Published daily since 1892,The Eagle has been owned since 1 May 2016 by a group of local Berkshire County investors, who purchasedThe Eagle and its threeVermont sister newspapers for an undisclosed sum fromDigital First Media.[3]
The Eagle has won the New England Newspaper and Press Association's Newspaper of the Year Award for Sunday newspapers, weekday newspapers, or both, for seven consecutive years (2018-2024), as detailed in the awards section below.
The Eagle's roots go back to a weekly newspaper, theWestern Star, founded inStockbridge, Massachusetts in 1789. Over time, this newspaper changed its name, ownership, and place of publication multiple times, but maintained continuity of publication:
The Western Star, published in Stockbridge, Massachusetts from 1 December 1789 – 10 June 1794.[4]
The name was changed toAndrews's Western Star, published in Stockbridge from 17 June 1794 – 20 February 1797.[5]
The name reverted toThe Western Star, published in Stockbridge from 27 February 1806 – 8 November 1806.[6]
Shortly after the final issue ofThe Western Star, a successor publication,The Berkshire Reporter, was launched nearby in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on 17 January 1807. This issue was labeled as Volume 18, Number 1859, indicating continuity fromThe Western Star.The Berkshire Reporter continued until 23 November 1815.[7]
Meanwhile in Stockbridge, another weekly newspaper was launched, called theFarmer's Herald, published from 30 July 1808 – 1814.[8]
The name of theFarmer's Herald was changed toThe Berkshire Herald in 1814; this publication continued until 23 November 1815 (the same as the last date of theBerkshire Reporter).[9]
The Berkshire Herald and theBerkshire Reporter merged, becomingThe Berkshire Star, published in Stockbridge from 17 December 1815 – 3 January 1828.[10]
The name ofThe Berkshire Star was changed toThe Berkshire Star and County Republican, published in Lenox, Massachusetts from 10 January 1828 – 28 August 1829.[11]
The name was changed toThe Berkshire Journal, published in Lenox from 3 September 1829 – 25 August 1831.[12]
Meanwhile in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a newspaper had been launched with the nameThe Argus, published from 24 May 1827 – 1 September 1831.[13]
The Berkshire Journal andThe Argus merged to becomeThe Journal and Argus, published in Lenox from September 1, 1831 – 20 August 1834.[14]
Finally the name ofThe Journal and Argus was changed toThe Massachusetts Eagle in the issue of August 28, 1834.[15] This was the first time the word “Eagle” appeared in the name of the publication, but based on the publishing dates, volume numbering, and ownership, there was a continuity of publication beginning withThe Western Star in 1789.
As of 7 January 1853, the name changed again toThe Berkshire County Eagle.[16]
The weeklyBerkshire County Eagle was purchased byKelton Bedell Miller in 1891. The following year, on May 9, 1892, it commenced daily publication asThe Berkshire Evening Eagle.[17]The Berkshire County Eagle, however, remained a part of the paper, as a weekly section within the Wednesday edition of the daily, until 24 June 1953.[16]
The Miller family retained ownership until 1995. After Kelton Bedell Miller died in 1941, ownership passed to his sons, Lawrence K. "Pete" Miller and Donald B. Miller, as editor and publisher, respectively.[18]
The Miller brothers focused on hiring talent and building the quality ofThe Eagle's newsroom. The newspaper became known as a great place for graduates of journalism schools to begin their careers, and many of those reporters went on to renowned careers throughout the journalistic world in publications such asThe New York Times,The Washington Post,TheWall Street Journal,Time magazine and others.[19][20]
In 1947,The Eagle launched a radio station in Pittsfield,WBEC (AM). An FM affiliate was added in 1948, but the company gave up the FM license because too few people had FM receivers at the time. The radio station was sold during the 1950s to Richard S. Jackson.
In a 1973Time magazine article aboutThe Eagle, thenBoston Globe editorThomas Winship was quoted as callingThe Eagle the best newspaper “of its size in the country.” The article mentions that the paper carried occasional book reviews from Berkshire County residents such asJames MacGregor Burns andWilliam L. Shirer. At the time, the paper had nearly 20 local columnists, 23 stringers and a news staff of 35, considered large for a paper its size. (Circulation was 32,000 at the time.)[19]
Press criticBen Bagdikian in 1972 stated that there were only three great newspapers in the world, each in its own way:The New York Times,Le Monde, andThe Berkshire Eagle.The Washington Post, where he had served as editor and ombudsman, he said at the time, was “not yet a great paper.”[21]
The next and final generation of Miller owners was headed by Michael G. Miller, grandson of Kelton Bedell Miller. In 1995 Michael Miller was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which then ownedThe Eagle, theMiddletown Press inMiddletown, Connecticut, and two daily newspapers in Vermont: theBennington Banner and theBrattleboro Reformer, as well as a weekly newspaper, theJournal inManchester, Vermont; his brother Mark C. Miller was editor ofThe Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. A sister, Margo Miller, a writer forThe Boston Globe, sat on Eagle Publishing's board.[22]
In 1989, the Millers chose to renovate, as a new headquarters and printing plant for their company, a factory building complex in Pittsfield, originally theEaton, Crane & Pike Company Factory. As a result of a recession, the company was unable to service the debt it had assumed to finance this $23.5 million project. Failing to find a white knight to help them weather the fiscal storm that ensued, in 1995 the Millers sold their holdings toMediaNews Group, a company founded byWilliam Dean Singleton ofDenver,Colorado.[22]
The transaction closed on September 1, 1995. Simultaneously, MediaNews Group sold theMiddletown Press to theJournal Register Company.[23] The following year, MediaNews added theNorth Adams Transcript to its western New England holdings. In January 2014, theTranscript ceased operations and was merged intoThe Eagle.[24]
Immediately upon acquiringThe Eagle, MediaNews group reduced the newsroom staff of 40 by more than 25 percent.[25] Later under MediaNews management, as newspapers in general faced increasing financial challenges there were multiple rounds of staff reductions as various functions were consolidated into centralized locations on a regional or national basis.[26] All the while, subscription prices were increased despite falling circulation levels.[20]
In April 2016, a team of local investors boughtThe Eagle, along with its Vermont sister newspapers theBennington Banner,Brattleboro Reformer andManchester Journal, fromDigital First Media (DFM), the new name of MediaNews Group. The investor team consisted of formerVisa Inc. President John C. "Hans" Morris, local retired judge Fredric D. Rutberg,M&T Bank ChairmanRobert G. Wilmers andStanford Lipsey, former publisher ofThe Buffalo News and former owner of theOmaha Sun newspaper group ofNebraska.[27][28] Lipsey died November 1, 2016. Wilmers died in December, 2017.[29]
In introducing the new ownership and its goals toThe Eagle's readership, Rutberg wrote: “The goal is to makeThe Eagle a part of the finest community newspaper group in America,” Rutberg wrote. “Our business plan is simple. By improving the quality and quantity of the content in our publications, we expect to increase our readership which will, in turn, increase our revenues, and ensure the future of these publications.”[20][30]
Under the new owners,The Eagle has been able to hire additional newsroom staff, expanded its investigative team, and has launched new content including a Sunday arts-focused section called Landscapes.[31] In 2022, The Eagle launched a quarterly glossy magazine,Berkshire Landscapes,[32] and a monthly tabloid business newspaper,Berkshire Business Journal.[33]
The new ownership group also invested in new systems in order to transition off the centralized DFM technical infrastructure, including a new content management system. They established a community advisory board including journalistsLinda Greenhouse and Donald Morrison, and authorsSimon Winchester andElizabeth Kolbert, all of whom have Berkshire area connections, and representatives of many local non-profits and businesses.[34][29]
In 2019,The Eagle's owners purchased a weekly newspaper, theSouthern Berkshire Shopper's Guide, based inGreat Barrington, Massachusetts.[35]
In October, 2020, in response to economic challenges associated with theCOVID-19 pandemic,The Eagle reduced its print frequency to five days per week, Tuesday through Saturday, with the traditional Sunday package of supplements and inserts moving into the Saturday slot. On Mondays, while there is no printed paper, an electronic facsimile of a printed newspaper is available, and the paper's website is updated seven days a week. The paper also announced a new strategic direction it calls Being Digital, which entails "moderniz[ing] and enhanc[ing] our digital presence by expanding our use of digital tools in our reporting that incorporates the use of podcasts, video, interactive graphics, and links to underlying references and sources."[36]
In May, 2021, New England Newspapers, Inc. sold its Vermont newspapers to Vermont News and Media LLC, a company owned by Paul Belogour, a software entrepreneur.[37]
In November, 2021,The Eagle completed the installation of a new printing press, a Goss Community SSC Magnum,[38] and in August, 2022 it completed a major renovation of its office space.[39]
In March, 2023,The Eagle relaunched its quarterly magazine, renaming it fromBerkshire Landscapes toThe B.[40]
In June, 2023,The Eagle launched a new website, BerkshiresWeek.com, as a source of information about events and experiences in the Berkshires.[41]
Yankee Quill Awards to "extraordinary journalists" — Lawrence K. Miller (1967), Abraham Michelson (1973), Kingsley R. Fall (1974)[59]
In 2018,The Eagle received the Media Support of Arts Education Award from Arts|Learning, a Massachusetts arts education advocacy organization.[60]
In 2019,The Eagle received the JFK Commonwealth Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, “for demonstrating the enduring civic value of community journalism.”[61]
In 2022,Eagle publisher Fredric D. Rutberg received one of four annual Massachusetts Governor's Awards in the Humanities, for his leadership of the group that returnedThe Eagle to local ownership.[62][63]
In 2023,Eagle editorial page editor David Coffey received theCarmage Walls Commentary Prize for newspapers under 35,000 in circulation, for editorials taking to task theSpringfield (Massachusetts) Roman Catholic Diocese for demanding anEagle reporter's notes for a series of stories about sexual abuse allegations against a powerful former bishop.[64]
Gustav Niebuhr, Associate Professor of Religion atSyracuse University, worked as a reporter forThe Eagle in the early 1980, and subsequently as a journalist for theNew York Times,Washington Post,Wall Street Journal andAtlanta Journal-Constitution.[67]
Priscilla Painton,Time magazine deputy editor, executive editor atSimon & Schuster; was anEagle reporter in the early 1980s.
Daniel Pearl, American journalist forThe Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped and later beheaded by terrorists inPakistan in 2002; he began his career at theNorth Adams Transcript andThe Eagle from 1986 to 1990.
Stephen Rosenfeld,Washington Post editor and columnist for 40 years,Eagle reporter 1955–1957
In the 1981 filmAbsence of Malice starringPaul Newman andSally Field, Field's character mentions that she once lived in the Northeast. "I had my first job there the summer when I was 16 onThe Berkshire Eagle. I wonder if they'd have me back."[20]
Rinker Buck's bookFirst Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work (2002) is a memoir of his employment atThe Berkshire Eagle in the early 1970s, including recollections of manyEagle co-workers.[70]
Norman Rockwell included a copy ofThe Berkshire Eagle in his paintingThe Armchair General. Originally, when published as a cover ofThe Saturday Evening Post, the newspaper in the painting was theTroy Record, but Rockwell painted over theRecord and insertedThe Berkshire Eagle before presenting the original painting to the Miller family. It hung at theEagle's offices for many years. The painting was exhibited in 2018–2020 as part of touring exhibit focused on Rockwell'sFour Freedoms paintings.[71]
The original newspaper report describing the arrest ofArlo Guthrie for littering was published inThe Berkshire Eagle on 29 November 1965. The incident led Guthrie to write the song and monologue "Alice's Restaurant", which launched his recording career, and included the line: "and everybody wanted to get in a newspaper story about it."[72]
The Eagle's editorial policy states: "The Eagle has taken certain key editorial positions consistently, and the editorial board will endorse changes to those positions only after deep discussion and research leading to consensus. These positions include a general predisposition toward free expression, as well as leaning toward progressive ideas, environmental conservation, the encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the promotion of tourism and cultural entities." The paper's editorials "focus most on local, regional and statewide concerns that then are articulated in the plurality (three of every five) of its editorials. As such,The Eagle's editorial voice and conscience is seen as the main convener and connector on issues of vital importance, including: civility in life and discourse, education – local and national; local economic development issues; environmental issues; and questions before local, state and national leaders and legislative bodies."[73]
As of 1 July 2022, single copies ofThe Berkshire Eagle cost $2.00 Tuesday through Friday, and $3.00 on Saturdays. Home delivery plus digital access costs $416 for 52 weeks. Digital-only access costs $179 per year.
