IN TONIGHT'S GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN SERIES, THE NORTH
ADAMS TRANSCRIPT.
FOR OVER 170 YEARS, THE TRANSCRIPTS SERVED THE RESIDENTS
OF THE NORTHERN BERKSHIRES INFORMING THE LOCALS AND SERVING
AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR WORLD CLASS JOURNALISTS.
CONNECTING POINT PRODUCER TONY DUNNE AND VIDEOGRAPHER MARK
LANGEVIN FOLLOW UP THE PRESS ONE LAST TIME AND TURN THE PAGE BACK
FOR A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF WHAT'S ONCE CALLED THE BEST,
SMALL, DAILY NEWSPAPER IN NEW ENGLAND.
>> EVERYBODY GOT THE TRANSCRIPT, I USED TO DELIVER THE TRANSCRIPT
WHEN I WAS REAL YOUNG.
>> IT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS IN THE COMMUNITY.
YOU HAD THE RADIO.
TELEVISION.
AND THE NEWSPAPER, AND THE NEWSPAPER FOR US WAS THE
TRANSCRIPT.
>> THE TRANSCRIPT COVERED EVERYTHING THAT WAS MOVING.
IF IT WASN'T IN THE TRANSCRIPT, IT WAS LIKE IT DID NOT HAPPEN.
>> THE TRANSCRIPT, AT THE TIME THAT I CAME THERE, IN JANUARY OF
1978, WAS REALLY IN THE HEYDAY OF LOCAL JOURNALISM, I THINK,
FOR NEWSPAPERS.
WE HAD THE EQUIVALENT OF CLOSE TO 30 FULL-TIME NEWSROOM STAFF,
WHICH IS HUGE FOR WHAT, AT THAT TIME, WAS ABOUT A 12,000
CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER.
IT WAS EXCITING.
A LOT OF YOUTH AND ENERGY THERE, A LOT OF PEOPLE LEARNING THE
CRAFT AND HAVING REALLY GOOD MENTORS.
>> EVERYONE AT THE NEWSPAPER WAS VERY CLOSE, AND WE WERE ALL VERY
PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT WE WERE DOING.
WE WERE ALL MORE OR LESS DOING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
>> THE COMMUNITY REALLY RESPECTED THE PAPER, FOR THE
MOST PART, THEY LOVED TO, TO YOU KNOW, TO READ IT BUT THAT MEANS
YOU ARE READING IT, RIGHT?
AND THE NEWSROOM WAS THE HUB.
PEOPLE WOULD COME INTO THE NEWSROOM.
MAYBE THEY WOULD BE A RATE BECAUSE THEY DID NOT LIKE A
STORY OR THEY WOULD COME IN BECAUSE THEY WANTED A STORY.
>> THERE WOULD BE THIS HUGE AMOUNT OF ACTIVITY, NOTHING
HAPPENING, AND SORT OF LIKE, THIS BURST OF ACTIVITY WOULD
HAPPEN, AND THE PRESS WOULD BE ROLLING AND THE PAPERS COMING
OFF AND PEOPLE COMING IN, AND IT WAS EXCITING TO BE THERE.
>> I REMEMBER A FEW TIMES, THE SPORTS GUYS, BLOWING OFF STEAM,
AND THROWING A FOOTBALL, IN THE NEWSROOM, AND HAVING IT WIZ PAST
MY HEAD.
JUST LIKE THAT.
>> PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING THINGS IS THAT AT ONE
TIME I GOT TO YELL, HOLD THE PRESS, BECAUSE I FOUND AN ERROR
ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE TABLOID WE WERE WORKING ON.
>> WE HAD A HUGE NEWS STAFF THAT INFORMED PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT WAS
GOING ON IN THEIR COMMUNITY.
>> EVERYBODY HAD A COLUMN SO EVEN I WROTE A COLUMN, AND EVERY
DAY OF THE WEEK, EVERYONE, YOU KNOW, ON A WEEKLY BASIS, WE EACH
WROTE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WE, YOU KNOW, FELT PASSIONATE ABOUT.
>> SO WE MET A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND WE TOLD A LOT OF PEOPLE'S
STORIES, AND I MEAN, FOR ME, IT WAS THE MOST REWARDING
EXPERIENCE, PROFESSIONALLY, OF MY LIFE BECAUSE YOU KNOW, I
ENDED UP BEING INVITED TO THANKSGIVING, PEOPLE'S HOUSES
FOR THANKSGIVING, OR CHRISTMAS.
>> WORKING WITH THE TRANSCRIPT, YOU ARE PART OF A COMMUNITY.
IT'S HARDER FOR EVERYBODY -- THEY KNEW WHO I WAS BECAUSE I
WOULD HAVE TO GO TO THE EVENTS AND COVER THEM.
>> THE TRANSCRIPT PHOTOGRAPHER WAS A CELEBRITY.
THEY ONCE HAD A DREAM AUCTION WHERE PEOPLE COULD BID ON THE
JOB THAT THEY WANTED, AND I HAD THE THE GREAT PLEASURE TO KID
THE MAYOR THAT THEY PAID MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH TO BE THE
TRANSCRIPT PHOTOGRAPHER FOR A DAY AS THEY DID TO BE THE MAYOR.
>> THEY WOULD BE, PAY TO BE IN THE TRANSCRIPT, YOU KNOW.
THE LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHER, YOU KNOW, HE WOULD COME AROUND AND
TAKE YOUR PICTURE WHEN YOU HAVE THERE, TAKE YOUR PICTURE.
>> HE WAS A LEGEND, EVEN, I THINK, THE NEXT GENERATION, EVEN
THEY WILL VAGUELY REMEMBER RANDY.
>> I THINK THE NORTH ADAMS TRANSCRIPT WAS AN INCREDIBLE
TRAINING GROUND FOR MANY JOURNALIST AND IS LEGENDARY
PEOPLE.
>> HE WROTE TO JOE DAY AND SAID, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO JOIN YOUR
NEWSPAPER, SO DANNY CAME OUT, AND THE TRANSCRIPT GOT ONE OF
THE FINEST UP AND COMING JOURNALISTS AVAILABLE AT THE
TIME.
>> I THINK THAT EVERYONE WHO WORKS AS A REPORTER, FOR A PLACE
LIKE THE TRANSCRIPT, LEARNED SO MUCH.
>> ANYBODY WHO IS COMING OUT OF COLLEGE AND ISN'T SURE WHAT THEY
WANT TO DO, AND THEY CAN WRITE, IT'S A GREAT PLACE TO SORT OF
SETTLE IN FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, AND LEARN ABOUT HOW THE WORLD
WORKS.
>> I DON'T THINK THAT THERE IS ANYTHING THAT COULD BE MORE
EXCITING AND MORE FUN THAN BEING AT EVERY IMPORTANT EVENT THAT
WAS IN YOUR AREA.
WE HAD THE WILLIAMS' TOWN THEATER FESTIVAL, SO WE HAD
PEOPLE LIKE CHRISTOPHER REEVE, YOU WOULD RUN INTO, IN DOWNTOWN
WILLIAMSTOWN.
I THINK THOSE STORIES WHERE YOU WORKED THE HARDEST, TO GET THAT
STORY, THOSE ARE THE MOST REWARDING.
>> I CAN REMEMBER JOE DAY HAD A HUGE EDITORIAL BATTLE TRYING TO
KEEP THE PEOPLE WHO WERE RUNNING NORTH ADAMS REGIONAL HOSPITAL
FROM CHANGING THE NAME.
AND THE TRANSCRIPTS, IN EFFECT, WON BECAUSE THE NAME REMAINS THE
SAME.
>> SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SOME SMALL LITTLE INTERESTING
CONTROVERSIAL PIECE, IN A SMALL TOWN, MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
BECAUSE IT DOES CHANGE THINGS.
>> DAY-TO-DAY, YOU WENT IN AND YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT YOU HAD
EXPERIENCED.
>> YOU HAVE A SCHEDULE, AND EVERY REPORTER DOES THEIR THING,
AND THE STORM COMES AND SUDDENLY, YOU HAVE IS A PAPER TO
FILL IN THE MORNING.
NOTHING IS HAPPENING THAT NIGHT.
EXCEPT SNOW.
>> THE OCTOBER 4, SNOW STORM, IS MY WEEKEND TO DO THE PARADE, AND
IT TURNED OUT TO BE A TWO-PAGE SPREAD FROM THERE.
I FORGET THE YEAR, 1984, 1985, THERE WAS A TRACTOR TRAILER,
COMING DOWN ROUTE 2, ON NORTH ADAMS THAT COULD NOT MAKE THE
TURN.
HIT A WALL, AND THERE WAS A GASOLINE TANKER, AND EXPLODING
FLAMES.
>> IT WAS A SCENE OUT OF A WAR ZONE, UNBELIEVABLE.
MY LAST DAY ON THE JOB, AND IT WAS REALLY THE ONLY TIME THAT I
HAVE EVER BEEN FRIGHTENED FOR MY LIFE DOING A JOB.
IT WAS SO WORLDLY, AND I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE INCREDIBLY IRONIC
TO BE DONE IN ON MY FINAL DAY ON MY FINAL AFTERNOON AT THE PAPER.
>> IT'S INTERESTING, A SMALL ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS WAS ONE OF
THE ONLY PUBLICATIONS IN THE COUNTRY TO DO AN EXTRA ON
SEPTEMBER 11.
>> THERE WAS ONLY THE SECOND SPECIAL SECTION, THE FIRST ONE,
THEY HAD DONE A NEW SPECIAL SECTION.
>> BEING ABLE TO REPORT ON LOCAL ANGLES, PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON,
WHAT THEY WERE GOING THROUGH, I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY.
>> I THINK YOU KNOW, WE ALL KNEW THAT SOME DAY THE TRANSCRIPT
WOULD END.
IT WASN'T A MONEY-MAKER FOR A LONG TIME.
>> FOR YEARS, A LOT OF EX TRANSCRIPT PEOPLE, WHO I STILL
REMAIN FRIENDS WITH, WE USED TO JOKE ABOUT TAKING OVER THE
TRANSCRIPT AT SOME POINT.
WE WERE JOKING, BUT WHEN WE HEARD THAT, THAT IT WAS GOING TO
CLOSE DOWN, FOR GOOD, WE -- WE WOULD BE SURE TO TRY THAT.
>> I THINK BEING AT THE TRANSCRIPT, WAS AN AMAZING JOB
FOR ME, AND BEING IN THE COMMUNITY, WHICH I LIVE IN AND I
CARE ABOUT -- >> WE LIVED HERE AND WORKED
HERE, AND WE WALKED DOWN THE STREETS.
WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS AT THE SCHOOLS, WE WERE AFFECTED.
WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS AT THE TOWN HALL, WE WERE AFFECTED.
>> PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE TRANSCRIPT
COVERED EVERYTHING, AND WAS SO INTEGRAL TO THE NORTH BERKSHIRE
COMMUNITY.
>> IT WAS A VERY GOOD LOCAL PAPER, AND IN ITS HEYDAY, THE
BEST OF THE BEST.
THERE IS STILL A VOID, AND THEY COVER NORTH BERKSHIRE BUT NOT
ACQUIT THE SAME.
>> AS WE MOVE INTO THE FUTURE, I AM HOPING THAT WE WILL REMEMBER
THE TRANSCRIPT AND TALK ABOUT IT.
I THINK THAT IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE CANNOT JUST LET
DISAPPEAR INTO THE HISTORY BECAUSE IT COVERED SO MUCH OF
OUR LIVES.
>> THERE IS NO PAPER THAT SAYS NORTH ADAMS TRANSCRIPT ANY MORE,
BUT THERE IS A LEGACY.