John Celestino, an accomplished newspaper executive, has been appointed publisher of the North of Boston Media Group of eight newspapers, effective immediately.
Celestino has worked in the newspaper business for more than three decades, including 14 years with the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News in advertising as a sales representative and executive.
The North of Boston Media Group includes The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, The Salem News, Gloucester Daily Times, The Newburyport Daily News, Andover Townsman and The Haverhill Gazette in Massachusetts. It also operates the Derry News and the Carriage Towne News in New Hampshire.
“I’m thrilled and honored to be entrusted with the proud tradition of the local journalism these newspapers and their related magazines represent,” said Celestino. “The group has some of the most talented people in the business and together we can build on their foundation of excellence.”
Jim Falzone, the group’s general manager, said he is pleased Celestino has joined the North of Boston Media Group, bringing rich experience in newspaper management, advertising, marketing and audience growth.
“John’s broad knowledge of print and digital will add to our strong management team as we respond to the changes in the newspaper business and move smartly forward in serving our communities with content they want and need, both online and in print,” said Falzone.
Celestino comes to the group as publisher of three New York dailies: The Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, the Niagara Gazette and the Plattsburgh Press-Republican. He will continue to oversee those papers as a regional publisher for CNHI, LLC, parent owner of the publications and the North of Boston Media Group.
In addition to his experience at the Philadelphia newspapers, Celestino spent more than 12 years at The Press of Atlantic City in circulation, audience development and advertising executive positions. He also served briefly as business development director for Brainworks Software, an advertising software company, before joining CNHI in 2017.
He is a graduate of Temple University, with a degree in communications and advertising.
“North of Boston is one of the top opportunity markets in New England,” said Celestino. ”We will be unrelenting in informing the communities with news they value and in helping businesses succeed.” The North of Boston MediaGroup are all CNHI newspapers. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, CNHI is a leading provider of local news and information, offering a wide array of print and digital products in more than 130 communities in 23 states. For more information about CNHI, please visit www.cnhi.com.
Perspective: What to know about ‘unpublishing’ policies
Who wouldn’t want to get a “fresh start?”
Our life record has always been on display in some fashion — if someone had the time and skills to pore through official files in the county courthouse or newspaper archives.
The digital era has made more information about more people available more easily than ever before. A recent search for “how easy is it to search a person’s history?” turned up 114 million hits on how to find criminal histories, financial information and any mention in the news.
There’s an undeniable lure to the idea of erasing from public view an embarrassing moment, a long-ago minor crime or a past accusation later dropped or cleared.
Now a growing number of news outlets are also aiming to right past wrongs or acknowledge that the original reasons to publish had ranged from casual indifference to habit to outright racial bias.
RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN
“Whether we recognized it or not, we played a role in holding back those who tried to move on from their mistakes,” the Bangor (Maine) Daily News posted about its “right to be forgotten” policy, one of many now offering avenues to essentially “unpublish” identifying information, news reports or photos.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution program is reportedly aimed mostly at people whose official records have been legally expunged. The Boston Globe “Fresh Start” policy includes updating past coverage and changing how accessible stories are in search engines. Among items that could be wiped: Minor crimes long in the past, as well as stories and photos “that involve potentially embarrassing, non-criminal behavior.”
Stories remain on the Bangor news site, searchable only there — not on Google or other outside search engines. “Wherever possible, we will remove the original social media posts promoting the stories. In other words, the average person doing a Google search will not find out you were arrested for marijuana possession at a gravel pit party in 2004.”
RIGHTING PAST WRONGS
Some newsrooms have noted that with crime stories, prejudice and bias — at news organizations and in the criminal justice system — produced thousands of stories over the years unfairly focused on people of color and the poor. The Globe editors said, “The movement for racial justice has touched every part of society, including our newsroom, and we see this as a step we can take to improve what we do.”
WHERE IT GETS COMPLICATED
If there are good reasons for news outlets to consider “fresh start” programs, there are good reasons to be cautious too.
There are the close calls: What to do with people who took plea deals — declaring their guilt in a court — given that plea offers are many times rife with underlying racial bias and social and economic pressures? Can non-judicial organizations properly determine what took place perhaps decades earlier?
Then there is the clearly established fact that many of us already don’t trust a free press to tell the truth. Inevitably, skeptics will see removal of past negative information as further evidence of a suspect relationship with truth. Without public support, the First Amendment protections for that press can be decimated by lawmakers eager to dispense with critics and watchdogs.
More: You Can’t Have Democracy Without a Free Press
These new policies could instead do more to restore public confidence in the press by openly declaring the criteria for reviewing requests, making the decision process a transparent one and having a diverse panel or group make a final decision.
Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow Deborah L. Dwyer and an advisory group have developed a website to assist newsrooms with addressing past practices, managing current “unpublishing” requests and setting polices for the future. More than 50 news operation policies are noted on the site.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Perhaps the best course is to acknowledge the failings, whatever the cause, of journalism that reflected the bias of the times, while doing a better job going forward — not just reporting the immediate elements of crime, but the aftermath: Was the arrest dropped, was a conviction obtained or, as we have seen in the new attention being paid to police-related violence, are there patterns in enforcement that insult justice or support it?
As Globe Senior Assistant Managing Editor Greg Lee Jr., in an April discussion sponsored by the Reynolds Institute and the News Leaders Association, said, “At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make the right decision based on a case by case and making sure that anyone who’s involved is treated properly.”
You can reach Gene Policinski at gpolicinski@freedomforum.org.