BETTER THAN HEARSAY - The Present and Future of News

Above photo: The Overlook editor-in-chief Noah Eckstein (left) and board of directors member Lauren Johnstown helped host a gathering about the future of journalism, recently, at the Catskill Mountain Country Store in Windham.

WINDHAM - The old school Mountain Eagle/Windham Weekly newspaper welcomes The Overlook to the fold following a gathering in their name, a week or two ago, at the Catskill Mountain Country Store in Windham.

Invitations were sent out for the Saturday, January 24 event, occurring just hours before a nor’easter dumped 2 feet of snow seemingly everywhere.

We weren’t invited to the confab but a little bird told us, so we wrangled a special Entry Code via this newfangled text messaging stuff and went to what was titled “The Future of News: Global and Local.”

There were some heavy hitters on the bill such as Anthony Scaramucci, the onetime Communications Director for the Trump Administration, Sue Craig, an investigative reporter for the New York Times and Jim Rich, former editor-in-chief at the New York Daily News.

The room was crowded for the talks that included The Overlook making it known they want to extend the landscape of their reporting, asking for private financial backers to bring it to fruition.

In a January 28 story in their online outlet detailing the forum, it was written, “much of the discussion focused on The Overlook’s coverage area, Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken and Woodstock, and how the non-profit has positioned itself as a go-to news source in less than a year.

“The organization plans to expand coverage to Windham and is fundraising for a full-time reporter dedicated to the area, a rare example of growth in today’s local media environment,” the story stated.

There is a quote in the story from an area resident and former reporter that states, “the outlets on the ground, in the community, don’t exist anymore.”

That perspective particularly piqued the curiosity of Mr. Matthew Avitabile, the owner of The Mountain Eagle who plucked the venerable paper from the ashes, keeping it vibrantly relevant in a jangled journalism world.

The Mountain Eagle has existed for going on half-a-century, forming a fresh niche when many print editions were vanishing, carrying on the work of the late founder Don Conover, a newsman’s (or newswoman’s) newsman. 

The Eagle has been and is intimately embedded in communities throughout three counties and part of a fourth, trustworthily designated as an official newspaper for Greene County as well as many towns and villages.

It is the Greene County legislature’s Republican and Democratic parties official newspaper to annually publish concurrent resolutions and laws. 

The Eagle is the legislative Republican Party official newspaper to publish election notices and official canvases, noted for “fairly representing the principles” of both parties - good old-fashioned nonpartisanship.

There are solid reasons for all that, even as it is accurate to say “the times they are a’ changing.” The journalism horizon, amidst an almost omnipresent social media word-storm, is blurred.

Wishing to introduce The Overlook to people who may not know them, we spoke to editor-in-chief Noah Eckstein at the January 24 meeting who suggested we contact board member Lauren Johnstown.

Johnstown steered us to Scott Widmeyer, one of the co-founders, who possesses impressive credentials, according to their website.

Mr. Widmeyer has crafted a, “distinguished career in journalism and communications, advising leaders from U.S. presidents to CEOs and union heads,” the website states.

Mr. Widmeyer founded Widmeyer Communications (now part of Finn Partners) and has held key roles in political and media strategy.

His “commitment to community journalism stems from a lifetime of media experience, dating back to his early days as a newspaper reporter,” the website states.

Widmeyer, in a telephone interview, said The Overlook has been, “up and running” since February 2025, explaining that, last spring, “a number of folks came to us to see how we were developing.

“They said they like what we are doing and would like to see Windham added to the coverage area,” Widmeyer said.

“Our goal is to shine a brighter light on all of these towns in the Catskills.There are many good stories to tell,.

“We live in a time where people are looking for hope and positive things,” Widmeyer said. “We want to get into all of these communities.

“More than anything we want to be a voice for what is going on in our communities,” Widmeyer said.

“That can mean talking about something around nature, the outdoors, what our young people are up to, what’s going on in our schools, what’s going on with our government authorities,” Widmeyer said.

The Overlook, through 501c3 fundraising and other means, “hopes to have a fulltime reporter [for Windham] within the next two months,” Widmeyer said.

“We look forward to finding ways to work with the Mountain Eagle. We want journalism to prosper, not just the flower of The Overlook,” Widmeyer said.

Avitabile, a college professor by trade, says he will embrace a professional relationship with The Overlook, similar to sharing material with Porcupine Soup, a respected online wellspring of local and national news.

“I welcome a chance to work together to make such a mission happen, and ensure fair and complete coverage from the area,” Avitabile says.

“We look forward to continue offering the on-the-ground, local coverage for the Mountaintop and Greene County,” he says, acknowledging that some Thoroughly Modern Millie-izing of his online presence wouldn’t hurt.

Be that as it may, “it will be good to have an outside perspective to bring even more light to the many positive aspects of our area and to help uncover ways to make our region a better place,” Avitabile says.

The Eagle has grown eightfold since Avitabile purchased it nine years ago, he says, including its modern record for overall circulation and Greene County circulation during October’s Autumn Affair in Windham. 

“It is always a logistical challenge to make a paper that has grown larger work, but we do it, due to our team,” Avitabile says.