The Martha's Vineyard Times

The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly community newspaper on Martha's Vineyard, an island seven miles off the coast of southeastern Massachusetts. The Island's six towns have a total year-round population of about 21,000 and a seasonal population estimated at 100,000.^{[1] [2]}

The Times print newspaper, with a weekly circulation of about 5,000, is delivered by mail and at retail locations across the Vineyard on Thursdays. The paper also publishes a five-day-a-week email newsletter with approximately 11,000 subscribers called "The Minute."^[3]

The paper's website mvtimes.com attracts more than 3.5 million unique visitors annually. For both print and web, The Times also publishes Edible Vineyard, Vineyard Visitor, Martha's Vineyard Arts & Ideas, Voices, and Vineyard Property Values.^[3]

The Martha's Vineyard Times was founded in the spring of 1984 by five Vineyarders in the midst of great Island population growth (45% between 1970 and 1980 and a total of 160% between 1970 and 2020.) Major economic change occurred as well: personal per capita income increased more than sixfold in the same period.^{[4] [5]}

In the Times' obituary for Robert "Bob" Carroll, retired Times editor Doug Cabral said that Carroll and his partners "...believed that the Vineyard needed a newspaper that would take an aggressive interest in the year-round residents and the year-round economy of the Vineyard, both of which they thought were under-represented,"^[6] and in doing so took direct aim at the editorial convictions of the venerable and much admired weekly Vineyard Gazette , which was deeply committed to conservation and preservation of the Vineyard's bucolic past.^[7] The new competition was met with consternation and disdain from the Gazette's leadership.^{[7] [8]}

The Times began in 1984 as a paid-subscription broadsheet newspaper but two years later switched to a free model with a tabloid-size newspaper^[9] distributed to every post office boxholder on the island.^[3] In December 2019, the paper announced readers will have to have a paid subscription for mail delivery.^[10] At that time, the Times was printing up to 15,000 copies weekly.^[9] Following the change, as of 2023, the paper had an average print circulation of approximately 5,000 copies weekly.^[3]

In 1991, The Martha's Vineyard Times was purchased by the paper's editor Doug Cabral and his wife Molly.^[11] After 23 years of ownership, the couple sold the newspaper in 2014^[12] to Peter and Barbara Oberfest, co-publishers of the paper and part-owners since 1995.^[11] In December 2023, the paper was sold again to Steve Bernier.^{[13] [14]}

The Martha's Vineyard Times employs approximately 8 full-time staff members year-round, along with a number of part-time staff and freelancers. All print and web products are published by The Martha's Vineyard Times Corp., which is owned by Steve Bernier.^{[citation needed ]}

• Official website

• Weekly newspapers published in Massachusetts
• Newspapers established in 1984
• 1984 establishments in Massachusetts
• Martha's Vineyard

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2024