Fredric D. Rutberg

Notable work and positions

The Berkshire Eagle - President; Former Publisher
Southern Berkshire District Court, Massachusetts - Former Associate Justice

Biography

Fredric D. Rutberg is president of The Berkshire Eagle, a daily newspaper in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and led the investor group that purchased the paper and its Vermont sister publications from Digital First Media in 2016. Born in Philadelphia, he earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from New York University, and entered legal practice in 1971, working for the New York Human Rights Commission and Legal Services in Spanish Harlem before moving to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and entering private practice in 1974. He was appointed associate justice of the Southern Berkshire District Court in March 1994, later serving as presiding justice of the Pittsfield District Court and of the Southern Berkshire District Court, and chaired the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure from 2008 to 2015. He retired from the bench in April 2015. In May 2016, Rutberg, along with investors Stanford Lipsey, Hans Morris, and Robert Wilmers, purchased New England Newspapers, Inc., publisher of The Berkshire Eagle and three Vermont newspapers, from Digital First Media's hedge fund owner, Alden Global Capital. Rutberg served as publisher of The Eagle until stepping down on October 1, 2025, when he was succeeded by Gary Lavariere; he remains the company's president. In 2022 he received a Massachusetts Governor's Award in the Humanities for his role in returning the paper to local ownership.

Career highlights

• Led purchase of The Berkshire Eagle May 2016 · Assembled an investor group that returned the 124-year-old newspaper to local ownership after 21 years under corporate chains.
• Publisher, The Berkshire Eagle 2016-2025 · The paper won seven consecutive Newspaper of the Year honors from the New England Newspaper and Press Association during his tenure.
• Massachusetts Governor's Award in the Humanities 2022.