If you walked down Church Street in Everett, Massachusetts, recently, you might have noticed something missing. The Everett Leader Herald—a local institution that had been around for 139 years—is just gone. It’s not just "on hiatus" or moving to a digital-only format like so many other struggling weeklies. It was legally forced to close its doors.
Honestly, it’s one of the weirdest and most dramatic ends to a local newspaper you’ll ever hear about. We aren't talking about a "death of print" story here. This was a self-inflicted implosion involving a $1.1 million settlement, a furious mayor, and a reporter who eventually admitted he just... made stuff up.
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The 2017 Shift: When Everything Changed
For over a century, the Everett Leader Herald was your typical community rag. It covered high school sports, local bake sales, and city council meetings. But things took a sharp turn in 2017. That’s when Matthew Philbin bought the paper.
He didn't just buy a business; he hired Joshua Resnek to run the show.
From that point on, the paper stopped being a community mirror and turned into what court records later described as an "attack machine." The target? Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria. If you lived in Everett between 2017 and 2024, you probably remember the headlines. They were brutal. They called him "Kickback Carlo." They accused him of everything from extorting city employees to sexual harassment and being under FBI investigation.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Lawsuit
You might think this was just a politician with thin skin. It wasn't. The legal battle that eventually took down the Everett Leader Herald Everett MA was built on the kind of evidence that makes a lawyer's eyes pop.
During the discovery phase of the defamation lawsuit, internal emails came to light. We’re talking about messages where Resnek and Philbin allegedly discussed "crushing" the mayor. In one particularly dark email, Resnek even used the word "Holocaust" to describe the level of professional destruction he wanted to visit upon DeMaria.
The Smoking Gun: Fabricated Sources
Here is the part that’s actually hard to believe. Resnek eventually admitted in depositions that he had fabricated quotes. He invented a "City Hall insider" he called the "Blue Suit."
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This "insider" provided the "dirt" for dozens of stories.
The problem? The person didn't exist.
Resnek was essentially talking to himself and printing it as news. When you’re a public figure, it’s notoriously hard to win a libel case because of the "actual malice" standard. You have to prove the paper knew what they were printing was false. Usually, that’s a high bar. But when the editor admits he made up the source? That bar gets a lot easier to clear.
The $1.1 Million Settlement That Ended It All
By late 2024, the walls were closing in. A trial was set for January 2025 in Middlesex Superior Court. Instead of going to trial—where things likely would have gotten even more embarrassing—the parties settled in December 2024.
The terms were unprecedented:
- The defendants (Philbin and Resnek) had to pay Mayor DeMaria $1.1 million.
- The Everett Leader Herald had to cease publication forever within seven days.
- The 139-year-old brand had to be effectively erased.
It was an "extraordinary remedy," according to DeMaria's attorney, Jeffrey Robbins. You don't often see a settlement that requires a newspaper to literally stop existing.
The Fallout in Everett MA
Everett is a small city. People know each other. While the mayor won his "total vindication" in court, the story didn't end with a sunset and credits. Shortly after the paper shut down, state investigators (the Office of the Inspector General) released a report about "longevity bonuses" the mayor had received.
It’s a messy situation. The paper's attacks were proven to be based on lies, but the vacuum it left behind means there's one less watchdog in a city that clearly needs a real one.
The Everett Advocate and the Everett Independent are still around, trying to pick up the pieces of local trust. But the ghost of the Leader Herald still hangs over Church Street. It’s a cautionary tale about what happens when a local paper is used as a personal weapon rather than a public service.
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Actionable Insights for Local News Consumers
If you're following local politics in the wake of the Everett Leader Herald's collapse, here is how to navigate the current landscape:
- Check the Masthead: In any local paper, look at who owns it. If the owner has significant real estate or business holdings in the same town they cover, keep a close eye on their editorial leanings.
- Verify "Anonymous Sources": While legitimate whistleblowers exist, be skeptical of papers that rely almost exclusively on "unnamed insiders" for every single scandalous scoop.
- Support Local Independent Journalism: With the Leader Herald gone, Everett residents should look toward the Everett Advocate or other regional news outlets that adhere to standard journalistic ethics and didn't have their editors admit to fabrication in court.
- Read the Inspector General Reports: For the most factual, non-partisan look at city hall dealings, skip the tabloids and look at the official reports from the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General or the State Ethics Commission.
The story of the Everett Leader Herald is basically a 139-year legacy that was torched in less than seven years by a single-minded obsession. It’s a reminder that local news is fragile—and the truth is even more so.