Moniebogue Press
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The Moniebogue Press was an "alternative" newspaper on eastern Long Island, New York, United States, that lasted for thirty issues, from July 1971 to October 1972. Based in Westhampton Beach, its circulation was 7500-15,000. Funded by local advertising, it served the communities of Riverhead, Center Moriches, East Quogue, Hampton Bays, and Southampton. The editor was James L. Dudley (1940-2003).[1]
It was noted for its unpredictable editorial policies; for example, Dudley endorsed the Congressional run of Conservative Party of New York State candidate Richard Gardiner, the eccentric "lord of the manor" of Gardiners Island, against incumbent Democrat Otis Pike. The token Marxist columnist, Richie Marsalla, wrote of the Pope as a Godfather operating a gambling empire - referring to bingo in churches. Other articles exposed conditions in local trailer parks and migrant labor camps. Interview subjects included Bo Diddley and an escapee from the Central Island State Hospital.
In the second issue, an article about the proposed Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant by Lorna Salzman summed up most of the arguments that would be used over the following fifteen years in the ultimately successful campaign to prevent the plant's operation. The environment was a major theme, including Eric Salzman's in-depth coverage of "Mysteries of the Mycelium" and on-going discussions of whether local snapping turtles should be exterminated or celebrated. Like most of the dozens of off-beat little newspapers that sprang up in suburban and rural areas while the big-city underground press was expiring, the Moniebogue Press was addressed to the general public, avoided obscentity, and didn't promote drugs. It was a member of the Alternative Press Syndicate. It ceased publication following lawsuits from the East Quogue Taxpayers Association and a former business manager. Dudley moved on to a job at Forbes magazine, and later edited newsletters promoting obscure gold mining companies.
In 2006, microform copies of the Moniebogue Press were in the collections of sixty-one university libraries in North America, and at the National Library of Australia. [2]
