The amazing shrinking Courant

I don't envy The Hartford Courant's managing editor, Barbara Roessner. As the architect of the "new" Hartford Courant, she is, and will be, the target of scorn from readers and reporters alike. If Roessner pulls off the transformation of the Courant, she will be acclaimed a genius, but the odds are against her. Those who do feel that if anyone has a chance, Roessner, who is reportedly smart, tough, shrewd and creative, likely does.

In her column today about the changes to come, Roessner explains the uphill battle she faces, with a sense of humor, and a sense of what's possible given the resources she'll have at her disposal. In addition, she's sizing up her options, considering an alternative career as a Vermont bartender if the Courant thing doesn't work out. By the way Barbara, it'll be the rare bar in Vermont where you'll be asked to mix a Goombay Smash.

On the positive side, the folks at the Courant likely understand that there will not be an immediate mass exodus of readers since the paper is still considered a daily must by thousands of readers across the state, as the states's paper of record. Still, as the Courant realizes, readership of the print edition continues to shrink. What they need to consider as well, is the fate of The New Haven Register, and it's associated papers, all of which were well-read until a corporate right-sizing reshaped those papers into rags that readers walked away from in droves. On the other hand, the Courant should consider successful independent dailies like Manchester's Journal Inquirer, which has maintained its readership by providing local news and insightful state reporting.

As a longtime reader, I can't say I'm thrilled with some of the other projections of what will happen at the paper.

Right now, the first section, the A section of the paper is the most read piece. The Courant plans to reshape that section, but it's time to ask the question "if it ain't broken, why fix it?" By ridding the section of national and international news the Courant seems to be pandering to a dumbed-down audience, when, in fact, the people who are currently reading are not of the "dumbed-down" variety. The people who are not reading the paper may fit that definition, but it's unlikely that the Courant is going to convince the non-reader to suddenly pick up a paper.

What will happen, of course, is that the Courant will be sending us elsewhere - the New York Times, for example - to read national and international stories. How does it help the Courant to send readers like me elsewhere?

Elsewhere in section A, we'll find the stories which formerly appeared in the "Connecticut" section. As a born skeptic, it leads me to surmise that I'll find more stories in that section about towns which I don't care to read about, and less stories about the town in which I live.

Business news will also move into the A section, though I understand that the Courant will abandon its print version of stock prices and sports scores. It's an old axiom, I know, but it's been said that people pick up a paper for the obituaries and the sports scores. Sure, the online scores, and stock reports, are more current (no pun intended), but the Courant seems to be cutting off its nose, etc.

Another new element of the paper will be shorter stories, more "bulleted" stories, and more charts, grafts and statistics, which will replace full-length stories. For the Courant's information, I come to newspapers for depth. I hate USA Today for it's lack of depth. If I want headlines, and soundbites, I'll turn on the local radio news, or God forbid, the local TV news. Again, the Courant seems to be turning its back on its core readership to try to seduce the non-reader, who, I hate to say, will never darken the door of an honor box.

As for iTowns, the pitful weekly review of town stories (what person, who hasn't read the original story, actually will want to read the encapsulated version, and what person who has already read the original, gives a shit that it's printed again), I say ditch it. As I wrote a few days ago, you want me to write the news and then pay to read it? Not likely.

The Courant's predicament is, unfortunately, a direct result of the Sam Zell deal. He was allowed to broker the future health of the paper (and don't be misled, without the debt saddling the Courant because of the deal, the paper could make millions every year), for his own benefit. I think Zell should have stuck to real estate, then again, there ain't much money to be made there these days.

The Courant cannot afford to continue to shed its best, and only asset, it's knowledgeable, experienced writers, editors and photographers, and expect to keep readers who understand the value of a newspaper.

I'm with Colin McEnroe. I think the best writers and editors should take the early retirement package and severance and start an online state news website that will give the "new" Courant a run for its money.

Good luck Barbara, but rest assured, a shot and a beer are easy to serve up.

Courant cut to shreds

As reported late in the day on the Courant website (notice the lack of a byline on the story), after an email sent to employees leaked, the Hartford Courant will cut 25% of it's staff and an equal percentage of its news pages as it tries to recover from a huge dip in advertising profits.

It doesn't seem likely that by cutting news the Courant will be able to sell more ads. Maybe we'll see bare tits on page 3, gossip on page 6, and lots of contests!

I've been thinking a lot about the venerable gray lady on Broad Street this week. I've always loved and hated the Courant simultaneously. I've been reading it for 40 years, and when it was the conservative foil to the liberal crosstown afternoon paper, The Hartford Times, where I was a stringer back in 1975 and 1976, the competition made both dailies better.

But evening news on TV killed afternoon papers across the land, the Hartford Times included, in 1976. In fact newspapers have been fending off other media news deliverers since radio began regular broadcasts. In the fifties, TV began taking a big bite, and continued to bite hard. Then came cable, 24-7 news channels, and with another nail for the coffin, the internet.

My generation may be the last that truly loves sitting back with newsprint and inky fingers as we delve as deeply as we please into the news, local, national and international.

That has been changing, and for the print version of the Courant, will change permanently when the "new" Courant debuts in a few months. The new Courant will have less news, more advertising, and national and international stories will be relegated to bullets on the last page of the front section.

The Courant has experimented with handing reporters and photographers video cameras, and laptops with Final Cut, to create video stories, but these video stories have gotten few hits. Leading with video ads. people clicked away to other sites in droves. One source says that still photo essays were far more popular than video on the Courant website. Proving that readers of news want quality and depth, still.

The Courant will re-design its print edition to death. And though the woes of newspapers can be laid most directly in the laps of the giant media corporations who gobbled up local newspapers, the blame will be carried by the reporters who are laid off, and by the reporters who are left behind to follow two and three times the assignments they had previously carried. The web version of the Courant will not save it - the Courant, depending for hits on obscene, hateful commentary by demented readers, and not ever having figured out how to charge the obscene advertising rates they charge for the print version. iTown, indeed. You want me to write your news, and then pay for it? Not likely.

This week one of my favorite Courant writers, Susan Campbell, was recognized by her peers in the National Society of Newspaper columnists (I hope New Orleans was fun as you celebrated, Susan), as the top columnist in the country this year. It's writers like Campbell, and Condon, and Lender and Catlin and Green and Gombosy who will save the paper. Writers and reporters who know how to find, research and shape a story until it's something that grips you from the get-go.

Also this week, I've had close contact with a few journalists for the Courant who are working on a story for which my filmmaking company is the focus. One of the journalists is a beginner, an intern (I understand that the Courant gets some of the best interns in the country), the other is a veteran. The intern is smart, and sharp as a razor, asking insightful questions, and digging to find her answers. The veteran carries the wisdom of his decades. Both love what they are doing. Both are wondering what will become of their beloved industry.

I've spoken to a handful of Courant reporters over the past few weeks as the rumors of layoffs filtered through the newsroom, and over pints of beer. Morale has been as low as some longtime employees have ever seen. When one grizzled editor heard one of the most determinedly optimistic employees mutter, "I'm worried," he looked back and said, "We're fucked."

The news today confirmed the worries.

And when the reporters skitter off to jobs at universities, publishing houses, and public relations firms, and the newspaper shrinks and shrinks, we're all fucked, because democracy rests on a vigilant, intelligent, responsible press. And when it's gone, those who cower in the shadows to do their nasty deeds (and that means everyone from grifters to political hacks), will step into the light and wreak havoc with impunity.