What Boston Herald writers are saying about the sale of their newspaper
About a quarter of the paper's employees are expected to lose their jobs.
Boston Herald
reporters and columnists reacted with mixed emotions to the news Friday that their paper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is being sold to Gatehouse Media.
Patrick Purcell, the Herald‘s publisher, wrote in a letter to his employees that the pending sale is the “best pathway forward” for financially struggling newspaper, which is the second-largest daily in Boston.
According to the terms of the sales, Herald employees will have to interview with Gatehouse for positions next month. About a quarter of the staff is expected to lose their jobs. The Herald will continue to publish a daily newspaper as it moves forward with its bankruptcy filing and sale, according to Purcell’s letter.
Purcell announced the agreement to the Herald newsroom Friday afternoon in what reportedly was an emotional speech.
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Purcell says Herald currently has 228 employees. GateHouse will keep 175
— Matt Stout (@MattPStout) December 8, 2017
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In an interview with The Boston Globe, Purcell said he wanted to keep Boston a two-newspaper city as long as he could.
“Apparently this is as long as I could,” he told the Globe.
In an impassioned article Saturday, Herald columnist Steve Buckley echoed the sentiment being expressed across the media industry since the news broke: Having more than one newspaper in a city benefits both outlets and their readers.
“Each newspaper makes every other newspaper stronger, hungrier … better,” Buckley wrote.
“I write these words not just because I happen to work for the Herald — and would very much like to continue doing so — but also because I’m a longtime reader who thoroughly enjoys getting the daily rush of two competing dailies,” he wrote, later adding that the city needs more voices “now more than ever.”
Many writers and editors thanked fellow employees and readers expressing support. Others simply expressed gratitude for the experience of working at the paper.
It is my privilege to wake up & go to work at a newspaper every day, a place where the job is to tell the truth – & to tell it w/ heart intelligence wit & courage. But it’s an absolute honor to have as my team the whip-smart tough-as-nails non-stop news reporters of @bostonherald
— Jen Miller (@jenbmiller) December 8, 2017
I’m at a loss except to say thank you, Kimberly. So humbled and so proud. https://t.co/w8i2ItCW64
— Joe Sciacca (@BHsciacca) December 9, 2017
The @BostonHerald taught me how to be a political reporter. Over the course of 13 years I have been honored the have a byline among the hardest working journos I know, and to write for a publication that really knows and loves the City of Boston. I’m a proud Herald staffer.
— Kimberly Atkins Stohr (@KimberlyEAtkins) December 8, 2017
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Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support. I don’t plan on going anywhere and we will continue to do our best to provide the best possible HS coverage we can. #BostonHeraldStrong 👊
— Danny Ventura (@BostonHeraldHS) December 8, 2017
Despite the news of an uncertain future, some reporters defiantly vowed to push forward with their work.
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