What media outlet hoists the largest digital footprint in Connecticut? Hearst Connecticut Media, owner of the Connecticut Post and a bunch of other portals. Wendy Metcalfe, vice president of content and editor-in-chief, announced the news organization will “double down” on its coverage commitment.
In recent months the organization has quietly expanded digital coverage around the state including Hartford. Now it’s planted an official flag of increased content. The future of news organizations is digital. The days of ink-stained hands holding print editions are fading. By the time news hits print, against a fast-paced interactive digital world where readers crave real-time events, it’s old news.
Here’s the full announcement from Metcalfe:
It’s about being there.
Being there when it counts. Being there when it’s difficult, when it helps, to celebrate.
Bringing you stories of vital importance, keeping you informed during a global pandemic and other major events challenging communities to the core. Going deep, uncovering issues that can be righted to the betterment of society and public good. Asking the tough questions on subjects you care about, from your neighborhood to across the state.
We are also there to capture the good. There are so many positive stories to tell in communities across Connecticut. We shine a bright light on everyday heroics, even the little things that make you smile. The camaraderie, neighborliness, the humanity.
It’s about being there–and I am pleased to share that Hearst Connecticut Media Group is about to double down on that commitment.
We’ve invested further into what is already Connecticut’s largest newsroom network as we expand into new content areas, add more stories to existing beat coverage, launch new products and continue to evolve our existing print and digital experiences.
At a time when digital subscriptions and overall subscriptions (print and digital) are growing within HCMG’s vast network of community newspapers and websites–which includes the Connecticut Post, New Haven Register, Danbury’s News-Times, Greenwich Time, Stamford Advocate, The Register Citizen, The Middletown Press, The Norwalk Hour and a number of other community publications–it’s important to us that we continue to raise the bar even higher as we deliver the very best content and reader experience for you. Not just for 2021, but for many years to come.
And that’s not all.
Tuesday marked the launch of Connecticut’s best statewide digital news source with HCMG’s all-new CTInsider.com–it will capture the very best of breaking news, investigations, data reporting, business coverage, sports and more across Connecticut.
As an existing subscriber to one of our valued community newspapers already, you will receive this content and more via your existing local news website or print product.
In addition, we’ve hired a team of reporters to further our local reporting in the Shoreline area, where we already have our long-established community newspaper, the Shoreline Times. We are excited to be broadening our reporting to more than 20 towns near the Connecticut River, including Old Saybrook, Old Lyme and Essex. This shoreline content can now be accessed via CTInsider.com/shoreline.
Our team of around 160 newsroom staff members has delivered quality journalism to your cellphone, tablet, desktop and your door rain or shine. As subscriptions have grown, so has reader loyalty. This, for us, is the ultimate testimonial for our work. We are grateful for your support, your feedback, for being part of the next chapter.
So what can you expect to see in the coming days? We are sharply increasing our enterprise coverage, in areas including investigative and data journalism–now led by former Boston Globe Spotlight team member and Pulitzer Prize winner, Matt Rocheleau.
We’re investing heavily in areas such as UConn sports, food, business, real estate and things to do. To add to our already adept team, we have added more great journalism talent in these important coverage areas.
Mike Anthony, the highly regarded sports columnist from the Hartford Courant, recently joined HCMG. He has teamed up with sports columnist Jeff Jacobs and the rest of our dedicated sports reporters, including Maggie Vanoni, who recently joined our newsroom. They will be spearheading an increased focus not just on the coverage, but new products such as the UConn sports newsletter for fans.
You may have noticed additional food stories as of late. Leeanne Griffin, who also recently joined from the Hartford Courant, is one of the foremost experts writing on food in the state. Leeanne is focusing on openings and closings, consumer trends, in-depth features of chefs and other noteworthy culinary figures, guides to the state’s best foods and much more. If there’s a place you like to eat locally, there’s a good chance she’s written about it.
We are also expanding our team driving improved digital reader experience–everything from home pages, the CTInsider app, digital interactives, graphics and more. This adept work brings the content to life in a digital environment. Our print production team has also been doubling down, leading the publication of sharply designed sections such as the award-winning Road Ahead: Life After COVID-19 and the recent Homebuyer’s Guides with everything you need to know about real estate.
Another very important focus for our newsrooms has been improving our coverage when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. Our commitment to cover diverse communities includes an increased focus on reporting about local neighborhood issues, justice and equality, social services and beyond. For example, we recently reported on how the pandemic has disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic communities and looked in-depth at issues such as health care inequities and education gaps.
In addition to our coverage, HCMG has created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, which is leading positive change both inside and outside our newsrooms and the company as a whole. Focuses include improved hiring practices to increase diversity at HCMG to broadening the sources we use in our journalism to be more inclusive and representative of the communities we serve. I am also very proud to be the executive sponsor of this important, passionate group.
Our newsrooms are always thinking about how to be better. To bring you the most important information, on the best possible platform, with the very best reader experience. We remain committed to reporting on the many stories that keep you on the edge of your seats–from education to local politics to life after the pandemic and the latest health care news. We won’t stop continuously improving what we do.
We believe deeply in delivering the quality content you can rely on. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Wendy Metcalfe is the vice president of content and editor-in-chief of Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She can be reached at Wendy.Metcalfe@hearst.com
