remember to vote tomorrow!
January 18th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Hi Teddy…”16 pages Eleanor, but pretty much 16 pages of nothing. There’s a front page with 3 quasi-local stories that are continued on a couple of the back pages…in essence, one page of what a normal paper gives you. The rest is AP stories, ads, letters to the editor, horoscopes, comics, national sports, etc. No real content whatsoever, never mind local content.”
Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it? What they do have is lots of ads. Apparently enough in that community 17,000 to keep them and the Citizen running.
One of the things I was responding to when I brought up the Daily Sun and Citizen was the statement made by Observer when he stated Lowell, a city of about 100,000 was too small for a paper! Then he said it was too small for a locally owned paper!
The newspaper that you point out The Boston Globe is in the same boat that the Sun is in exactly because it is owned by a major outside corporation. In the case of the Globe the New York Times paid way too much for it. Perhaps the same can be said for Media News about the Sun.
It isn’t all just the economy, it is efforts by the corporate owners to cut costs and boost profits. The most expensive thing in a newspaper, tv or radio station is personnel so that’s what gets hit. It is a fine balance before the corporate types adversly effect the product with those cuts, and once that happens it’s all downhill from there!
I am talking about the ability of newspapers to survive in a local market, specifically Lowell, which I beleive can be done but not the way the Lowell Sun is being run!
Step 1. Give the customer what they want! The customer is the reader and advertiser, not the shareholder.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Teddy,
You say that we should “support local media”. Why if they aren’t of appropriate quality and balance? I grew tired of reading the Campanini rants and seeing his bias in looking at local issues. I happened to pick it up today and saw that they now have a new ranter in this Lucas guy. Here’s an idea: how about producing a quality product that has in depth and well written stories without the BS. How about some regional stories? How about some good citizen columnists instead of crazed right-wingers and political hacks. How about an editor that doesn’t scorn different opinions? Give me all of that and then we’ll have a paper that we can be proud to buy and read. Absent that I say let it go away. It probably does more harm than good.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
“Huh,”
You should try stepping back and looking at the totality of the product. Every paper in the country has some type of bias. For example, your issues with the local paper perfectly mirror conservatives’ beef with the Globe.
As for quality of writing, the Sun’s staff and writers consistently take home award after award in journalism, photagrapy, inovation, etc in the categories the paper falls under. There are some very talented people working in a business that is changing hour by hour around them, yet continuing to produce quality stories. With all due respect to your journalistic background, when peers in the business can recognize the quality of the work produced, perhaps you should take another look.
For each “rant” as you call them, there is an investigative piece that blows the lid off of improprieties and wrongdoing in each of the communities the Sun serves. For each crime story, there is a feature on someone doing good in the community. For each foreclosure notice, there’s a promotion of a local event or business that helps drive traffic in that direction.
In that grand scheme of things, what the Sun does benefits the community far more than it might harm it.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
The Globe isn’t merely biased. It’s got a mixture of opinion writers on its pages (trust me, I hate half the columnists there, so it’s true) and for the most part, fairly fair coverage in the NEWS section (as opposed to the Sun which often imposes an agenda into the NEWS stories), though all papers and generally the media seems to be leaning towards “what sells” instead of true indepth coverage. (For that you need NPR.)
The Sun on the other hand has a very lopsided editorial page, and some good reporting, but often times you read a NEWS story in the Sun and go, “geez, here they go again.”
BTW percieved bias is not the same as actual bias. Conservatives loooove to say NPR is liberal. But objective studies of air time and subject matter on NPR show actually a slight leaning to the right (very slight).
It’s not my fault that oftentimes the facts have a liberal bias.
Anyway we could do much better for a local paper than the current leadership at the Sun. It could be a *great* paper with the right editor (one who can actually write would be nice).
January 19th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
“It’s not my fault that oftentimes the facts have a liberal bias.”
I should say, it’s not my fault that conservatives often want to ignore facts…you know, things like that pesky “science.”
January 19th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Lynne, not sure where these objective studies come from, but I’d love to see them. Please pass along if you have a link or actual copies.
I’ve had the “pleasure” of studying media and mass communication bias. It exists on both sides. Sometimes, it bludgeons you over the head a la Fox News Network. Other times, it’s so subtle you don’t even know you’re being manipulated, a la CNN or the Big 3 Networks. Either way, it’s there, though I must admit to not having come across any NPR research on the matter.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Teddy: It’s been a while since I dug them up, but they were, if I recall, done by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). Their website has totally changed so I’m not sure where it is, and the study isn’t new, but a google search might dig it up.