Newton TAB Newspaper To Cut Distribution: Report

NEWTON, MA — It's a familiar sight around Newton on Thursday morning: the plastic bags with the local newspaper inside at the end of driveways and on porches near and far throughout the city. But that's changing soon.

The Newton TAB, a local weekly newspaper that has covered local news in Newton since 1979, and which for the bulk of that time has distributed the paper free to any resident who wanted it, and some who didn't, is changing the way it does business, according to Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

By August the TAB's paper version will no longer be delivered to nearly every household in the City, she said.

"Sales Director Ron Bright told us this afternoon that they have not yet determined which villages or neighborhoods in Newton will get the TAB once the cuts are made," Fuller said, calling the news "sad, but not surprising."

Fuller said she was told the newspaper would be delivered to just 40 to 50 percent of households, rather than nearly everywhere. She said the newspaper planned to determine who would still get the paper in the next month.

The news comes as news outlets across the country are struggling.

The Pew Research Center reported that between 2000 and 2018, weekday newspaper circulation fell from 55.8 million households to around 28.6 million. The center reported that between 2008 and 2019, employment in newsrooms fell by 51 percent. And, according to a report from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media since 2004, some 1,800 local newspapers have closed across the country.

The print version of the TAB is free and has an online version, but that will be accessible by subscription for a fee.

The Newton TAB covers local news, sports, business, politics and community events.

The newspaper is published once a week on Wednesday.

The Newton TAB was once part of Tab Communications Inc., which was also called Tabloid Newspaper Publishers, based first in Newton, then in nearby Needham. Fidelity Investments bought the company 1992. In 1996, it was merged into Community Newspaper Company, then Massachusetts' largest weekly newspaper publisher, and then owned by GateHouse Media. In late 2019, the paper became part of Gannett Company when the owner of GateHouse Media bought Gannett, which owns USA Today, and merged it with GateHouse to become one of the largest media chains in the country.

Gannett Media reported the first quarter of 2021 was its best quarter to date for new digital-only subscriptions, surpassing 1.2 million. As of March 31, the company reported it had cash and equivalents of $163.5 million on hand.

Patch has reached out to the TAB.