Examiner Media's Digital Reboot
How you can help save local Westchester news
On a muggy day in July, I walked into my local cobbler to pick up a bag I had mended.
The mom-and-pop repair shop has been in my town for decades, and a step into the shop is a ticket to the past. Tanned goods litter the floor, hang from each wall, and sit along rows of shelves. The business, outfitted with wood paneled walls inside, displayed mementos lovingly collected over decades in service atop the counter. As I waited to check out, I noticed a gorgeous brass old-timey cash register - featuring type-writer-like buttons and a hand lever. Sitting atop this shiny, spectacular machine was something that glimmered even brighter - a laminated newspaper clip from the North County News - a now-folded newspaper in Westchester County.
The article's publication date was from March 2003 - and as I further inspected the piece - I realized I recognized the author's name - it was Examiner Media’s very own Adam Stone! Founder, publisher extraordinaire, and a boss/mentor/friend of mine.
Examiner Media is a local weekly newspaper in Westchester County that at one time published four editions throughout the county and is where I’ve published most of my work. I excitedly whipped out my phone to snap photos, and the owner helped me capture the best angle to send to Adam.
21 years after publication, I sent Adam a photo of his article. I was elated for my discovery, but more so, Adam’s laminated piece was a testament to the power of local journalism.
Last week, Adam announced that the paper would no longer be in print, and that he had to lay off most of his staff due to financial restraints. He penned a heartfelt read about the new direction of the paper.
Going forward, The Examiner will be exclusively digital, with Adam penning many of the bylines and hopefully tapping into talented freelancers to expand coverage.
Finding warmth in a cold email
In 2016, I inexplicably found myself doing administrative work in professional baseball, which was cool but deeply unsatisfying.
I had this persistent itch that my job couldn’t scratch. Within me was an unshakeable feeling that I was meant to be doing something different and that my career shouldn’t be spent behind a desk making sure that the exorbitant phone bills of the front office of a professional baseball team were paid every month.
By chance, I had picked up a copy of The Westchester Examiner, a free weekly paper that covered everything from local board meetings to fun opinion columns and fantastic photos of high school athletes in competition.
A split-second decision led me to send Adam a cold email with my resume and bylines attached and a small hope that maybe I could get an assignment or two.
Adam’s reply email was warm and gracious and looped in Editor-in-Chief Martin Wilbur. Before long, I had my first assignment from the paper: I was sent to cover a Christmas event for children at a local hospital. I was thrilled.
“What luck,” I thought to myself.
Thus, I started a nearly decade-long working relationship with The Examiner, covering everything from education to local festivals and beyond. Adam even gave me the opportunity to write my first opinion column - Millennial Matters, for which I won a New York Press Association award.
Besides racking up bylines and direly-needed experience, working for The Examiner introduced me to fantastic, veteran journalists who have helped guide my reporting and career. Martin has answered every question I’ve ever had about tax levies, Anna Young tapped me to have a column in The Examiner’s Substack, and Robert Schork, whose love for his work and joy permeated every meeting we had. Robert passed away in May 2023, and I think of him often and how lucky I was to work with him. We shared a deep love for Reese’s candy, and we often texted it about it with Adam whenever the new shapes were dropped each season.
Investment in local journalism
The Examiner’s transition is part of a greater decline in America’s local newsrooms.
Over the years, I have seen Adam and crew weather many financial storms, continually reorganizing, restrategizing, and serving the Westchester community with outstanding reporting time and time again.
The Examiner has instilled in me an affinity for local news. In September, I started grad school at CUNY Newmark’s J-School - specializing in what else? Local accountability journalism, hoping one day to serve as a beat reporter in my community.
Obviously, The Examiner’s news is devastating. I feel for my friend Adam, who has invested his life into the paper. I grieve for my community, as the erosion of quality local news has certainly afflicted Westchester.
In my grad school classes, we constantly discuss the growing mistrust of the media. A classmate of mine raised a good point one day in class. When local newspapers flourished, reporters could be seen regularly in town, at events, and even local children’s soccer games, as many local media members reported from the same town where they lived.
If there is trust to be placed, I urge you to place it with Adam. Although he is a Long Island transplant (we forgive you, Adam), he has made a life and business in Westchester. He raised his two daughters here in the local schools. His wife has been a long-time school teacher in the community. Adam regularly sponsors local events, such as the Pleasantville Music Festival, and The Examiner’s green and white logo can regularly be seen on the jerseys of local little league teams. Adam is 914 through and through, and his journalism isn’t from learning unfounded rumors online. It’s from being enmeshed in the Westchester community for decades, and supporting so many here.
I know now that Adam’s reply to my cold email in 2016 wasn’t just plain luck - it was divine intervention. How fortunate I have been to learn from Adam, commiserate with him, and see local journalism of the highest caliber in action. With your help, we can see that journalism continues for years to come.
How you can help
First and foremost, donations to keep Adam’s tremendous reporting are welcomed and encouraged! 💰
You can also become a subscriber of Examiner News’ Examiner+, a premium subscription to Examiner News to help ensure the future of independent, high-quality local journalism. Plus, you’d be in good company - I’m a proud subscriber.🫡
For those who can’t donate or become a paid subscriber, I implore you to sign up for The Examiner’s free newsletter to help expand the paper’s reach and to help expand your knowledge of critical news and information happening in Westchester.
Looking ahead
Despite the unfortunate news - there’s a bright light at the end of this piece.
Since 2023, Adam has balanced his publisher position with in-depth reporting, producing an outstanding column called “Stone’s Throw.” He has done deep dives on the lives and problems facing Westchester residents with disabilities, the mysteries of the spiritual realm and perhaps most notably, uncovering severe problems with Optum/CareMount’s patient services in the county.
His investigative work will be featured on Sick Care, a new podcast that’s in part produced by Examiner Media. The podcast explores the failures of the corporate healthcare system and the forces shaping it, from a local and national perspective. It’s set to drop in the next month or two. For a preview of Adam’s fantastic work, click the button below ⬇️
Thank you for your part in sustaining local journalism,
