Community Newspaper Company/Wicked Local - Needham, MA - Newspaper Headquarters on Waymarking.com

The sign in front of the holding company's building on Second Street in Needham, Massachusetts still says "Community Newspaper Company." However, that name has apparently been 'de-emphasized' and the name of its owner, Gatehouse Media, Inc. and its web presence, "WickedLocal.com" have replaced it. This company is an example of a strategy to keep the local papers running by combining much of the advertising, content, and administration and still have local coverage.

This holding company has had quite a history for its relatively short existence. In 1991, Fidelity Investments bought up many of the local papers and formed the Community Newspaper Company (CNC). Founding papers included the regional papers, the Metrowest Daily News and the Daily News Transcript. In 2001, Fidelity sold the company to the Boston Herald, and there was much controversy about this over fears that the Herald might absorb the newspapers into its own publication. This obviously didn't happen, but, in 2006, it was sold to GateHouse Media. At the time, it became the largest single component of GateHouse Media. Now, if you read the list of newspapers that GateHouse Media has, or look on the map on the home page, you will see that the eastern Massachusetts papers make up a significant but not dominant portion of the newspapers controlled across the country.

During the buying and selling of the company, many local papers were purchased, and where possible, many of the papers that once were competitors were combined. In Needham, for instance, the Needham Chronicle was combined with the Needham Times (with several name changes over time).

CNC's first web site for its newspapers was Townonline.com Now, through another purchase, the main web site is WickedLocal.com. "Wicked" is "cool" in New England - well sometimes. So, news can be obtained for the local town listed.

On a personal note, I used to be a newspaper carrier for one of the newspapers (well before the purchase), then called the Daily Transcript.

The building is located at the corner of Second Ave and A Street in the industrial center in Needham, just off Highland Avenue and near the town border with Newton. There is a traffic light at the 2nd Street-Highland Avenue intersection by the Staples/Petco.

So, how long will the name, "Community Newspaper Company" remain on the sign? What will be this entity's future, as well as all the local papers?

Wikipedia Entry:

(visit link)


List of Newspapers part of the Community Newspaper Company:

(visit link)

Parent Company, Gatehouse Media:

(visit link)

Area Served: Eastern Massachusetts What is (later, was) its physical address?: 254 Second Avenue Needham, MA United States 02494 Does it now just provide an internet read?: Both newsprint and internet Internet address: [Web Link] Did you ever buy or subscribe to this paper?: I was one of their subscribers Please provide a link referring to the newspaper's demise.: Not listed If applicable, when was this publication's last edition?: Not listed

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