Text of N'Touch Injunction Order

Bay Windows published Suffolk Superior Court Judge Stephen Neel's ruling that imposed a 45-day injunction against former In Newsweekly associate publisher Bill Berggren and two former sales associates in relation to N'Touch.

www.baywindows.com/pdfs/HX.pdf

HX Media CEO Matthew Bank filed suit against Berggren, Matthew White and Beau de Mello late last month after Berggren allegedly deleted In Newsweekly's advertising database before his Jan. 2 termination. The suit further alleges Berggren, White and de Mello solicited the troubled weekly's advertisers to advertise in N'Touch while the three were still employed by HX Media in Boston.

It remains unclear as to whether Bank will seek an additional injunction but in another development, an ad in this week's In Newsweekly announced the paper will become the New England Blade on Feb. 28.

Something to which we all can look forward.

HX Media Threatens Legal Action Against Former Associate Publisher

The drama surrounding the Boston-based IN Newsweekly and HX Media continues to rage with CEO Matthew Bank threatening legal action against former associate publisher Bill Berggren. Bank told Bay Windows in an article published in last week's issue he has already contacted Massachusetts lawyers after Berggren and two former accounting executives, Matt White and Beau de Mello, allegedly deleted contact lists from IN Newsweekly's computers before his Jan. 2 termination.

"Those contacts definitely were the property of IN Newsweekly and HX Boston (the local subsidiary of HX Media," Bank told the newspaper. "We are definitely contemplating all possible remedies for what we consider to be the theft and destruction of that information."

IN Newsweekly further provided Bay Windows a series of e-mails from mid-December suggesting Berggren began telling his advertisers about a new publication, N'Touch New England, he plans to launch. The troubled weekly also pointed out to Bay Windows that White reserved a domain name for the new newspaper on Dec. 6. Berggren denied Bank's allegations in an e-mail to Boy in Bushwick earlier this morning. He further pointed out he had contact information for various advertisers in his personal phone book.

This revelation is the latest in a series of controversies to rock IN Newsweekly and vis-a-vis Boston's LGBT media. Rhode Island correspondent Joe Siegel and columnist Chuck Colbert ceased contributing to IN Newsweekly late last year while former editor-at-large Fred Kuhr resigned at roughly the same time. Former associate publisher Tony Giampetruzzi is among the nearly half a dozen new writers currently providing content to the newspaper. And Bank recently announced he plans to change IN Newsweekly's name to the New England Blade in the near future.

The situation will clearly remain fluid but the fact remains: IN Newsweekly and HX Media will almost certainly continue to lose market share and credibility as these revelations and even potential lawsuits continue to become public. LGBT publications admittedly serve a specific audience each week. Some readers seek out reporting on local LGBT news and politics while others may want to know which go-go boy or drag queen will perform at the local gay bar on Friday night and yet even more want a combination of both. IN Newsweekly, in theory, serves that purpose for those who read it each week. But these latest revelations arguably leave this reality in doubt.

IN Newsweekly Continues to Struggle

With my health finally back to normal after nearly a week of fighting a particularly virulent stomach flu, this blogger can finally return to providing regular commentary and writing. One thing that apparently continues rather unabated is IN Newsweekly's troubles.

Sources in Boston told Boy in Bushwick in a number of e-mails over the last several days three sales representatives have left the troubled weekly since HX Media CEO Matthew Bank fired associate publisher Bill Berggren earlier this month. Ad sales remain precariously low while former Washington Blade publisher Jake Spencer has taken over the newspaper's day-to-day operations. And former columnist Chuck Colbert maintains Bank still owes him more than $2,000.

Friends and contacts in Boston have also confirmed IN Newsweekly's ever-shrinking page count (and reputation) in conversations over the last couple of weeks. And I even saw it for myself in the South End during Christmas. The lessons from this continued downfall remain painfully obvious for the broader LGBT media genre -- respect and timely pay for contributing writers and the need for publishers to consider demographic and geographic factors before entering into a new market. Hopefully other LGBT publications and publishers will heed the lessons HX Media has apparently failed to learn...

A Second Boston Massacre?

The new year brings even more HX Media and IN Newsweekly related developments as CEO Matthew Bank, partner David Unger and former Washington Blade publisher Jake Spencer reportedly fired a long-time Boston staffer this morning after eight years with the newspaper.

This termination -- and expected resignations to follow -- comes on the heels of a press release former IN Newsweekly editor-in-large Fred Kuhr, former Rhode Island correspondent Joe Siegel and columnist Chuck Colbert distributed [see below]. Colbert maintains HX Media still owes him more than $2,300 after he received a long-awaited check late last month. It appears as though the pressure against Bank and company is mounting but their apparent silence remains telling of potentially deeper problems with their gay media empire. But the reality remains, however, that mistreating long-time contributors who helped to establish the reputation a given newspaper, in this case IN Newsweekly, is completely unacceptable if not absolutely appalling to anyone who values quality journalism with an ounce of integrity. Let's hope Bank and company begin to acquire some in their future dealings with their ever-shrinking pool of staffers and contributors.



WRITERS AT NEW ENGLAND'S PREMIER GAY NEWSPAPER STEP DOWN

Four longtime contributors to IN Newsweekly cite lack of payment and new editorial direction, style for walkout

BOSTON - Four longtime contributors to IN Newsweekly, including former editor Fred Kuhr, have either formally resigned or stopped contributing to the newspaper after the new publisher repeatedly failed to pay them in a timely manner and ignored concerns over its new editorial direction.

The group - which also includes Cambridge, Mass.-based columnist and reporter Chuck Colbert, Rhode Island correspondent Joe Siegel, and religion columnist Rev. Irene Monroe - contend that these issues began last year after New York-based HX Media purchased IN Newsweekly. Previously, the newspaper was owned by local publisher Chris Robinson.

Under HX, the writers' paychecks were delayed for months after their work appeared in the newspaper. They were also troubled by the apparent new direction of the newspaper, which sacrificed hard news coverage in favor of more focus on local clubs and nightlife. Additionally, the new owner and editor repeatedly ignored the writers' concerns over this new editorial focus.

Kuhr, who was hired as IN Newsweekly's news editor in 1998 and was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2002, resigned late last month. “Under new ownership and a new editor, the newspaper has taken a new direction, and it is one in which I see less of a role for myself to play,” Kuhr said.

The group also wrote a joint letter to HX Media CEO Matthew Bank last month seeking a face-to-face meeting to discuss their various concerns. He failed to respond to the request.

"The letter sent to IN Newsweekly management was strongly worded, but left open wide a door for communication and resolution. Communication and resolution is what we ultimately sought, but management's silence left us no other choice,” says Colbert, who has written for IN Newsweekly for over a decade and maintains that HX Media still owes him more than $2,300. “The lack of response to our collective letter as well as my own letter to Editor William Henderson and HX Media CEO Matthew Bank points, once again, to the nature of the problems - heavy-handed and top down management, along with strong-armed editor/writer relationships, all of which is counterproductive to morale, especially in our industry and craft. Never in my 15-plus years as a freelance journalist have I ever been treated with such disrespect and lack of basic courtesy."

Siegel, who covered Rhode Island for five years, adds, “An attempt was made to address the paper's ongoing problems and to work together with HX management to make IN Newsweekly a higher quality publication. We were asking for some explanations as to why there was suddenly less money available for writers while at the same time advertisements were being placed for new positions. The lack of response was dismaying and emblematic of a lack of vision for the newspaper.”

Troubles at IN Newsweekly

The fallout over the IN Newsweekly staff revolt continues to unfold as contributors and even a former long-time editor bring their concerns about HX Media's failure to pay, editorial considerations and other issues to light. Below is a recap of the letter former editor-in-large Fred Kuhr and others sent to IN Newsweekly editor William Henderson, HX Media CEO Matthew Bank and others associated with both letters with embedded links (above) to additional postings and other information. Stay tuned...


December 8, 2007

Mr. Matthew Bank
Publisher
HX Publications
230 W. 17th Street
New York, NY 10011

Dear Mr. Bank,

We would like to request a meeting with you to discuss our concerns about IN Newsweekly.

Increasingly, over the past several months, we have become worried about the paper's content, its overall focus, and future direction. We believe the overall quality of the publication, its journalistic standards, has suffered serious damage. Nothing less than its reputation and standing within the New England region is at stake.

For example, IN used to feature coverage from all six New England states. Now we're down to two - Massachusetts and Rhode Island - and on a hit- or - miss basis. Essentially, the paper has written off a considerable chunk of our geography, which was a distinct strategic advantage.

Perhaps some historical context will be helpful. For decades, Boston has been a two gay newspaper town. And IN's position is unique. Under two previous editors, In Newsweekly, over time, carved out a reputation for balanced, fair, accurate, in a word – quality, journalism. Editors and writers were not beholden to factions or cliques of individuals or groups. Nor did the reporting and opinion fan flames of controversy, with sensational coverage or “gotcha” journalism.

In Newsweekly is all about journalism, not LGBT activism, although the paper's opinion pages – praised in the past for having four full pages of columns and commentaries, never shied from staking out strong local, regional, and national stances. In sum, the paper's tone and content gave the LGBT community a voice it can hear and over time came to trust.

As contributors, we search for the truth, are respectful, and seek to minimize harm. We are professionals.

Current staffers are also professional in their Herculean efforts to meet deadlines, get the product out the door, onto the streets, and up on the web. Given diminished financial and human resources, we are amazed that they are still able to produce a weekly paper.

Nonetheless, we are very concerned about the paper's most recent focus on nightlife/arts coverage, with a dramatic departure from local reporting on hard news. For years, Chuck Colbert, perhaps the paper's most seasoned reporter and columnist, covered religion, politics, and government. Because of freelance budget cuts - we are told - he now pens only a one full-page weekly column.

Don't get us wrong: Colbert Reports is a good idea, one that developed from a collaborative conversation between writer and editor. But the under utilization of a talented and popular journalist is a disservice to readers who read IN precisely for the local angle and news content.

Editor-at-Large Fred Kuhr, another popular and widely read journalist, once contributed editorials, music reviews, and other features on a regular basis. Now, Fred only writes a column every few weeks.

From our many years of experience, we know that gay New Englanders are not predisposed to read out-of-towners. We acknowledge Washington and New York as major media centers. But more than enough happens in LGBT news, religion, government, politics, and community events throughout the region to fill a weekly issue to the brim. To rely on nationally syndicated writers or Associated Press stories is to relegate IN to irrelevancy and obscurity. Local readership simply will not take the paper seriously anymore.

The year 2008 is a presidential election year. Right now, candidates are out and about all over New Hampshire in search of votes, including LGBT support. Because of our regional strategic advantage, IN could be all over presidential politics. We are not, and that is a missed opportunity.

The front page of the current issue (December 5) features stories on gay friendly holiday shopping and Absolut vodka. While those stories do have a place in the paper, we cannot understand how they merit placement on the front page.

Meanwhile, the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective held their annual fundraiser, which attracted 450 people and benefited HIV/AIDS programs. The story ran as a “brief.” Surely that story merited serious consideration for page one.

In Rhode Island, an openly gay man, Frank Ferri, won election to fill a vacant seat in the state House of Representatives. Again, the victory ran as news brief. Yet, Mr. Ferri is the nation's first legally married (same-sex) person to win elective office. That's not only news: the story is big news. Joe Siegel is a resident of the Ocean State and is more than capable of covering that state's significant LGBT community.

Steve Desroches, our Provincetown correspondent, left the paper in August. Paul Olsen, our longtime Vermont correspondent, is gone. Maine receives little if any coverage. Yet Ogunquit is a major tourism draw, and Portland has a large active gay community.

In Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford have substantial gay communities.

For years, freelance correspondents have been the backbone of In Newsweekly's regional success story. Why have so many been left to fall by the wayside?

Several weeks ago, we learned of yet more severe budget cuts for freelance writers — down to $200 a week from a paltry $400 beforehand. That drastic cut comes after a series of other reductions.

In the current issue, however, we find advertisements for a nightlife editor and an assistant to the business manager.

As freelancers, we wait months and months for pay and back pay. We don't understand why HX lags so far behind in payment to us, while placing ads for permanent staffers. An ad ran for several weeks for a Boston-based writer to cover politics, government, and entertainment. We would like to know the reasons for this.

Now, we learn HX is hosting a 10-year celebration of quality journalism at the New York Blade. But we notice a parallel development between the NY Blade and IN: radical decreases in regional coverage, budget cuts for freelance writers, the shift in emphasis from solid news to entertainment: for those reasons and others, we are requesting a meeting with you and the local Boston staffers.

We look forward to meeting you in person for what we believe will be a mutually advantageous conversation.

Sincerely yours,

Chuck Colbert,
Fred Kuhr
Irene Monroe
Joe Siegel

cc:

Bill Berggren
Dean Burchell
William Henderson
Gary Lacinski
Karen Young

... More on IN Newsweekly and HX Media

The Christmas holidays have finally arrived in full force with a slew of holiday parties and festivities over the last few days... but yet more has emerged in the on-going saga between former and arguably soon-to-be-former IN Newsweekly contributors and their former (and soon-to-be-former) parent company IN Newsweekly.

HX Media reportedly owes former IN Newsweekly editor-at-large Fred Kuhr $2,000 in back pay while other writers who have ceased contributing to the weekly have indicated they plan to pursue possible legal action if they don't receive their back pay in a very expedient timetable. HX New York editor Brandon Voss and his assistant editor, Mark Peikert, are among those with bylines in IN Newsweekly's latest issue. It seems as though the resignations and decisions to stop contributing until back pay is paid continues to have an impact. Stay tuned...

IN Newsweekly Mess Continues to Evolve

Current and former IN Newsweekly contributors and editors have succeeded in getting the word out about their list of grievances with HX Media, their CEO Matthew Bank and editor William Henderson with hits on Qweerty, PageOneQ and other blogs.

Boy in Bushwick's sources indicate that the publisher of the Washington Blade plans to spend a week in Boston to observe the paper and hopefully attempt to resolve these issues. Bank has so far failed to respond to the letter contributors send to him earlier this month but the questions about editorial integrity, a significant shift from news to nightlife coverage and current postings for a nightlife editor and an assistant to the weekly's business manager -- with a $200 per week freelancers budget -- remain more or less unanswered.

Another interesting fact emerged when a source inside HX Media said the company recently relocated to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's former office on West 35th Street in Manhattan's Fashion District. Coincidence? Probably. But this move, along with a recent party thrown to commemorate the New York Blade's 10th anniversary, confirms to many observers that their priorities remain out-of-line. Their own track record in Boston and elsewhere arguably confirms this unfortunate reality.