[R]UTLAND — The Rutland Herald and The Times Argus in Barre have been sold to Vermont Community Media LLC, according to a story on the Herald’s website posted Friday afternoon.
The announcement ends weeks of turmoil and speculation about the papers’ future. The papers were bought by Reade Brower, of Camden, Maine, who has had a long career in the publishing business, and Chip Harris, co-founder of Upper Valley Press Inc., which currently prints the newspapers. The terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Steve Costello, who was an intern at the Herald in 1985 and went on to serve as the paper’s business editor and the city editor of The Times Argus, expressed a great sense of relief that the Herald will continue.
“I feel that the paper has an incredibly important spot in Rutland and that its loss would’ve been devastating,” said Costello, who left journalism in 1996 and now works for Green Mountain Power.
Costello said he was optimistic about the new owners. “I think the community will definitely embrace the new owners and certainly will be looking to hold them to a high standard,” he said.
The Mitchell family has owned the Herald for almost 70 years and The Times Argus for more than 50.
According to the Herald, Rob Mitchell will stay on as editor-in-chief and Shawn Stabell, who is director of circulation and technology for both newspapers, will continue to manage operations at The Times Argus. Earlier in the week, the Herald announced that Publisher Catherine Nelson had decided to leave and was retiring. The president of the company, John Mitchell, is also stepping down. He is Rob Mitchell’s father.
“My family is grateful to have been part of these newspapers for as long as we have,” John Mitchell told the Herald. “We feel some sadness at this sale, but at the same time are glad to be passing these newspapers on to solid, responsible stewards who will continue the service that we’ve felt is every newspaper’s role.”
In the weeks since the Rutland paper announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell, a handful of reporters and editors have departed. A story published in the Herald in early August on the company’s financial difficulties and lack of communication from upper management led to the firing of news editor Alan Keays.
The paper’s online editor, Patty Minichiello, resigned in protest. Reporters Lola Duffort, Dan Colton and Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli and paginator Stephanie Smith have left or are in the process of leaving.
Josh O’Gorman, a Vermont Press Bureau reporter, left in July. Multimedia sales executive Valerie Broughton and photographer Anthony Edwards said they were fired for raising questions about their paychecks and reimbursements.
Two liens were filed on Herald property, the first by former sales rep Carlene Kenney on the Rutland Herald for back wages she said were owed on commissions. On Tuesday, Royal Group Inc., which installed a security system at the Herald early this year, filed a lien on the Herald Association Inc., the paper’s parent company.
The Herald article says the sale does not include the downtown property, though Brower and Harris will use the space for the time being. In an interview Friday, Lee Accavallo, the president of Royal Group Inc., said, “My intention was I didn’t want that property sold until they paid me back.”
In an email, Brower said the lien was on the building and not the newspaper. “I own many things,” he wrote, “that doesn’t necessarily connect them.” Brower added that he had bought the newspapers without having to address the lien.
Asked if he thought the papers would be able to rebuild, Costello said he believed they would. “There’s always been a flood of people wanting to get into local newspapers,” he said.
Costello noted that Susan Smallheer, who wrote Friday’s story announcing the sale, was at the paper when he started as an intern in 1985. “It’s a fun career,” Costello said. “It’s meaningful work and a great way to learn about a community.”
