Comments on: A bit more on why I keep visiting New Haven

By: Dan Gillmor on how to make the media serve us - Phlog

Dan Gillmor on how to make the media serve us - Phlog — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:28:33 +0000

[...] since profiling him for CommonWealth Magazine in 2006. He offered me some valuable advice on my own book-in-progress on the New Haven Independent and other hyperlocal news projects. I read "Mediactive" in [...]

By: Chris Helms

Chris Helms — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:40:23 +0000

My new company, Patch, plans to do Web sites in rural and under-served towns as patch.org. This effort is separate from the patch.com sites. I'm the editor of JP Patch, which hasn't launched yet.

By: Dan Kennedy

Dan Kennedy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:54:56 +0000

@Aaron: Yes, I realized later that @Margie meant the New London Day, with which I am familiar. The Day is not a non-profit, based on what I'm able to glean from this description. Rather, it's a for-profit paper owned by a non-profit foundation, like the St. Petersburg Times and the New Hampshire Union Leader. It's actually a great model, since it alleviates some of the financial pressures while at the same time avoiding some of the pitfalls of non-profit journalism, such as a federal law prohibiting non-profits from making political endorsements. In fact, I have interviewed Jonathan Hopkins, and Streever is on my list as well. If you have any insight into how to reach Three-Fifths, I'd appreciate it if you could pass it along. I would definitely like to meet him.

By: Chris Devers

Chris Devers — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:58:38 +0000

Surely Julian Assange is going to show up in there somewhere, right?

I mean, Wikileaks is quite a different thing from the New Haven Independent, but it’s another example of how a one-man show can upend traditional journalistic institutions. Maybe there’s a similar model where community-driven sites allow people to disseminate local info. Not just “whistle-blower” stuff, mind, but just any kind of community news & info.

For that matter, it may also be worth including bits about what Adam Gaffin is doing with Universal Hub, and what Rob Newman et al do with Davis Square LiveJournal ( http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square ).

By: Jenn Lord Paluzzi

Jenn Lord Paluzzi — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:32:02 +0000

You know you’re always welcome in Grafton, Dan. I’d invite you to the CentralMassNews.com staff meeting — but we’re growing so fast, there may not be enough chairs!

By: aaron goode

aaron goode — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:59:00 +0000

The Day is in New London, not Hartford. This sounds like a great project. I’d suggest you get in touch with some of the more prominent commenters on Indy (Hopkins, Doyens, Streever, Three-Fifths, etc). Also with some activist groups (e.g. environmental groups like the New Haven Bioregional Group, Elm City Cycling, etc) that have always felt under-served by the Register. And if you want to find political activists and news junkies who are primary consumers of content from the Independent, you should come to a DFA New Haven meeting sometime (first Wednesday of the month at Wall St. Pizza, formerly Naples). Good luck.

By: Dan Kennedy

Dan Kennedy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:59:50 +0000

@Margie: Do you have a link? I can’t seem to find it. Anyway, heading out.

By: Steve Stein

Steve Stein — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:57:27 +0000

Not just for apizza?

By: margie Arons Barron

margie Arons Barron — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:49:07 +0000

Dan, Have you taken a look at The Day in Hartford? I believe it has run as a non-profit for years. The legal document (trust?) that established it was required to plow back all but $25,000 into the operations of the paper each year. Some outstanding writers have gone through it, including Maura Casey, who went on to write editorials for the NY Times, and editorialist Morgan McGinley. I haven’t seen it lately due to my own schedule, but they always did an excellent job. Good luck on your book! It sounds terrific.

By: Clea Simon

Clea Simon — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:46:09 +0000

very cool!