The Berkshire Eagle
Encyclopedia
The Berkshire Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
and covering all of Berkshire County, Massachusetts
, as well as four New York
communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record
for the Berkshire County "hill towns" of Western Massachusetts
.
Founded in the early 1890s, The Eagle has been owned since 1995 by MediaNews Group
, which publishes three other daily newspapers in Massachusetts
and several others in western New England
, including the other leading newspaper based in Berkshire County, the North Adams Transcript
.
The Eagles last independent publisher was Michael G. Miller, grandson of Kelton Bedell Miller
, who founded the paper. Michael was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which owned The Eagle, the Middletown Press in Middletown, Connecticut
, and two daily newspapers in Vermont: the Bennington Banner
and the Brattleboro Reformer
, as well as a weekly newspaper, the Journal in Manchester, Vermont; his brother Mark C. Miller was editor of The Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. A sister, Margo Miller, a writer for The Boston Globe
, sat on Eagle Publishing's board.
The paper was said to be struggling financially in the early 1990s, burdened by mismanagement and debt incurred by the decision to purchase new multi-million dollar four-color printing presses. That purchase necessitated that the company expand into larger quarters.
Formerly, The Eagle had been published using single color (black ink) printing presses that had fit neatly inside the flatiron-shaped Eagle Building on the aptly named Eagle Street in Pittsfield. That old building, though fully paid for, was too small to accommodate the huge new color presses that management was seeking to buy. The ultimately financially disastrous side effect of the decision to invest in the new larger color machines was that management had to find new quarters in which to install them. Rather than build new, the Millers chose to renovate a nearby former Sheaffer-Eaton stationery company paper mill which an Eagle Publishing subsidiary purchased. The cost of the entire project—at $23.5 million for presses, land and renovations—did not seem unwise at the time because the regional economy was booming along with local real estate and the national economy.
However, the Millers had expanded at the peak of a market cycle. By the time construction at the new headquarters was complete, with staff moved in, and 'bugs' worked-out from the new presses, the regional economy was feeling the effects of recession. The Eagle's advertising revenues plummeted. Worse, the local real estate boom went bust and the extra office space that the Millers had built into the renovated structure, space intended for renting out to help service company debt, was not attracting tenants. The result was that the Millers faced a severe cash crunch. Revenues were insufficient to service the hefty eight-year, $17.9 million mortgage the company had recently taken out with State Street Bank and Trust Company
in Boston in order to finance the new renovations and presses. So bad was The Eagle's cash flow problem that it was rumored that State Street was even threatening foreclosure on the venerable old publishing institution, sometimes referred to as "the New York Times of small dailies."
The Millers sought relief by making it known in the industry that they were seeking a white knight
— an outside investor with deep pockets who would help the Millers weather the current fiscal storm (the preferred alternative), or at the very least a buyer for the entire publishing group (so the Millers would not have to sell assets piecemeal and break-up the company).
In 1995, they accepted an offer from MediaNews Group
, a company founded by William Dean Singleton
of Denver, Colorado
. Singleton, the publisher of the Denver Post and owner of a string of daily newspapers throughout the country, was in the business of acquiring publishing properties at firesale prices. Singleton agreed to purchase the assets of the Eagle Publishing Company, including all its newspaper and publishing properties and debt, but conditioned his investment on absolute control. The Miller family was "retired"; the purchase by MediaNews was followed by staff layoffs and salary reductions, something the Millers had apparently tried to avoid.
The transaction closed on September 1, 1995. Simultaneously, MediaNews Group sold the Middletown Press to the Journal Register Company
. The following year, MediaNews added the North Adams Transcript
to its western New England holdings.
candidates. (The last Republican presidential candidate endorsed by the paper was Wendell Willkie
in 1940.) The editorial page editors early-on railed against the War in Iraq, and since 2001 have generally been critical of Bush Administration foreign and domestic policies.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
and covering all of Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...
, as well as four New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record
Newspaper of record
Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...
for the Berkshire County "hill towns" of Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
.
Founded in the early 1890s, The Eagle has been owned since 1995 by MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...
, which publishes three other daily newspapers in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and several others in western New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, including the other leading newspaper based in Berkshire County, the North Adams Transcript
North Adams Transcript
The North Adams Transcript is a daily newspaper, published Monday through Saturday in North Adams, Massachusetts.Branded as "The Voice of the Northern Berkshires Since 1843," the Transcript covers North Adams and Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, New Ashford, and...
.
History
In 1973, Roger B. Linscott working at the The Eagle won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.The Eagles last independent publisher was Michael G. Miller, grandson of Kelton Bedell Miller
Kelton B. Miller
Kelton Bedell Miller was an American journalist and politician who served as Mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Miller was the publisher of the The Berkshire Eagle....
, who founded the paper. Michael was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which owned The Eagle, the Middletown Press in Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, and two daily newspapers in Vermont: the Bennington Banner
Bennington Banner
The Bennington Banner is a daily newspaper published in Bennington, Vermont. Established in 1841, the paper covers local, national, and world news. The Bennington Banner sells 7,800 papers daily with a penetration of 65% in Bennington. It is distributed throughout Southwestern Vermont and eastern...
and the Brattleboro Reformer
Brattleboro Reformer
The Brattleboro Reformer is the third-largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont. With a weekday circulation of just over 10,000, it is behind the Burlington Free Press and the Rutland Herald, respectively...
, as well as a weekly newspaper, the Journal in Manchester, Vermont; his brother Mark C. Miller was editor of The Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. A sister, Margo Miller, a writer for The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, sat on Eagle Publishing's board.
The paper was said to be struggling financially in the early 1990s, burdened by mismanagement and debt incurred by the decision to purchase new multi-million dollar four-color printing presses. That purchase necessitated that the company expand into larger quarters.
Formerly, The Eagle had been published using single color (black ink) printing presses that had fit neatly inside the flatiron-shaped Eagle Building on the aptly named Eagle Street in Pittsfield. That old building, though fully paid for, was too small to accommodate the huge new color presses that management was seeking to buy. The ultimately financially disastrous side effect of the decision to invest in the new larger color machines was that management had to find new quarters in which to install them. Rather than build new, the Millers chose to renovate a nearby former Sheaffer-Eaton stationery company paper mill which an Eagle Publishing subsidiary purchased. The cost of the entire project—at $23.5 million for presses, land and renovations—did not seem unwise at the time because the regional economy was booming along with local real estate and the national economy.
However, the Millers had expanded at the peak of a market cycle. By the time construction at the new headquarters was complete, with staff moved in, and 'bugs' worked-out from the new presses, the regional economy was feeling the effects of recession. The Eagle's advertising revenues plummeted. Worse, the local real estate boom went bust and the extra office space that the Millers had built into the renovated structure, space intended for renting out to help service company debt, was not attracting tenants. The result was that the Millers faced a severe cash crunch. Revenues were insufficient to service the hefty eight-year, $17.9 million mortgage the company had recently taken out with State Street Bank and Trust Company
State Street Bank and Trust Company
State Street Bank and Trust Company or simply State Street is a custodian bank organized as a Massachusetts trust company specializing in services to mutual funds and their advisers, collective investment funds, corporate and public pension funds, insurance companies, operating companies and...
in Boston in order to finance the new renovations and presses. So bad was The Eagle's cash flow problem that it was rumored that State Street was even threatening foreclosure on the venerable old publishing institution, sometimes referred to as "the New York Times of small dailies."
The Millers sought relief by making it known in the industry that they were seeking a white knight
White knight
White knight may refer to:*a literary stock character, see knight *The White Knight Fitzgibbon, an extinct hereditary Anglo-Norman title of nobility used in Ireland-In literature:...
— an outside investor with deep pockets who would help the Millers weather the current fiscal storm (the preferred alternative), or at the very least a buyer for the entire publishing group (so the Millers would not have to sell assets piecemeal and break-up the company).
In 1995, they accepted an offer from MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...
, a company founded by William Dean Singleton
William Dean Singleton
William Dean Singleton is an American newspaper executive. He is the chairman of the board of directors of the Associated Press, on which he has sat since 1999...
of Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Singleton, the publisher of the Denver Post and owner of a string of daily newspapers throughout the country, was in the business of acquiring publishing properties at firesale prices. Singleton agreed to purchase the assets of the Eagle Publishing Company, including all its newspaper and publishing properties and debt, but conditioned his investment on absolute control. The Miller family was "retired"; the purchase by MediaNews was followed by staff layoffs and salary reductions, something the Millers had apparently tried to avoid.
The transaction closed on September 1, 1995. Simultaneously, MediaNews Group sold the Middletown Press to the Journal Register Company
Journal Register Company
The Journal Register Company is an American media company, serving an audience of 21 million Americans in 992 communities. The company operates more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 communities. The company is led by CEO John Paton who openly blogs about the changes he is making to transform...
. The following year, MediaNews added the North Adams Transcript
North Adams Transcript
The North Adams Transcript is a daily newspaper, published Monday through Saturday in North Adams, Massachusetts.Branded as "The Voice of the Northern Berkshires Since 1843," the Transcript covers North Adams and Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, New Ashford, and...
to its western New England holdings.
Editorial Page
Eagle editorials since World War II have generally leaned hard "Left" with support generally given to Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidates. (The last Republican presidential candidate endorsed by the paper was Wendell Willkie
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
in 1940.) The editorial page editors early-on railed against the War in Iraq, and since 2001 have generally been critical of Bush Administration foreign and domestic policies.