Black Newspaper in Boston Suspends Publication: BOSTON – An African-American newspaper that covered Boston's busing riots of the 1970s, the fall of Black political leaders, and the rise of the state's first Black governor, Deval Patrick, has suspended publication after 44 years and laid off its 12 employees.
Bay State Banner publisher and editor Melvin Miller said Tuesday that financial pressures and a sustained falloff in advertising have forced him to close the weekly newspaper, at least temporarily.
Miller, a 75-year-old Boston attorney who founded the paper in 1965, said he had prepared for a long economic turndown but could not risk pouring in more of his own money. When or if the paper reopens depends on any potential new investors, but Miller said he would not actively “go around twisting arms” to convince people.
The paper most recently had a weekly circulation of 34,000.
