Comments on: Village Soup Reinvigorating Newspapers Through Online News in Maine

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:15:40 +0000

While the Village Soup was a newspaper, it was a bad tabloid, and should have, at least, run the odd 3-headed chicken story.

Fostering mean-spiritedness, and offering headlines and stories that mostly serve to incite rather than inform, the Knight Foundation's sanction and praise of the Soup is all the more appalling.

By: Michael Hallundbaek

Michael Hallundbaek — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:34:42 +0000

Reinvigorating is an interesting word to use. And reverse publishing as well. Last I checked online 6 out of 7 online news stories were police blotters... That is the direction Villagesoup has heading in for years and by now there is usually nothing but police blotters on their site. It's astounding that a foundation like the Knight foundation would support this organization that is actively trying to tear the fabric of the midcoast community apart.
As for journalism --- it is no longer possible to get a story or event printed from a community foundation unless you are a good friend of the owners daughter or pay. Since the organization now controls the majority of print newspapers in the area we, the public, are basically hostage to this type of police blotter journalism and greedy extortion until Villagesoup fails.

By: Horace G.

Horace G. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:43:19 +0000

So far all this grant has funded is the continued war of attrition against print journalists in Maine. Since June Village Soup has laid off nearly 40 people from
Courier Publications and has killed off three weeklies including one of their own in Belfast, the another, the Waldo Independent and, in November the Camden Herald. After buying Courier they killed its website and then put nothing back for three months. Their "community" has promised much but so far has only delivered less competition for news, fewer independent voices, and fewer opportunities for working journalists.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:28:01 +0000

Thanks for your comment, David.

I don't know that we're sounding death knells here, and rather that it's an interesting, reversed situation in this specific case.

Do you agree that the need for news continues?

By: David

David — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:52:51 +0000

If you count Village Soup's two money losing papers that makes 8 in the same market. The fact is they weren't losing out to online competition but rather to other newspapers that consistently won awards and have been profitable. Sounding the death knell for print, particularly weeklies in Maine, is premature. It is also counterintuitive to issue a press release about buying newspapers and then spend a lot of time talking about how it is a dieing industry.