The founder of Cambridge Day, Marc Levy, has stepped away after nearly 16 years as its editor.
In an email sent late on Dec. 22, Levy notified the board of Cambridge News, Inc. that he was leaving the publication. A stalwart of hyper-local journalism, Levy said he is not yet certain of his future path, but that it will almost certainly involve independent journalism.
Levy started in journalism as a reporter and then editor at various community newspapers in Bridgeport, Conn. owned by the Journal Register Company (now part of Digital First Media). After several years as a copy editor at the Boston Herald, he launched the initial incarnation of Cambridge Day as a print daily in 2005. It closed after a few months, and Levy went back to Connecticut to work at Journal Register publications. In 2009 he returned to Cambridge and launched a weblog version of Cambridge Day.
“Marc was a digital pioneer, launching the Day at a time when there were only a handful of such projects across the country,” said Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University who writes the blog Media Nation and is an expert on local media.
At the start, Levy focused on covering city hall, local business, and real estate development. He also worked to seed the next generation of journalists, shepherding journalism students from graduate programs to high school papers, providing them with mentorship and professional editing. Cambridge Day’s new editor-in-chief, Michael Fitzgerald, recounted having Levy speak to his journalism class at the Harvard University Extension School in 2011 which led to at least two students getting their first bylines in Cambridge Day. One of them was Nicholas Nehamas, who was on the Miami Herald team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 2017 and is now at the New York Times.
Levy’s dedication to local news has coincided with tremendous turmoil in journalism. Since 2000 nearly half of newsroom jobs in the U.S. have been eliminated as thousands of publications closed, leaving some 60 million people in news deserts. Locally, the Boston Phoenix shut down in 2013, and the Cambridge Chronicle, purchased by Gannett in 2006, lost its last full-time reporter in Cambridge in 2022. Levy sustained Cambridge Day in part by holding down editing jobs at financial sites TheStreet.com and Cheapism.
Despite ongoing financial challenges, he was able to expand coverage areas, add a website, a newsletter, and in 2023 returned to print with a digest of the site’s news he called “The Week.” Levy said in an interview that bringing back print was “great fun.”
“At a time when the [Cambridge Chronicle] was shrinking into irrelevance, Cambridge Day kept residents informed with coverage of city government, schools, law enforcement and more,” Kennedy said. “Marc Levy kept local news alive in Cambridge.”
Levy, never inclined to self-promotion, said that in addition to working with young reporters, he is proud that Cambridge Day helped connect people and enable better civic engagement. He noted that adding weekly stories from History Cambridge increased connection between present-day Cambridge and its past. He also built a long-lasting collaboration with Cambridge Community Television and organized public panels with candidates seeking office, with the goal of improving democracy locally.
Levy’s deep knowledge of the community was a benefit beyond its borders, said Chris Faraone, co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. “When I think about local government accountability journalism in Massachusetts and of a reporter who truly knows all of the obscure rules and committees that make municipalities run, I think of Marc Levy. I never feared having to report on tedious Cambridge matters because I knew he had already done most of the homework.”
The Day was acquired in 2024 by the nonprofit Cambridge News as part of its mission to ensure local news coverage in Cambridge. “We’re incredibly appreciative of Marc’s 16 years of passionate, persistent efforts to keep local news alive as a service to the Cambridge and Somerville communities, and we wish him all the best in his next endeavors,” said Mary McGrath, a member of the Cambridge News board.
“Marc has been incredibly persistent, with an infallible nose for local news,” said Ruth Ryals, president of the Porter Square Neighborhood Association. “He kept all of us informed for years. We have a lot for which to thank him.”
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
Dear Marc, Thank you for your many years of hard work. Best wishes from an appreciative reader.
All of Cambridge is in debt to Marc–we would not have any significant local news source without him.
Thanks, and good luck!
Your efforts here at creating a truly local news outlet for Cambridge are appreciated, and we wish you luck in your future life.
Thanks, Marc, for many years of hard work. We’ve been a better-informed community because of you.
What an enormous loss. Marc did such valuable work for Cambridge. I deeply appreciate it and I hope he lands in a great place.
I am concerned about the direction of Cambridge Day. I no longer see many hard news stories – it seems to be all about restaurant reviews and cultural happenings.
Why, for example, was there no mention of Paul Toner’s upcoming trial, given that he is represented by Tim Flaherty, who will join the City Council this month? Paul chose to put his family through a trial – the only one of the brothel defendants to do so. There are many other stories that Cambridge Day has not reported on.
I’ve resorted to reading the Harvard Crimson for anything related to Cambridge governance. Not good.
Thank you, Marc, for your hard work, dedication, and vision.
We all owe Marc a huge debt of gratitude for his tireless and too often thankless work to keep us informed and to hold city leaders accountable. The Cambridge Day archives remain an invaluable resource for tracking political issues. Thank you, Marc.
Someone who devoted their entire life to this project simply walked away did they?
How about reporting on the full story?
Faraone is right, Marc’s deep knowledge of our community has been a huge benefit for CD, and for all of us. He knows what we are all talking about, wondering about and even what we should be thinking about.
The fact that every faction in this city has at one time or another accused his reporting of being biased is certainly proof positive how well he did his job.
This is a huge loss for our community, and he will be greatly missed.
Thank you for everything you’ve done for us Marc!
Thank you, Marc Levy, for your extraordinary contributions to journalism and civic life here in Cambridge and Somerville over the past 15+ years.
Our entire community owes you a huge debt of gratitude for your tireless, insightful work.
Thank you, Marc Levy, for your service. Local news is so important, and you did so much towards building a great Cambridge Day! Looking forward to seeing what you and the paper do in the future!