From the Editor

Last summer, as Hallie Claflin and I were discussing ideas for her contribution to our special project on health care access, we stumbled on a story about how women in Leominster and the surrounding towns were giving birth in ambulances and emergency rooms after the maternity unit at Clinton Hospital closed in 2023. Hallie went to Leominster to talk to paramedics, nurses, and city officials to piece together a story that examined how the closure affected the everyday lives of people in the region. After the story was published, we heard from dozens of people how much it meant to them to have this issue covered so comprehensively.

I highlight this story here – at the top of CommonWealth Beacon’s second annual Impact Report – because it’s emblematic of the work we’re doing on a daily basis. In 2025, we embarked on an ambitious editorial strategy to produce exhaustive, long-form journalism that illuminates the challenges faced and solutions pioneered in communities around the state on topics ranging from the restoration of Lynn’s waterfront to the huge bet rent control advocates are making moving forward with a ballot question that would impose a strict one-size-fits-all cap across the state.

Throughout this report, you’ll see many facts and figures that demonstrate how we were largely successful in achieving this goal. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Time and again, as we pressed publish on story after story, we would hear from readers how our reporting amplified a conversation around an issue with which a community had been grappling. Or we’d get a tip that would lead to another story, like Jordan Wolman’s piece on Boston residents paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more in flood insurance premiums because the city missed its own deadline to apply to a federal program that offers discounts.

In 2026, CommonWealth Beacon will continue to build on the successes of the past year. We will do more long-form, in-depth journalism. We will report from more communities, explaining how state policy affects residents from Rockport to Pittsfield. We will continue supporting hyperlocal news organizations across Massachusetts. And we’ll continue to listen to you, our community of readers, and incorporate your feedback into our editorial outlook.

Our goal is to grow, so we can further advance our mission: to produce non-partisan, independent journalism that informs the public, elevates our civic discourse, and holds the powerful to account.  

As always, thanks for reading.

Laura Colarusso

Editor