Kierstead: Inexperience and Human Interest in the Newsroom

I have always been an advocate of local journalism and signal boosting journalists and outlets that are doing good work. This is especially the case for outlets reporting on my community, because I am a Granite Stater that wants to spread accurate, important reporting to my audience and neighbors. An informed electorate ensures the government is kept in check, our free market dollars are spent strategically, and they know the who/what/when/where of their little world.

My community’s local newspaper, the Concord Monitor, is an avatar for soft journalism on important local issues, stemming from an inexperienced newsroom and lack of leadership.

The Concord Monitor is owned by Newspapers of New England, a conglomerate that includes three New Hampshire and three Massachusetts papers. To be fair, they are still family-owned and operated, something rare for larger outlets of any medium. Anecdotally, their advertising and marketing branch, NNEdigital, is what gets all the attention and it feels like their sales crew are in the field more than the reporters that should be the backbone of the operation. In their defense, the collapse of traditional funding models, like obituaries, classifieds, and print ads, have left this industry desperate to keep their doors open. What definitely doesn’t help is their confusing, long-term real estate planning where the handful of staff continued to operate out of an enormous, mostly empty building for years after the printing press moved across town.

There are a couple good reporters over there, namely veteran reporter David Brooks. Though he is a confusing fellow, shifting between traditional reporting and his lefty Granite Geek columns, but I have respect for his work. Photo editor Geoff Forester is also a cornerstone of the area. Unfortunately for the Monitor, they have shed countless reporters over the last decade, like Annmarie Timmins and Ethan Dewitt, who became founding journalists at the New Hampshire Bulletin five years ago.

Likely Source of the Issue

Senior reporters and editors are essentially nonexistent at the Monitor. They are almost entirely staff by inexperienced twenty-somethings that take the reins of the newsroom. Below is a listing of their reporters and how long it has been since they received their undergraduate degree, this is based on their website staff listing and their LinkedIn profiles:

• News Editor Rebeca Pereira, three years
• Community Editor Rachel Wachman, two years
• Engagement Editor Emilia Wisniewski, one year
• Reporter Sruthi Gopalakrishnan, who appears to be an Indian immigrant with four years in journalism
• Statehouse Reporter Charlotte Matherly, three years
• Reporter Jeremy Margolis, seven years (comparatively, very senior)
• Reporter Catherine McLaughlin, five years
• Reporter Alex Rapp, two years

How much this tremendously inexperienced staff is due to Publisher Steve Leone and Editor in Chief Jonathan Van Fleet’s leadership, the state of the employment market, or the lack of funding available to hire more senior reporters is not something I have intel regarding. A peak at the advertising team is revealing, with seven individuals that are mostly mid to late career. Seniority and pay is likely dedicated to the cash collectors and not the content, a disappointing state of affairs for local journalism...

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