In a thoughtful letter to New England newspaper professionals, Warren C. Dews Jr., president of NEACE (New England Association of Circulation Executives), announces the dates for the organization’s Spring Conference, scheduled for Sunday, May 22 and Monday, May 23 at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA.

Dews also challenges us to think about the meaning of circulation in modern publishing and reveals that the 105-year-old organization is expanding its focus and will now be covering Marketing, Advertising, Production/Operations, and Circulation.

Dear Newspaper Colleagues and Friends,

My name is Warren C. Dews Jr., President of NEACE (New England Association of Circulation Executives).  I am excited to announce our organization’s upcoming plans, but first let me start by asking a simple question: what is circulation?

Think about your answer but keep reading.

It has been almost three years since we were able to meet for our amazing NEACE Spring Conference. It was one of the most humbling experiences in my life to be named the very first African-American to hold the President position in the 102-year history of this prestigious organization. Three years later, we are now 105-years old and, like so many other organizations across the country, we have emerged from extremely difficult and challenging times.

We are still here, and we aren’t going anywhere. Our Spring Conference “The Pivot, The New Normal,” is the next chapter in our story and will lay out the next steps for our future.

I’m here to officially let you know that N.E.A.C.E. will expand its focus. We will now be covering Marketing, Advertising, Production/Operation, and Circulation. Our name will stay the same, but our focus will be changing, and we will change the meaning of circulation.

So, again, I ask: what is circulation? It is what is needed to grow your business. Circulation, also known as readership, means reaching a diverse audience.  You must understand how to market and advertise your brand. You must be able to produce a product and deliver it to your consumer the way they want and need it. Print and digital are undeniably important: learning how to pivot with the changing environment via both platforms is essential to survival. You must be what and where your consumer’s needs are found. N.E.A.C.E. is now the New England Association of Circulation Executives. Yes, same name, but with a twist.

Come to this year’s Spring Conference in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts at the famous and illustrious Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. This is happening Sunday, May 22, and Monday, May 23 – so mark your calendars. We will cover how to increase readership by using influencers through digital partnerships. You will gain a wealth of knowledge from an expert with over 20 years of experience in digital advertising and marketing. You will learn the best ways for your market to grow revenue by still focusing on digital and print revenue. We will also have an expert discussing the best ways to monetize your content and/or use your content to better understand your customer funnel flow. You will leave this meeting with powerful nuggets of knowledge to bring back to your company.

Come and join the new N.E.A.C.E.  Because circulation is everything and a lot more – you’ll see.

Sincerely,
Warren C. Dews Jr., President

The New England Newspaper and Press Association is pleased to announce that six New England journalists will be inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame, recognizing the most outstanding newspaper professionals from throughout our six-state region.

More than 100 individuals have been singled out over the past 20 years for their extraordinary contributions to their newspaper, the news industry, and their communities.

The Hall of Fame awards will be presented at a celebratory dinner as part of the annual convention of the New England Newspaper and Press Association on Friday, April 29, 2022, at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in the Seaport District of Boston, Mass. For more information, please click here. 

Linda Lotridge Levin started her extraordinary career in the 1960s at The Providence Journal as one of the first women to cover actual news. She leveraged her reporting career into a teaching one – as professor and eventually chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Rhode Island. She has educated hundreds of students over three decades on media law, advanced news reporting, the history of American journalism, and the critical importance of journalism in a democracy. She has been a fellow at the Poynter Institute, the American Press Institute, and the Annenberg Washington Program. Linda is the former president of the Rhode Island Press Association and board member and founder of ACCESS / Rhode Island, a coalition of organizations devoted to open government. She has received several awards, including the prestigious Yankee Quill. She is also the author of “The Making of FDR: The Story of Stephen T. Early, America’s First Modern Press Secretary.”

Leonard I. Levin served as The Providence Journal’s news editor for 30 years, overseeing the copy desk with a velvet fist. His monthly “Excellence Newsletter” would offer compliments or throw barbs at reporters and editors – a brilliant incentive to get it right. He was also was a teacher – he trained scores of copyeditors who went on to work on “the horseshoe” at The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and many other metro papers. He also taught journalism as an adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island. When Len took early retirement from The Journal in the mid-1990s, he didn’t stop. He pivoted. He became a copyeditor for the Patriot Ledger and eventually ended up editing Rhode Island Supreme Court decisions. He served as president of both the New England chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the New England Society of Newspaper Editors and is also a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award. 

Greg Popa joined the Stowe Reporter as a photographer more than 30 years ago and has since been a reporter, editor, advertising manager, and publisher. In addition to his publishing duties, Popa is also the editor of the twice-yearly award-winning Stowe Guide as well as its art director. In these rocky economic times for newspapers, Greg has not only led the way to financial stability for the Stowe Reporter group but has expanded its reach, bringing outstanding journalism and excellent publications to Vermont communities. Greg has long had an interest in nurturing young journalistic talent and there are scores of successful journalists throughout New England who have benefited from his mentoring and his commitment to producing quality local, community journalism. He is also very active in community affairs and is on several boards.

Charles “Chuck” Goodrich has been a leader in New England newsrooms for 40 years, dedicating his career to the betterment of community newspapers. He began as a reporter for the Brunswick (ME) Times Record before serving as the longest-tenured senior executive in GateHouse New England until his departure in 2018. Chuck was either an advertising or circulation director or publisher almost from the beginning of what would eventually become GateHouse New England. He worked for Harte-Hanks, Bay State Newspapers, various phases of Community Newspaper Company, Herald Media, and finally GateHouse. He is one of the last of a breed of publisher well known among many of his newspapers’ readers for his physical presence in their communities. He was also the behind-the-scenes progenitor of so many decisions that allowed those readers’ newspapers to survive, and often thrive, in good times and in bad. Chuck is now president and CEO of Newspapers of New England with publications in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Loren Ghiglione served as the editor and publisher of the Southbridge (MA) Evening News for 26 years. Innovation and idealism have characterized his work as a defender of press freedom, advocate for inclusion, media critic, and leader of national organizations of journalism educators and journalists. He has served as president of the New England Press Association, the New England Society of Newspaper Editors, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Ghiglione is best known as an advocate for greater inclusion throughout the news industry. He has received diversity awards from the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives, the National Broadcast Editorial Association, the National Conference of Editorial Writer, and the National Association of Black Journalists (the Ida B. Wells Award).

George Geers has always had ink flowing through his veins as a career journalist and book publisher. He dipped his toe into the newspaper world as a college intern reporter at Foster’s Daily Democrat, rising through the ranks there until being named managing editor. From Foster’s he held editor positions at the Southbridge (MA) News, The Chronicle in Willimantic, CT, and The Telegraph in Nashua, NH. In 2000 he formed Plaidswede Publishing and continued his journalism career as an editor at the New England Newspaper Association. George has been involved with the New Hampshire Writers’ Project since 2000, serving as President from 2006-2007 and, most recently as executive director. He is a founding board member of the New England First Amendment Coalition, clerk of the Academy of New England Journalists, has served as executive director of the New Hampshire Press Association, and is a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award.

Six New England journalists will receive the prestigious Yankee Quill award this spring for their contributions to the betterment of journalism in the six-state region. 

Five current journalists and one historical figure will be honored with the award on April 29, 2022, says George Geers, chair of the sponsoring Academy of New England Journalists.

The inductees were selected in 2021, but the celebration and induction ceremony was postponed due to the pandemic.

The Yankee Quill awards will be presented at a luncheon as part of the annual convention of the New England Newspaper and Press Association at noon, on Friday, April 29, 2022, at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in the Seaport District of Boston, Mass.

Paul Bass, founder, publisher, and editor of the New Haven Independent, one of the country’s leading nonprofit digital news organizations. For more than 40 years, Bass has provided the city of New Haven with outstanding news coverage, earning multiple regional and national awards for journalistic excellence – first with the New Haven Advocate, and now with the New Haven. He is described as a “change-maker,” a champion for Black and Brown people, and a promoter of the advancement of women in the news industry.

Tom Condon served the profession for 45+ years as a bureau chief, columnist, editorial writer, and investigative reporter, wit and conscience at the Hartford Courant. His powerfully written columns and editorials have helped free three wrongly accused men, saved historic buildings from demolition, and helped get the state of Connecticut to drastically change its gun laws. He is currently working at CT Mirror.

Melvin B. Miller, founder, publisher, and editor of the Bay State Banner for more than 55 years, a weekly newspaper advocating for the interests of Greater Boston’s African American community. For over five decades, Miller has used his voice to dive deeper into issues ranging from politics, social justice, and economic development that have local and national impact. The Banner has meticulously told the stories of the minority community – stories often overlooked in mainstream media. 

Marianne Stanton, who has spent more than 40 years at the weekly Inquirer and Mirror on Nantucket Island, Mass., including as editor and publisher, grew up with the paper which was owned by her parents for many years before being sold to Ottaway Newspapers in 1990. She started as a reporter, became editor, and then publisher. Under her leadership, the paper has won numerous awards and gained a stellar reputation for its integrity and unwavering belief in the right of people to know what their public officials are doing. The paper was sold several more times to other chains but most recently was returned to its original local ownership.

Terrence L. Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire is the definition of an accomplished newspaper leader, both as an editor and a publisher. He has been one of New England’s leading publishing executives throughout most of his distinguished 40-year career. His news products have won numerous awards for excellence in journalism and bold revenue solutions. He is an outstanding leader and strong communicator and is regarded as one of the most thoughtful and collaborative publishers in New England media.

William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934) historical figure, was a major early 20th-century civil rights activist who founded the Boston Guardian newspaper. Trotter, the first Black Harvard University graduate who was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, challenged the political dominance of Booker T. Washington and was an inspiration for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Besides founding the Boston Guardian in 1901, Trotter was a founder of the National Negro Suffrage League, the Niagara Movement, and the Negro American Political League. During his life, Trotter’s outspoken activism included his direct denouncements of President Theodore Roosevelt for discharging three companies of the all-Black 25th U.S. Infantry after the Brownsville Riot in Texas, in 1906, and for confronting President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 after Wilson imposed racial segregation on federal employees for the first time. In 1915, Trotter led the Boston protests against the screening of the racist film The Birth of a Nation.

The Yankee Quill, which began in 1959, is bestowed annually by the Academy of New England Journalists through the auspices of the New England Society of News Editors. It is considered the highest individual honor awarded to newspaper, TV, radio, magazine, and other journalists in the six-state region. Winners are selected based on a history of lifetime achievement showing a broad impact in New England Journalism.

Selection for the award is not based on any single achievement, or for doing your job each day, but rather on the broad influence for good over the course of a career.

Read More About the Yankee Quill Award