It is also the only news outlet with floor privileges in the Massachusetts House and Senate chambers, where SHNS reporters cover every session from desks near the rostrums.

Clients include media outlets, government agencies, lobbyists and lobbying firms, political campaigns, advocacy organizations and non-profits, and corporations.

Then as now, Mann's bureau afforded out-of-town papers the opportunity to print firsthand accounts of legislative business and track issues of importance to their communities.

In 1903, he took a full-time job with the government, as clerk of the state Railroad Commission which later became the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and turned the business over to Charles H.

[5] The Service has operated continuously since its founding, passing through a succession of six owners to the present day, with the basic product remaining constant: daily news copy covering state government affairs.

[6][7] As manager/owner, Elberta spent the first seven years of her career disenfranchised from the government she covered daily; women did not receive the right to vote in Massachusetts until 1920.

Ryan became a legend in the political and journalistic life of the State House, holding court at his corner desk as politicians and would-be influencers came and went to share news tips and gossip about the issues of the day.

But throughout the 1980s, she and her staff slowly won the departed subscribers back, and she made sure the wall between the News Service and the state payroll stayed up for good.

"[15] Woodman earned a legendary status at the State House in her own right, training generations of reporters who went on to top positions in journalism, government and public affairs in Massachusetts.

News outlets, lobbyists and trade organizations relied on her reporters — the Kids — who would type their articles on carbon paper and stuff them into cubbyhole mailboxes for clients to use in their own publications.

Sandler had gone on to work as state government reporter for the TAB Newspapers, a chain of free weeklies in the Metrowest suburbs of Boston.

The "flimsies," or copies, were picked up by hand by subscribers in the building, and also rushed by messenger boys down to the newsrooms on Newspaper Row in Boston - near modern-day Downtown Crossing.

By 1997, it was clear the service needed a digital presence, and its new owners established the email servers, Web site and back-end content preparation system necessary to get the copy out to subscribers over the Internet.

The business model of ad-based news outlets deteriorated alarmingly after 1999, with advertisers preferring the customizable intimacy and market intelligence available on platforms like Facebook and Google, and that led to staffing reductions industry-wide that have continued to this day.

"It used to be a backstop for most news organizations, essentially a transcription service keeping track of hearings, press conferences, and legislative sessions.

Florida had the lucrative market, thriving government-affairs sector and complicated politics that would support a large enough staff and infrastructure to run a full-fledged capitol bureau, so Sandler selected Tallahassee.

The business model, operating structure, product offering and customer base are very similar to those of the State House News Service.