Hartford Business Journal

19 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | May 23, 2022 Your dedicated partner for retirement plan & benefits solutions Our signature retirement solutions include: LEARN MORE: usicg.com | information@usicg.com | *Investment Advice provided to the Plan by USI Advisors, Inc. Under certain arrangements, securities offered to the Plan through USI Securities, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. | Both USI Advisors, Inc., and USI Securities, Inc., are affiliates of USI Consulting Group © 2022 USI Consulting Group. All rights reserved. | 1022.S0516.0026 401(k)/403(b) plan consulting & administration Defined Benefit pension plan consulting & Actuarial services Defined Benefit pension plan administration services Employee communications & education Investment advisory services* Regulatory & compliance support C O N S U LT I N G G R O U P That never materialized and Alden acquired Tribune Publishing — the former publicly-traded owner of the Courant, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun and others — in May 2021 for $633 million. WTNH-Channel 8 Managing Editor Rick Green spent more than three decades at the Courant over two stints. He left the paper as its managing editor at the end of January due to his mental health, he said. "I left because it was becoming a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour job," said Green, who had applied for but did not get the paper's top editor job shortly before he left. "I care deeply about the Hartford Courant. I wish this [current turmoil] was not happening. I left for my mental health; it was too much." Green, who still has numerous friends at the paper, said the reporters that remain "are top quality and are doing their absolute best to keep the tradition of the Hartford Courant alive." "It's heartbreaking what has happened to the Hartford Courant, as the newspaper has gone from being the dominant news product in the state to the point now where they have a skeleton staff of very hardworking reporters," Green said. "Morale is horrible," he added. He lamented the company's new owner. "These guys [Alden] have a plan," Source: Pew Research Center analysis of year-end SEC filings for publicly traded newspaper companies that break out digital advertising revenue for each year. Green said. "They did this in Denver and in California. They come in and strip [papers to their] bare-bones and make a ton of money. I do think the Courant will still be around [years from now], but I hope it's under different ownership. I don't think Alden is interested in making the newspaper a dominant force in Connecticut." Longtime Connecticut news fixture Duby McDowell was a working reporter for about 23 years and now owns Hartford-based McDowell Communications Group. She is also the publisher of The Laurel, which has reported on several high-profile Courant departures in recent months, including state Capitol reporter Daniela Altimari, as well as other young and veteran journalists who have left by choice. At least three recently-departed Courant reporters have joined competitor Hearst Connecticut. McDowell called the transformation of the Courant "tragic to watch." "I remember," she said, "when it wasn't so long ago that the governor would deliver the budget address and you'd see the army of Hartford Courant reporters arrive at the Legislative Office Building to cover their specific beats and analyze what was being proposed. You do not have that anymore. These days it falls on the shoulders of just a few people." Duby McDowell Share of newspaper advertising revenue coming from digital advertising 17% 19% 20% 21% 25% 29% 31% 35% 35% 39% 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

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