This was a big week for us at The Martha’s Vineyard Times, as we brought home an award for the 2025 New England Newspaper of the Year!
We want to thank you, our community of readers and advertisers, for making the work we do possible. And we want to use this occasion to share once again that our new membership model, which we rolled out over the summer and which will go into overdrive this fall, is a big chance for the whole community to get behind the idea that the public-service mission of local news requires community support.
More on that in a moment, but first let’s savor the win!
The award was bestowed by the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA), which represents some 450 newspapers and specialty publications in the six states of New England.
The ceremony announcing the award was held this week at Hotel Northampton in Northampton, and The MV Times owner and president, Steve Bernier, as well as the publisher, Charles Sennott, traveled to Western Massachusetts to receive the top honor. The distinction “Newspaper of the Year” was given to The Times for a weekly newspaper with a small circulation. It has been six long years since The MV Times won this honor, and the whole team is thrilled to be bringing the plaque back into our office.
“A heartfelt congratulations to the whole team,” said owner and President Steve Bernier, who acquired the paper just under two years ago, and who since then has dedicated considerable resources for Sennott to lead the organization to improve its news gathering operations, both in print and online editions.
Sennott said, “I’m truly in awe of the work this team does every day to serve our Island, and it’s thrilling to see much-deserved recognition for it.”
The New England press association calls the Newspaper of the Year award a “one-of-a-kind competition.” The association said that it is the only distinction of its kind in the newspaper industry that is judged by audience members.
You could feel the spirit of resilience at the gathering in the Hotel Northampton last week, and there were many creative ideas about how local newspapers will sustain their operations at a time of dramatic downturn in the traditional business models that once fueled local news coverage.
Advertising alone will not get this done. Subscriptions alone will not get it done. And that is why we are reaching to you directly and putting forward the membership model. It is our way of reinvigorating the business strategy for local news gathering at a time of deep crisis in our craft, a time when newspapers are closing down across the country, and a free press is under attack on many fronts with barrages that are economic, technological, and political.
We are fighting the good fight to make the paper not only sustainable, but better than ever. We have added reporting staff to cover important issues, such as housing, immigration, education, the environment, and the offshore wind industry. And we are stepping up our coverage of sports, the arts, and entertainment. As part of this expansion of our news gathering, we have established four new monthly newsletters to compliment our flagship daily newsletter, The Minute. We are hearing from many of you that these newsletters are a welcome way for us to package our reporting into a digital product that can be delivered directly into your email, and help to augment how you navigate the coverage we do in our print edition.
Our new membership model offers these newsletters as a benefit, and is designed as a way to welcome everyone in your family into staying informed about everything that is happening on our Island and being part of the community service of local news. If you are already a subscriber, we will be sending you a note when it is time for you to renew your subscription, and will explain how that existing subscription is your gateway to becoming a member of our community. Simply put, when you are a subscriber, you are already a member of our MV Times community, and you are part of supporting local news in your community. The membership model will allow you to step up your support, if you wish, beyond the base level of support to receive a print edition and digital access. We are hoping you will see value in all of the expanded offerings and benefits we are rolling out, and join us at one of the higher tiers of membership.
These are tough times, and we get that. We are all looking for value in what we do. So we appreciate you joining as a member at any level that is right for you, and we hope you see that there is a great value in supporting our community news organization, which sets out every day to serve this Island by holding our public officials to account, by celebrating the amazing achievements of our community, and by informing and enlightening you on the issues that matter.
Like the slow, sure toll of a bell across the harbor, the news of your award carries with it a note both proud and deeply local. Congratulations to The Martha’s Vineyard Times for being named the 2025 New England Newspaper of the Year.
It is a distinction well earned, not by chasing the clamor of the wider world, but by listening—closely, attentively—to the rustle of Island life: the ferry horn at dawn, the council meeting at dusk, the quiet urgencies tucked between. In honoring your work, the New England Newspaper and Press Association has, in effect, honored the community itself—because a good paper is never just a mirror; it is also a hearth.
The membership model you describe feels less like a transaction and more like the passing of a lantern hand to hand. Advertising may waver and subscriptions may shift like tides, but a community that understands the worth of its own voice can keep the flame steady.
So let us savor this win—yes—but also recognize what it signals: that in an age of vanishing newsrooms, you have kept the newsroom alive; that in a time of noise, you have chosen clarity; and that in a season when so many papers fold, yours has unfurled its sails.
Well done, MV Times. Keep printing. Keep listening. Keep lighting the way.