The New Britain Herald ends but something else will come along
The Journal Register Co. is closing The Herald and Bristol Press. I thought about writing a Greek Tragedy about it, about The Herald’s long history and the many wonderful people I worked with, but what’s the point?
The JRC got rid of Herald’s presses, the building, most of the staff. What’s left?
It's more important to look at what's next instead of what's left.
If I had the money, I wouldn’t buy The Herald. There’s no need to.
The next “newspaper” for New Britain will be online-only.
It may start as a neighborhood/community blog, the hobby of one or two interested residents. There must be a few restless and energetic people willing to give up a lot of nights to see if they can’t get a small business going.
Another possibility is the local chamber or perhaps a consortium of business interests will fund a small Web start-up and hire at least one full-time writer, contract with a Web design firm, and bring in some marketing and sales people. This could work but in New Britain I would worry, honestly, about whether it can be structured to preserve editorial independence from the investors. This is a small town.
CCSU is another possibility. The university, from what I understand, would like to develop its journalism program. It's possible the university may be interested in helping.
Will the Meriden newspaper or some other publication expand in New Britain? Not a print product. But an out-of-town publisher could fund an online operation.
The JRC got rid of Herald’s presses, the building, most of the staff. What’s left?
It's more important to look at what's next instead of what's left.
If I had the money, I wouldn’t buy The Herald. There’s no need to.
The next “newspaper” for New Britain will be online-only.
It may start as a neighborhood/community blog, the hobby of one or two interested residents. There must be a few restless and energetic people willing to give up a lot of nights to see if they can’t get a small business going.
Another possibility is the local chamber or perhaps a consortium of business interests will fund a small Web start-up and hire at least one full-time writer, contract with a Web design firm, and bring in some marketing and sales people. This could work but in New Britain I would worry, honestly, about whether it can be structured to preserve editorial independence from the investors. This is a small town.
CCSU is another possibility. The university, from what I understand, would like to develop its journalism program. It's possible the university may be interested in helping.
Will the Meriden newspaper or some other publication expand in New Britain? Not a print product. But an out-of-town publisher could fund an online operation.
Will the Courant expand its coverage? Add reporters? No. And who wants a one newspaper town?
But the beauty of today’s world – and the risk – is that anyone can start a city blog. The person who is best at capturing imaginations, building an online community, stirring debate and sensing the issues and rifts in the community, will get readers. Funding assures nothing. That’s why I think the best approach is the first one. See what arises organically and if it catches on with the readers, it will catch on with advertisers. It's the most likely and promising scenario.
But the beauty of today’s world – and the risk – is that anyone can start a city blog. The person who is best at capturing imaginations, building an online community, stirring debate and sensing the issues and rifts in the community, will get readers. Funding assures nothing. That’s why I think the best approach is the first one. See what arises organically and if it catches on with the readers, it will catch on with advertisers. It's the most likely and promising scenario.
-- Patrick Thibodeau
The Herald
1981-1996
Labels: end of newspapers, New Britain Herald, terrible tales from the hardware city
posted by kob at
5:26 PM
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