The ''Malden Evening News'' was an independent five-day (Monday through Friday)

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

covering the city of

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

. Publisher Daniel J. Horgan owned the ''Evening News'' and its sister paper, the ''Medford Daily Mercury'', since purchasing the ''Daily News-Mercury'' in 1996.

History

The public face of the ''Malden Evening News'' through much of the late 20th century was David Brickman, who became publisher of the Medford paper in 1947, bought the ''Malden News'' in 1953 and acquired the ''Melrose News'', a former newspaper in neighboring Melrose, in 1969. Brickman was active in press associations and civic and governmental affairs—he helped campaign for Massachusetts'

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and served on the state Ethics Commission. Brickman, who was known to Boston-area viewers of the "Starring the Editors" television program as an outspoken regular panelist, called his final years at the helm of the three newspapers "a struggle in an antipathetic atmosphere." He sold his 75 percent interest in the papers for $1 million to Malden businessman and minority shareholder Warren H. Jackson in 1989.Mehegan, David. "Sharehold Buys Ailing Malden News". ''The Boston Globe'', June 29, 1989. The move kept the paper in local hands, although Brickman had seemed ready to sell to a

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

-owned company, for more money, a year earlier. Reports in 1988 had Murdoch, who at the time owned the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'' and

WFXT-TV WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpike) in Dedham, and its ...

in nearby

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, negotiating a price between

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5 million and

10 million. At the time of the sale to Jackson, the three papers covered four towns—the ''Malden News'' published an edition in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

-- with a reported combined circulation of 11,300. Jackson announced he would save money by combining the three papers into one edition. This move created the ''Daily News-Mercury'' in 1990."Business Review Highlights of the Week". ''The Boston Globe'', August 4, 1996. Another of Jackson's cost-cutting measures was the subject of a union picket in 1994. Despite a contract that guaranteed "lifelong employment", he fired the papers' typographers. One union member complained that the ''Daily News-Mercury'' had been "in bankruptcy for the last year; they owe us more than

100,000 in pension money; they haven't given us a raise in eight years". The underfunded pension later caused the sheriff's office to close the ''Daily News-Mercury'' temporarily in June 1995."Sheriff Reportedly Closes Newspaper". ''The Boston Globe'', June 20, 1995. In 1996, the ''Daily News-Mercury'' was bought for

650,000 by Daniel J. Horgan, a publisher of

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

s in the Boston area. It folded in 2017.

References

{{Newspapers in Massachusetts Newspapers published in Massachusetts Mass media in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

History

See also

References