I am pleased to announce that the Newton Beacon has hired its founding editor. He is Bryan McGonigle, an award-winning multimedia journalist with 20 years of experience covering news at the local and state levels.
Most recently he was Massachusetts State House and government accountability reporter for Gannett/Wicked Local. While at Gannett he managed three local North Shore newspapers, along with their associated websites and social media accounts. Prior to that he built content for startup news sites for Patch.com. He started his professional career as a staff writer and community editor for the Eagle Tribune in North Andover.
Bryan has the perfect background to lead the Beacon as it becomes the place for our community to turn for professionally reported, in-depth and impartial local news coverage. We look forward to working with Bryan to bring local journalism back to Newton and providing the facts and accountability we need to make informed decisions. In an environment in which democracy is under threat around the country, we plan to make sure that Newton has that essential bulwark of our representative government, an independent free press.
And, we have more exciting news to report. The Newton Beacon has been accepted for membership in the Institute for Nonprofit News, a network of hundreds of news organizations around the country dedicated to the highest standards of journalism in the public interest. INN membership gives us access to resources, advice, support and, perhaps most important, it connects us with a growing national community of nonprofit news organizations offering a new paradigm for sustainable local journalism.
We expect a brief period of onboarding for Bryan as he gets to know the lay of the land in Newton and establishes his coverage priorities. The bottom line: professional news coverage of Newton will begin again soon, and I’m sure that’s something we’ll all be happy to see.
Sincerely,
Joe Hunter
President
Newton News Foundation