The Martha's Vineyard Times

Last updated
The Martha's Vineyard Times
Martha's-vineyard-times-logo.jpg
Type Weekly newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s)Steve Bernier
Founder(s)Al Brickman
Robert Carroll
Fred Ferro
Allen Jones
Edward Redstone
Founded1984
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters30 Beach Rd, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts 02568
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Circulation 5,000(as of 2023)
ISSN 8750-1449
OCLC number 11035733
Website mvtimes.com

The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly community newspaper on Martha's Vineyard, an island seven miles off the coast of southeastern Massachusetts. The Island's six towns have a total year-round population of about 21,000 and a seasonal population estimated at 100,000. [1] [2]

Contents

The Times print newspaper, with a weekly circulation of about 5,000, is delivered by mail and at retail locations across the Vineyard on Thursdays. The paper also publishes a five-day-a-week email newsletter with approximately 11,000 subscribers called "The Minute." [3]

The paper's website mvtimes.com attracts more than 3.5 million unique visitors annually. For both print and web, The Times also publishes Edible Vineyard, Vineyard Visitor, Martha's Vineyard Arts & Ideas, Voices, and Vineyard Property Values. [3]

History

The Martha's Vineyard Times was founded in the spring of 1984 by five Vineyarders in the midst of great Island population growth (45% between 1970 and 1980 and a total of 160% between 1970 and 2020.) Major economic change occurred as well: personal per capita income increased more than sixfold in the same period. [4] [5]

In the Times' obituary for Robert "Bob" Carroll, retired Times editor Doug Cabral said that Carroll and his partners "...believed that the Vineyard needed a newspaper that would take an aggressive interest in the year-round residents and the year-round economy of the Vineyard, both of which they thought were under-represented," [6] and in doing so took direct aim at the editorial convictions of the venerable and much admired weekly Vineyard Gazette , which was deeply committed to conservation and preservation of the Vineyard's bucolic past. [7] The new competition was met with consternation and disdain from the Gazette's leadership. [7] [8]

The Times began in 1984 as a paid-subscription broadsheet newspaper but two years later switched to a free model with a tabloid-size newspaper [9] distributed to every post office boxholder on the island. [3] In December 2019, the paper announced readers will have to have a paid subscription for mail delivery. [10] At that time, the Times was printing up to 15,000 copies weekly. [9] Following the change, as of 2023, the paper had an average print circulation of approximately 5,000 copies weekly. [3]

In 1991, The Martha's Vineyard Times was purchased by the paper's editor Doug Cabral and his wife Molly. [11] After 23 years of ownership, the couple sold the newspaper in 2014 [12] to Peter and Barbara Oberfest, co-publishers of the paper and part-owners since 1995. [11] In December 2023, the paper was sold again to Steve Bernier. [13] [14]

Staff and Organization

The Martha's Vineyard Times employs approximately 8 full-time staff members year-round, along with a number of part-time staff and freelancers. All print and web products are published by The Martha's Vineyard Times Corp., which is owned by Steve Bernier.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. ↑ "United States Census, Dukes County, Massachusetts" . Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  2. ↑ "Dukes County, Massachusetts" . Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "MEDIA KIT 2023" (PDF). The Martha's Vineyard Times. April 1, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Martha's Vineyard Commission, Data" . Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  5. ↑ "Per Capita Personal Income in Dukes County, MA" . Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  6. ↑ Sigelman, Nelson (2015-03-31). "Robert "Bob" Carroll dies at 90". Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  7. 1 2 Jacques, Steinberg (2003-05-05). "MEDIA; Editorial Crusader Takes Leave of the Vineyard". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  8. ↑ "Taxing relationships - The Boston Globe". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  9. 1 2 Brennan, George (2019-11-27). "The Times, we are a-changin'". The Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  10. ↑ Oberfest, Peter; Oberfest, Barbara (2019-12-31). "Grateful publishers". The Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  11. 1 2 "Longtime MV Times editor retires". Martha's Vineyard Times. 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  12. ↑ Hamacek, Heather (September 27, 2016). "Accidental Editor, Intentional Dog Lover". The Vineyard Gazette. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  13. ↑ "Martha's Vineyard Times Changes Hands". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  14. ↑ Houghton, Sam (2023-12-27). "MV Times welcomes new leadership". The Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
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