Copyright © 1997 by the Boston Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.

This Just In: Media

Man overboard as choppy waters slow Beacon Hill

By Dan Kennedy

Bad news for political junkies. Eight months after its launch, Beacon Hill, the self-styled "newspaper of Massachusetts government," is pausing to patch a few leaks. After publishing its last weekly issue of 1997 on December 15, the paper will return on January 12 with an every-other-week schedule and a leaner crew.

Publisher Alan Vandenburgh insists that the cuts do not reflect any diminished commitment on his part. But with less advertising income flowing in than he had predicted, he says the time had come to reassess the expense side of the ledger.

"You never like to cut back, but what we're doing is adjusting," says Vandenburgh. "It's just been a slower process than I had hoped."

The belt-tightening has claimed the position held by managing editor Jason Kauppi, who was let go on December 15 in what Vandenburgh calls "a really hard decision." Says Kauppi, who came to Beacon Hill from the Lowell Sun: "It's too bad. It's sad. I really liked working there." But Kauppi, like Vandenburgh, says he's optimistic about the paper's long-term future.

Editorially, Beacon Hill has thrived, offering a lively mix of State House gossip, feature stories, and insider analysis. The current issue, for instance, includes a story comparing the salary of Acting Governor Paul Cellucci to those of other states' governors; a look at insurance-industry lobbyists seeking to influence the outcome of a bill regulating HMOs; and a historical piece on a murder that took place in the governor's office 90 years ago. Beacon Hill also publishes a reasonably hard-headed editorial page (last week it called for the resignation of state senator Dianne Wilkerson, a convicted tax cheat) and columns of arcana on the ins and outs of the bureaucratic process.

Circulation is about 5000, and is divided among freebies for state employees, paid subscriptions, and newsstand sales. The paper has also established itself as a must-read for political reporters. "It's the only publication that I keep back copies of," says Channel 56's Jon Keller.

"The response from the readership has been really gratifying," says Beacon Hill's editor, Mark Leccese, who's staying on. "I know Alan wants to keep the thing going. I'm just going to keep going forward and keep trying to put out as good a paper as we can put out."