Back to Century Boulevard

The Millerton News has been a fixture in this community since 1932, when a former reporter for the New York Sun started the paper, giving Millerton readers their own newspaper, something they were lacking after the 19th century Telegram was consolidated with the Harlem Valley Times of Amenia in the 1920s.

In 1972, the Millerton News changed hands again, and over the subsequent half century, the paper has been published every week by the owners of The Lakeville Journal.

Since the 1990s, the climate for community news has darkenened — and remains threatening. By many reports, American communities are losing on average about two newspapers a week. The trend is expected to continue. Those that survived the pandemic were forced to reduce operations and cut staff as circulation and advertising revenue fell. The investment in local journalism looked to larger markets.

Thanks to our readers— who kept both Lakeville and Millerton papers alive during the pandemic, and to a new 501(c)(3) status — The Millerton News is making a solid comeback.

Its board is investing in The Millerton News operation and today we are adding back staff and dedicating coverage to the Village of Millerton, the Town of North East, and surrounding towns, including Amenia, Pine Plains and Millbrook as well as others across eastern Dutchess County.

As part of this renewed commitment, this week The Millerton News is reopening an office in the village to be able to accommodate staff and meet with people from a base of operations.

The former location of the paper’s office at 16 Century Blvd., which had been familiar to many, closed during the pandemic. We are excited to report that it will become our office once again. Our editors and reporters are ready to bring the office back to life. Like many businesses today, we will operate on a hybrid model, occupying the office a few days a week.

This week, we came together at 16 Century Blvd. to greet our summer interns and introduce them to the program as well as show them around town.

Some of our student journalists will come from a program at Marist College, and our internships will include even younger aspirants who are rising seniors in high school.

Community newspapers are among the few remaining places where anyone launching a journalism career can learn the ropes. Our paid-intern program will focus on reporting, feature writing, editing, video, and photography.

The new energy behind our commitment to our eastern Dutchess County readership is driven by a commitment to provide full-time, part-time and correspondent staff for coverage of your town governments,  your school boards, plus keeping a focus on arts, culture, lifestyle and sports.

We are glad to be back!