''The Transcript & Journal'' is a weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in Medford and

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. It formed in 2022 from the merger of the ''Somerville Journal'' and the ''Medford Transcript''.

Early history

The first issue of the ''Somerville Journal'' was published December 8, 1870, by W. A. Greenough & Company, known for publishing directories. During the next few years the paper changed ownership several times, early owners including Russell H. Conwell, then a Somerville resident, and John A. Cummings, later mayor of the city. On October 20, 1876, the paper came under the control of the Somerville Journal Company, under the presidency of J. O. Hayden. Hayden later became president of two Somerville banks, and treasurer of Middlesex County."Hayden, Joseph Orlin"
Albert Nelson Marquis, ''Who's Who in New England: a biographical dictionary of leading living men'', 1915, page 526. Digitized by

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. With the change of ownership, the paper, which had previously been printed in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, began to be printed in Somerville, first in an office on the third floor of the Hill Building in Union Square, then, in July 1894, in the Somerville Journal Building, built for that purpose. Other magazines printed in the Somerville Journal Building included the ''Journal of Education'', the ''American Primary Teacher'', and ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a United States magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest an ...

''.''Somerville, past and present''
by Edward Augustus Samuels, Henry Hastings Kimball, printed 1897, page 475. A founder of ''The Writer'', William Henry Hills, bought an interest in the Somerville Journal Company in 1890, and was reported as editor of the ''Journal'' and president of the Company in 1895."Hills, William Henry"
'' The National Cyclopedia of American Biography'', 1895, volume 4, page 74. Digitized by

. The "Pencilings" column of the ''Journal'' became popular, with excerpts appearing in newspapers nationwide. It was started by George Russell Jackson, an editor of the ''Journal'', continued for a year by C. H. Hoyt, and then, from January 1885, by Hills."A staple of Journals past -- Pencilings"
, by Kathleen Powers, ''Somerville Journal'', Sep 12, 2007. Retrieved Mar 16, 2010.''

'', edited by William Henry Hills and Robert Luce, volume 42, page 315, 193

Digitized by Google Books. Other notable people associated with the ''Journal'' include Leon M. Conwell, later Mayor of Somerville, and

Barbara Galpin Barbara Galpin (, Johnson; February 6, 1855 – August 14, 1922) was an American journalist. For twenty-five years Galpin was identified with the '' Somerville Journal'', serving as compositor, proof reader, cashier, editor woman's page and assist ...

, one of the first women in the publishing business in Massachusetts. A rival newspaper, the ''Somerville Citizen'' was started in 1888, first in the Stickney Building on Pearl Street, and later moved to Gilman Square. It was united with the ''Somerville Journal'' in 1901.''The Story of Somerville''
Mary Alice Haley (1903). Online at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

, retrieved Mar 16, 2010.

Modern history

By the 1980s the ''Somerville Journal'' had been acquired by the Dole Publishing Company, publishers of the ''

Cambridge Chronicle The ''Cambridge Chronicle'' was a weekly newspaper that served Cambridge, Massachusetts. The newspaper was founded by Andrew Reid in May 1846. It ceased publication of its print edition in 2022, after being purchased by Gannett. It no longer pub ...

''. When Dole was acquired by

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the ...

in 1991, it became the Bay State Newspaper Company, which in turn was merged into the

Community Newspaper Company Community Newspaper Company, or CNC, was the largest publisher of weekly newspapers in eastern Massachusetts in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. It also published several daily newspapers in Greater Boston. The company's proper ...

in 1996. This was sold by Fidelity in 2001 to 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 ...

'', which sold it in 2006 to

GateHouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

. During GateHouse ownership, the former CNC papers took on the present "Wicked Local" branding. In 2019 GateHouse was merged with

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

, the largest newspaper publisher in the United States. In March 2022 Gannett announced plans to merge or discontinue many of its Massachusetts properties, including the ''Somerville Journal'', which on May 12, 2022 was merged with the ''Medford Transcript'' to form ''The Transcript & Journal''.Jason Pramas,
Media Consolidation Accelerates in Somerville
" Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, March 22, 2022, Retrieved May 16, 2022. Later editors include: * George Donnelly, 1987 to 1991
, retrieved Mar 16, 2010. * Kathleen Powers, 2000 to 2009 * Debra Filcman, 2009 to 2011"Filcman named editor of the Journal and Wicked Local Somerville"
, by Auditi Guha, ''Somerville Journal'', Jun 25, 2009 * Jillian Fennimore, 2011 to 2012 * Erin Tiernan, 2016 to 2017 * Kathryn Bowler, 2017 to 2018 * Julia Taliesin, 2018 to 2021 By at least 2018, editor Julia Taliesin was simultaneously the paper's only full-time reporter.Shira Laucharoen,
Julia Taliesin to Leave the Somerville Journal
" Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, May 11, 2021, Retrieved May 16, 2022.

Gallery

Somerville Journal Building 1897.jpg, The Somerville Journal Building, circa 1897 J. O. Hayden.jpg, J. O. Hayden, ''Somerville Journal'' publisher circa 1897

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transcript & Journal Weekly newspapers published in Massachusetts Newspapers established in 1870 Somerville, Massachusetts Gannett publications Medford, Massachusetts 1870 establishments in Massachusetts