Program for Sunday March 8, 2020

The news about the plight of local journalism is alarming. The losses to civic life, community, and democracy that come with the shuttering of so many papers is real. But there is a part of the story that is under-reported. Many local papers in communities that have reasonably vibrant economies are succeeding. And there is a movement going on across the country to rebuild local journalism, too. Teresa Parker, publisher of the Provincetown Independent and Ed Miller, editor, tell about what they think is missing from the current narrative on journalism’s demise, why they’re launching the Provincetown Independent, and their public benefit mission to bring the Outer Cape into the movement to restore local newsrooms.

Teresa Parker is a founder of the Provincetown Independent, and is the publisher. She ran her own small travel business, Spanish Journeys, on Cape Cod for 15 years. Before that, as a senior manager at the Ernst & Young Center for Business Innovation. She was a founding board member of SPAT, the organization behind the Wellfleet OysterFest, and now enjoys cooking at the 246 Community Kitchen in Wellfleet.

Ed Miller is the editor of the Independent. He has more than 30 years of experience in journalism and publishing as a founder of two independent weekly newspapers, the Harvard Post and the Bolton Common; a book publishing company, the Harvard Common Press; and a magazine, Highwire, which was nominated for two National Magazine Awards. He has been honored by the Educational Press Association of America, has taught writing at Harvard and at Sarah Lawrence College, and has authored or co-authored five books, including How to Produce a Small Newspaper: A Guide for Independent Journalists. During his three-year tenure as associate editor of the Provincetown Banner, it was twice named New England Newspaper of the Year by the New England Newspaper and Press Association.