Now Bay Windows is reporting that In NewsWeekly, its competition in Boston's GLBT news world, has just fired Berggren and four contributors have quit. No mention in Bay Windows' story of Berggren's recent difficulties at Pride. Hmm, what's really going on here?
Photos by Bill Berggren for In NewsWeekly, from a PFLAG event. It's possible that the young men on the right are "gay" or "bisexual" or "questioning" since they're at an event supporting those behaviors.
In Newsweekly assoc. publisher fired, four contributors quit (1-3-08)
Matthew Bank, CEO of HX Media, which owns IN Newsweekly, fired the paper’s associate publisher, Bill Berggren, Jan. 2. Berggren’s termination comes less than a month after four of the paper’s longtime freelancers, including former editor Fred Kuhr and religion columnist Rev. Irene Monroe, left the paper, claiming that the paper has lost editorial focus and that they have waited months for HX Media to pay them for their work. HX Media, a New York-based company that publishes both the New York Blade and HX magazine, purchased IN Newsweekly last year.
Berggren, an eight-year veteran of IN Newsweekly, told Bay Windows that he was fired because of claims that he was selling advertising for another publication." ... While denying that he sold ads for another publication, he did say he is considering starting up a new publication....
Berggren said since HX Media bought the paper IN Newsweekly has increasingly lost its focus on local news."They just want to put all New York and Philly fluff in the paper, and they don’t care about New England anymore," said Berggren....
"In this instance it looks like Boston is losing one of its gay media options, and whenever that happens that is a sad day for the readers and the community that the newspaper purports to serve," said Kuhr.
