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The Farrell Forum:
Welcoming the Observer:
A look back, and ahead
-- by Jim Farrell

(Dec. 2001) Let me add my voice to those wishing the Kingston Observer smooth sailing!

With the re-emergence of the Observer, Kingstonians will enjoy a unique perspective on the happenings in our hometown, although we’ve never suffered from a lack of media coverage. Over the years, the Kingston Voice, Kingston Independent, Kingston Independent Voice, Silver Lake News, Old Colony Memorial and Kingston Reporter have all taken turns keeping watch on the town’s activities, along with daily coverage from the Ledger and Enterprise, the Herald and Globe. Add to that a couple of radio stations and you have a town with lots of coverage. So why would anyone — especially someone who’s done it all before — jump into the fray again?

Simply put, there aren’t many ‘homegrown’ local papers anymore. Most are owned by larger organizations, and when that happens, the local perspective often gets lost in the shuffle. No weekly or monthly would ever attempt to compete with the Globe or Herald for national or international events; conversely, Kingston’s news might merit a line or two and not much more.

That’s why the Kingston Observer has a real chance to be a dominant force in the local marketplace. It won’t take the place of the others, but it should be a sought-after part of the local media mix.

I have known Dan Sapir for twenty-three years. We first met as competitors — I was the reporter/editor for the Kingston Voice, and Dan was the same for the Kingston Independent, which he and his wife Nancy founded in 1978. We would often bump into each other in town hall, notebook in one hand and camera in the other.

Kingston is a very different town than when we both covered it. Our selectmen in those days were Skip Farrington, Dick Ottino and Billy Martin. Our town had no mall, only one traffic light (a blinking yellow light in front of Hojo’s), and a police station in the basement of the town hall. You could call anyone in town by dialing the last 4 digits of their number.

In May 1981, Dan and I joined forces to publish a paper called the Independent Voice, which was the merger of the Kingston Independent and Kingston Voice.

We had some fun, with an occasional ‘investigative piece,’ a "letters we’d like to receive" feature and an April Fool’s edition that landed us at the top of the news on Channel 7 for our April Fool’s antics (regular readers understood and looked forward to our annual make-believe stories, but that year we had expanded our circulation into a few neighboring towns and someone actually believed our story that Kingston was about to become a nuclear warhead launch site). Channel 7, no stranger to April Fool’s stories itself (they were the station that claimed that Big Blue had erupted in Mt. St. Helen’s fashion and a number of panicky residents fled), recognized a kindred spirit and came to Kingston for a firsthand look at what made a small town newspaper tick.

Eventually we both went in different directions; myself into the field of public relations and Dan into printing and advertising.

Dan Sapir is proof positive that the adage "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" applies at least to the newspaper industry. He’s a guy who loves the newspaper business and is once again ready to take up the challenge.

Local newspapers can make a real difference. I’ve always been a big fan of them and always look for them when I travel. There’s no better way of finding out "the real story" about what’s going on in town.

David Cutler, who founded the Marshfield Mariner and a number of other local weeklies and purchased the Independent Voice in 1986, described the role of a local newspaper as a "first rough draft of history." His father, John Henry Cutler, publisher of the Duxbury Clipper until his death a few years ago, had an even more memorable line about the role of local reporting. He once said, only half jokingly, that he wouldn’t have reported on a bomb landing in Kingston or Pembroke, unless someone from Duxbury was injured.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" could be the slogan of newspaper reporting over the years. We’ve reported on and wondered about so many questions over the last two decades. Would the "Pyramid Mall" ever actually be built? Yes. Would Route 44 ever be finished? Looking better. Will the Kingston Police Department ever get a lockup facility that isn’t part of the town hall basement? Yes. Could anyone actually have ever won the Tree Warden’s post from the late and beloved Fred Nava? No way. Those who have called Kingston home for even longer than Susan and I have will no doubt recall some of the names of those who have dominated the headlines over the years. Some are still with us; some are still making headlines. John Hamilton. Jon Alberghini. Gordon Fogg. Harley and Marjorie Cadenhead. Denny O’Brien. Joe Palombo. Mary O’Donnell.

No look back would be complete without pausing to honor a few contributors to Kingston’s journalistic history who sadly are no longer with us. Mel Thorner, whose thoughtful "The Law and You" columns were a staple of our early newspaper history. Herb Macy, former Planning Board member whose weekly columns had the capacity to delight and outrage all at once. And my brother, Paul Farrell, whose "Pro Picks" displayed the wit and easy humor that defined him and made his writing a "must read" each week. Thank you, gentlemen. You are missed.

Going forward, it is a certainty that Kingston remains a newsy town, and there will be no shortage of topics for anyone to write about. There’s a lot that’s great about the town. I’ve seen over the years that Kingston is often at its best when confronted with tragedy. That’s when our sense of community is its strongest.

There’s a lot about Kingston that could stand improvement, too. Our taxes are too high. We run the risk of becoming a town that will be too expensive for young families starting out, and senior citizens on fixed income, because we are spending municipal funds at an alarming rate. We could also do with a few less turf wars (and a lot less traffic). Still, there is a very genuine feel to this town that makes it special.

The challenge facing Dan and his staff in the months and years ahead is finding the right weave of the good and bad and using this mix to be a catalyst for change in the community. Local newspapers can and should be parochial, refreshing, humorous, and have the capacity to make a strong and positive difference in their communities. The Kingston Observer has this chance as it starts with this new issue.

So, Dan, go forth, have fun, and make a difference. Good luck!

-- by Jim Farrell