 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Ron Mitchell & André Stark |
| Founder | Melvin B. Miller |
| Publisher | Ron Mitchell |
| Editor | Ron Mitchell |
| COO | André Stark |
| Founded | 1965; 61 years ago (1965) |
| Headquarters | Dorchester, Boston |
| Circulation | 27,400 (as of 2023)[1] |
| ISSN | 1946-6730 |
| OCLC number | 6749070 |
| Website | baystatebanner |
| Free online archives | npaper-wehaa |
The Bay State Banner is aweekly newspaper primarily geared toward the readership interests of theAfrican-American community inBoston, Massachusetts.[2] Distributed free of charge, it was founded in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller, who remained the chief editor and publisher until March 2023. In 2015, the publication celebrated its 50th anniversary serving the region's minority-oriented neighborhoods.
Notable journalists who have worked atThe Bay State Banner includePBS hostGwen Ifill andNPR commentatorRobin Washington.[3] Bryant Rollins, a former reporter forThe Boston Globe and a community activist and author, served as theBanner's first editor.[4]
TheBay State Banner was started in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller, who served as the publication's chief editor and publisher, with the help of his brother Jack Miller. A native of Boston, Miller graduated fromBoston Latin School,Harvard University, andColumbia Law School, and receivedDoctor of Humane Lettershonorary degrees fromSuffolk University andEmerson College.[5]
TheBay State Banner’s first issue, on September 25, 1965, ran with a headline reading "What’s Wrong With Our Schools?" next to photographs of the Gibson School inDorchester, which had an all-black student population, and the newly opened Henry Grew School in predominantly whiteHyde Park.[6]
Miller stated that he considered theBanner to be a successor to theBoston Guardian, a local newspaper founded in 1901 that aimed to represent black Bostonians until its closure in the 1950s, in that theBanner offered coverage of issues that affect the diverse community that lives in Boston, rather than those who commute in or visit.[7][8] Inspired by the passing of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 just one year prior, Miller opened theBanner in an effort to empower black voices, and combat media representation of black Bostonians as "losers" (Miller quipped that Boston is a "city of winners", regardless of race).[9] Miller hoped to expose what he viewed as Boston's unique form of racism, and subvert the control whiteIrish Catholics held over both the city and the media at the time.[9] The paper went on to cover theBoston desegregation busing crisis, and the actions taken by theNAACP’sRuth Batson.[10] TheBanner has been cited as a precursor toStokely Carmichael’s work.[10]
From its inception, theBanner has covered and supported local community efforts inRoxbury and its surrounding neighborhoods, includingOperation Head Start andAction for Boston Community Development. Miller sought to differentiate the paper from other "black papers" of the time by covering important and controversial stories, and taking strong stances on them.[7]
Miller frequently cited his wife, Sandra Casagrand, as an important business partner who helped him navigate the paper through the "roughest seas".[11]
In April 1966, less than a year after theBanner was founded, it went out of business for four weeks due to a lack of advertising revenue, the headline read "Banner Being Forced Out Of Business".[4] Almost immediately after the paper folded, community residents formed a Committee to Save the Banner, which put pressure on local businesses to advertise in order to support the paper. Four weeks later theBanner was back on the stands.[12]
TheBanner suspended publication on July 9, 2009, laying off its staff of 12.[3]In the last edition of the paper before this suspension, Miller summarized that he was looking for investors in order to resume publication, but that theBanner's free-distribution of 30,000 copies was not sustainable in the face of falling ad revenue.[13] Harvard University law professorCharles Ogletree started lining up investors to save theBanner[14] but the publication ended up accepting a $200,000 bailout loan by then-Mayor of BostonThomas Menino from the Boston Local Development Corp., a nonprofit administered by theBoston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). Miller said the loan would help the paper survive while it arranged a new business plan with Next Street Financial LLC, a financial services company. Boston Local Development, the nonprofit arranging the loan, made similar loans to local businesses, including a coffee shop and bicycle company.[13] Menino had beenrunning for reelection at the time and had often been criticized by theBanner, which at one point suggested in an editorial that he step down from office. Menino said he was not trying to influence the paper with the loan offer, but wanted to "help a business that is very important to the minority community."[13]
On January 12, 2014, following Menino's end of term,The Boston Globe published an article publicizing Miller's personal financial records, along with the financial situation of theBanner. The article questioned the necessity of the bailout five years prior. The same week, theBanner accused theGlobe of defamation in an open letter, claiming bias in their coverage of theBanner's current financial situation, which claimed that the paper remained more than $200,000 in debt following the near closure in 2009, losing nearly $400,000 between 2009 and 2012, with ad revenue dropping 17 percent in three years.[15] This coverage followed an audit launched by theBoston Finance Commission into the BRA-associated loan. The BRA defended the loan, standing by Menino's argument that the loan was important to save a business that was "very important to the minority community".[16]
In 2018, theBanner was the subject of an exhibition at the Howard Gotlieb Memorial Gallery atBoston University'sMugar Memorial Library entitled "Boston Revisited: 50 Years of the Bay State Banner". The exhibit featured a photographic history of Boston's black community through photography from theBanner archives, including examples of Boston's news, politics, editorials, arts, sports, education and business from the last half century.[17] This showcase accompanied a book entitledBoston’s Banner Years: 1965–2015: A Saga of Black Success, produced by Miller and the writers of theBanner.[17][18]
On March 1, 2023, theBanner announced the sale of the publication from Miller, then aged 88, to Ron Mitchell, a former videojournalist atWBZ-TV, and André Stark, a filmmaker.[19][1] Mitchell was announced as publisher and editor, and Stark aschief operating officer.[20] Also announced was an expanded coverage area for theBanner, with four editions: Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and northernNew England.[1]
TheBanner's initial format was a 10-pagebroadsheet, switching to atabloid in 1968. In 2005, the paper's staff of 20 produced issues up to 40 pages long, distributed on Thursdays.[12]
TheBanner is also available online, and the publication's physical archives reportedly contain "about 36 boxes of Bay State material" consisting of more than 60,000 photographs.[17]