Boston Phoenix to close; Portland, Providence papers remain open

[Eugene]

Source: Boston Globe

Boston Phoenix to close; Portland, Providence papers remain open

03/14/2013 6:57 PM

By Joseph P. Kahn, Globe Staff

In a poignant signal of a fast-changing media landscape, The Boston Phoenix sent out a short and simple tweet Thursday afternonon: “Thank you Boston. Good night and good luck.”

With that terse dispatch, the ground-breaking, Boston alternative weekly, which only six months ago reinvented itself from tabloid newspaper into glossy magazine, put a final punctuation mark on its announcement that its current issue, dated March 15, will be its last.

Sister publications in Providence and Portland, Maine, will stay in business, but WFNX.com, the Phoenix Media/Communication Corp.’s online radio station, will not continue in its present form, its fate to be decided shortly. The company’s custom publishing unit and MassWeb Printing operation, based in Auburn, Mass., will remain open.

The online edition of the Boston Phoenix, slated to appear March 22, will be its last, too.

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Read more: http://www.boston.com/culturedesk/2013/03/14/phoenix/QqQzavbEwKfG70lq9GCWVO/story.html

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1. I worked there for 13 years.

It was quite a shock to hear about the closing.

Although I enjoyed my job and took great pride in it, the management at that time (20 years ago) was horrible.

It was management by intimidation and insults. I actually saw grown men cry while taking abuse from certain people.

Finally, needing to look out for my own interests, I left.

And they sued me.

It was strictly malicious on their part. They had no basis to sue, but it cost me money anyway to fight it.