Russel Pergament is a journalist and newspaper publisher. He is considered an early pioneer of free newspapers, founding or publishing ''

The Tabs Tab Communications Inc. (also called Tabloid Newspaper Publishers), based first in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, then in nearby Needham, was a weekly newspaper publisher in Greater Boston before being bought by Fidelity Investments in 19 ...

'', '' Metro Boston'', and '' Boston Now'' in the Boston area, and '' amNew York'' in New York City. He also publishes the

Jewish News Syndicate Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) is a news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics and news. While officially nonpartisan, compared to its older competitor, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS is considered to be ...

wire service.

Career

Pergament started his career as a stockbroker, then had stints at two Boston weeklies and ''

The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

''. He entered the publishing business as co-publisher of ''

'' in 1979 with two partners, Dick Yousoufian and Stephen Cummings, and a $10,000 investment. The Tabs were a group of 14 free-distribution community newspapers that included ''The Weekly Tab'' serving the suburban areas west of Boston. In his publisher's column in ''The Weekly Tab'', Pergament frequently railed against the biases of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. In response to the financial success of ''The Tabs'', which earned $12 million in annual revenue by 1989, the ''Globe'' launched its own weekly section aimed at the same demographic. ''The Tabs'' were among several free publications across the United States that pressured the respective traditional paid newspaper operators in their markets. The Tabs launched '' Metro Boston'', a free daily newspaper, which published from 2001 to 2020, with Pergament as publisher. Pergament moved into New York City's ultracompetitive newspaper market in the early 2000s, a move ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' called "admirable in its audacity", by focusing on the 18-to-34 segment of the population that traditionally did not read newspapers and wanted content that was "fast, blather free and unbiased" according to Pergament. He launched the free daily newspaper '' amNew York'', published by the Tribune Co. in the fall of 2003, which grew quickly to a circulation of 290,000 by May 2004. The launch of ''amNew York'' was part of a broader effort across the United States to revive the moribund newspaper industry after a decade of eroding readership and declining business. In February 2007, Pergament returned to Boston and launched free daily newspaper '' Boston Now'', backed by Icelandic conglomerate Dagsbrun. Pergament described Boston Now as breaking news in addition to carrying news wire content. Pergament shut down Boston Now in 2008 due to tumult in foreign credit markets. In September 2011, Pergament launched and published the

(JNS) to compete with the

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...

as the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

of the Jewish media. By 2013, JNS was growing quicker and provided news wire content to approximately 40 news.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pergament, Russel American newspaper publishers (people) Jewish printing and publishing Year of birth missing (living people) Living people