Boston publisher to launch Portland newspaper
The publisher of the Dig Boston alternative weekly newspaper announced Friday its plan to launch a sister company in Portland, just days after a sale of the Portland Phoenix failed.
The new company, Dig Portland, “will be 100% locally focused and operated, delivering alt-weekly news, arts and entertainment coverage to a young demographic across print, digital, social media, email and live event channels,” Dig Publishing Owner Jeff Lawrence said in a prepared statement. More details, along with company’s official launch date, are expected in “coming days,” he added.
Marc Shepard, Dig Publishing’s associate publisher, said in a prepared statement that “the timing is right” in light of The Phoenix Media/Communications recently announcing its plan to sell its last standing alternative weekly newspaper, the Portland Phoenix.
“Beginning with the launch of the Casco Bay Weekly in 1988, Portland has been a welcoming home to the alt-weekly style of local media for over 25 years,” said Shepard, who had previously worked as the Portland Phoenix's associate publisher for 10 years. “We're proud and extremely excited about the opportunity to keep that voice alive with Dig Portland.”
Earlier this week, The Phoenix Media/Communication Group said its attempt to sell the Portland Phoenix to an employee had fallen through, and that it’s now seeking other buyers and options. An outcome is expected within the new two months.
Lawrence said despite the recent closings of alternative media outlets across the country, including The Phoenix Media/Communication Group’s Providence Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the market is “very strong, healthy and still growing.”
Dig Boston, which launched in 1999, was competing alongside the Boston Phoenix until the The Phoenix Media/Communication Group’s paper ceased publication early last year. At the time, the Boston Phoenix reportedly had a circulation of around 107,000 and cited the 2007 economic collapse and the changing media landscape as reasons for its closure.
As of June, Dig Boston had a circulation of 39,000 in the Boston metro market, according to its most recent submission to the Association of Alternative Media. Dig Publications, its parent company, employs about 20 full-time and part-time staff, Shepard said. And the company was reported to have its best sales month in August 2013, with a 122% increase over the same month the previous year. At the time, the company said sales were up 33% year-to-date.
Shepard declined to provide more recent sales information.
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