Hartford Business Journal

21 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | May 23, 2022 million budget has roughly doubled in the last three years; its website has roughly 300,000 unique users a month, not including traffic its stories generate on other Connecticut news websites, which pay for access to the content. Putterman said he thinks digital is the future in news media and the Mirror's growth has allowed it to cover more topics that have been increasingly ignored by other shrinking news outlets. Its main focus is covering the statehouse, where nonprofit news organizations nationwide have expanded their influence. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the number of nonprofit news reporters who cover state capitols nationally has nearly quadrupled since 2014, and those journalists now account for 20% of the nation's total state government press corps, up from 6% eight years ago. "What happens in state government often has more of an impact on more people than on the federal level, and, in some cases, than at the local level," Putterman said. "It's also important to engage people in understanding state government so they can take part in the democratic process and make informed decisions. You need journalists to cover the state Capitol. You need someone to hold state government accountable." Putterman said only about 7% of CT Mirror's overall revenue comes from advertising; more than 90% is contributed from individuals or foundations with "a tiny amount of corporate philanthropy." Other online, hyper-local news outlets have sprung up in Connecticut in recent years, including the Monroe Sun, a for-profit, one-man operation founded by Bill Bittar, a former reporter at the Waterbury Republican- American. The site is still in its early stages — it earned about $25,000 in revenue last year — but has grown its traffic from 510,000 visitors in 2020 to 647,000 last year, Bittar said. Bittar, who also worked in online journalism for Patch.com, said there was a void in Monroe when the Monroe Courier, the town's hometown paper, folded in 2018. The 50-year-old Monroe native and resident said it cost him about $1,000 to launch his website, which has five regular advertisers and covers a wide range of local news in the small Fairfield County town of 20,000 residents. "People like the immediacy of online local news," said Bittar, who has seen a spike in readers since adding sports coverage in July 2021. "They like to promote events that are coming up; there are many groups in town. I cover everything, big and small. If you are a daily paper, you have to choose what to cover; I cover everything." Helen Bennett is the Courant's relatively new executive editor. She was named to the position in December, replacing longtime top news executive Andrew Julien, now executive editor of the New York Daily News, also owned by Alden. Bennett was previously managing editor of the New Haven Register, which is owned by Hearst. Bennett declined to comment for this story and Alden Global Capital could not be reached. The Courant has been actively trying to fill some open positions and has brought on new reporters in recent months as it looks to rebuild its ranks. New hires have included criminal justice, city of Hartford and race and social justice reporters, many recruited from other local news organizations. The Courant on May 13 was advertising on its website about a half-dozen available newsroom jobs, including reporter and editor positions. To replace lost print subscribers (the Courant's average weekday circulation went from 94,810 in the first quarter of 2015 to 33,912 for the six-month period that ended March 30) the company — like most news organizations — has been focused on building its digital audience and subscriptions. Quinnipiac's Hanley said he believes the Courant's brand is strong enough to "survive in its diminished state," but it faces pressure from online sites and other competitors, including Hearst. New Hartford competitor Despite declining circulations, Connecticut newspaper publishers aren't abandoning print, since it's still an important revenue generator. But there is an intense focus to build up digital revenues, subscriptions and page views. That's the case at Hearst Connecticut Media Group, which is aiming to reach 100,000 total print and digital subscriptions this year across its various daily and weekly publications, according to Publisher Mike DeLuca and Senior Vice President of Content and Editor-in-Chief Wendy Metcalfe. Part of that effort includes expanding into Greater Hartford, where Hearst has been hiring reporters in recent months as it tries to fill the news void left by the Courant's decline. However, it won't be launching a print publication in the region. Instead, Hartford-centric stories will appear on Hearst's CT Insider website, which launched last June to give readers easier access to statewide content on topics ranging from breaking news and investigations to sports, features and politics. In the next few months, Metcalfe said Hearst Connecticut will have a newsroom staff of about 165 people, including 11 journalists in the Hartford region who will focus on enterprise and breaking news coverage. Hearst is also considering opening a Hartford newsroom. "Hearst is consistently reinvesting in the newsroom," Metcalfe said. "We have to prove we can deepen our journalism and grow readerships." She added: "We have to continue to evolve, and [offering] quality products is paramount to hold the print readers as best we can. The honest answer is that the bulk of our customers are largely looking for digital, but that does not mean print is not of interest to our readers. We have a firm commitment to print." DeLuca said Hearst has seen significant growth on its CT Insider website over the past 11 months, but declined to disclose traffic data. The strong traction so far "told us that there was an appetite for the content we were providing, so we beefed it up," he said. In addition to CT Insider, Metcalfe noted that Hearst Connecticut has also launched a statewide investigative team and placed a greater focus on data reporting. Hearst Connecticut's parent company — Hearst Corp. — is a New York City-based mass media and business information conglomerate that has diverse holdings. In addition to owning 24 dailies and 52 weeklies nationwide (including the San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle), its portfolio includes magazines and TV channels and stations, including stakes in A&E Networks and Bristol sports media giant ESPN. Hearst said its newspapers nationwide ended last year with more than 300,000 paid digital- only subscriptions, an increase of 100,000, or 50% from the year before. Online news sites proliferate The Connecticut Mirror is, arguably, the leader of online- only news sites in the state. It was founded in January 2010 with four reporters, mostly former Hartford Courant journalists. Today it has 13 journalists and three open newsroom positions, according to Bruce Putterman, who has been CEO and publisher of the online nonprofit news organization since April 2017. Putterman said the Mirror's growth in recent years was propelled by an $830,000 grant in late 2019 from a venture philanthropy firm, the American Journalism Project. The money allowed the Mirror to build out its business office, including adding a business development position and engaging with a revenue consultant. Putterman said the Mirror's $2.1 Bill Bittar Mike DeLuca Bruce Putterman Wendy Metcalfe Total number of newsroom employees in the newspaper sector Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 71,640 72,600 74,410 73,810 71,070 60,770 54,050 51,430 48,920 46,310 44,120 46,310 42,450 39,210 37,900 34,950 30,820

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