The Publisher's Desk

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2010-03-23T15:20:00.001-04:00

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We need your ideas for LitchfieldCountyMom.Com

2010-03-23T09:41:00.003-04:00

We are planning a major redesign and improvement of our Web site, www.LitchfieldCountyMom.Com, to coincide in May with the conversion of our quarterly Litchfield County Mom magazine to an all-color, all-glossy format.

What kind of information and interactive tools would you like to see on this site?

Please send your thoughts to Jenny Golfin at jgolfin@registercitizen.com, or call her at 860-489-3121, ext. 357.

LATEST COLUMN: How do you say thanks for a lifetime of community service?

2010-03-23T09:39:00.000-04:00

How do you say thanks for a lifetime of community service?

Many people were kind and helpful to me when I returned to Torrington two years ago to become interim — and then “permanent” — publisher of The Register Citizen. But two people stood out in a “went-out-of-their-way-to-be-helpful” kind of way.

Bill Egan's impact

2010-03-15T14:42:00.003-04:00

I will have more about this in my column on Wednesday, but in case you missed it, longtime Northwest Connecticut United Way Executive Director Bill Egan is retiring next month.

Bill was one of the most welcoming people to me when I returned to Torrington two years ago, and has been a wonderful partner with The Register Citizen in projects such as Warm the Children and the Northwest Connecticut Diaper Drive.

He has done so much for so many people in need over the past two decades in Northwest Connecticut. He will be missed.

A familiar face rejoins The Register Citizen

2010-03-15T14:28:00.002-04:00

I am pleased to announce that Rob Pazdziorko has rejoined The Register Citizen and Foothills Media Group as advertising director.

I worked with Rob briefly while I was briefly editor of The Register Citizen back at the start of 2004. He moved on to become general manager of the Step Saver in Southington, but never left Torrington, where had been involved in Rotary and with the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.

He brings an incredible amount of knowledge about marketing and advertising to our growing operation, and an optimistic, positive attitude that is refreshing.

LATEST COLUMN: Readers aren't afraid of strong opinions on the op-ed page

2010-03-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

Readers aren't afraid of strong opinions on the op-ed page

Any manager of a local business will tell you that when a customer feels strongly enough about your product or service that they take time out of their day to call you and offer an opinion about it, you should take it seriously. And if you get multiple customers going out of their way and saying the same thing, it means that many others probably feel the same way.

LATEST COLUMN: Readers jump in to shape the news

2010-03-11T07:57:00.001-05:00

Readers jump in to shape the news

I’ve always been a “thinking out loud” kind of guy. So the light bulb turns on most often when I am talking to a reader, advertiser, community leader or member of my staff. There were several moments like that as I had the pleasure last night of appearing on “City Views,” the local access call-in program on Cablevision’s Channel 5 that Tim Driscoll has been hosting for 22 years now.

Calls running in support of Michelle Malkin column

2010-03-08T15:11:00.003-05:00

I've been getting phone calls and emails all day from readers about THIS COLUMN asking whether we should shake up our lineup of op-ed columnists.

Causing a particular stir is the suggestion by some readers that we dump Michelle Malkin.

Well, so far today the feedback has run about 11 for keeping Malkin and 3 for replacing her with a "more reasonable" conservative columnist.

Let us know what you think!

Call in to Channel 5 tomorrow to talk about The Register Citizen

2010-03-08T11:36:00.002-05:00

I will be a guest on the "City Views" call-in program on Cablevision Channel 5 tomorrow evening.

Hosted by former Torrington mayoral candidates Tim Driscoll and Sam Slaiby, the show will be on the air from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The call-in number is 860-361-9985.

Anything goes in terms of the discussion, as far as I know, so it should be fun.

I'm sure the issue of "Sound Off" and Web site comments will come up. I'm eager to see what else does!

Breaking news in a small town

2010-03-06T17:20:00.004-05:00

Some poked fun of us a bit today for this story about Torrington Mayor Ryan Bingham asking his girlfriend to marry him.

No longer orbiting around the print edition of The Register Citizen, we report news when we get it, across multiple digital platforms, including our Web site, and via email alerts (sign up on the registercitizen.com home page), Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The Bingham story showed up as "Breaking News" on our home page, just as a fatal car accident in Barkhamsted did earlier this morning and former Torrington High School standout Jordan Williams winning an ACC championship with Maryland in his first year of college basketball did a few hours after the Bingham story.

For those who think we should be this aloof arbiter of what is "important" enough to be breaking news, I've got to say, there have been more comments from readers on our Web site, on Facebook and Twitter congratulating Ryan and commenting on his wedding plans than anything else we've done today.

Why can't community journalism be personal? Shouldn't it be?

Would you dump Michelle Malkin?

2010-03-06T17:15:00.005-05:00

Today we are asking readers what they think about our lineup of opinion page columnists.

CLICK HERE to read some of the comments and offer yours.

The conversation was sparked in part by some readers' call for us to replace Michelle Malkin with a conservative columnist who is "more reasonable."

LATEST COLUMN: The value of transparency

2010-03-03T07:35:00.001-05:00

The value of transparency, from public schools to the news business
Transparency.
It sure is refreshing to see Torrington’s new school superintendent, Christopher Leone, use this principle to guide him as he aims to transform an institution mired in recent years by exclusion, isolation, finger-pointing and missteps.

Signs that the economy is turning around in Northwest Connecticut

2010-03-03T01:12:00.002-05:00

At lunch today with several folks who have a pretty good pulse on the business community in Northwest Connecticut, the consensus was that there are definite signs of a pickup in the local economy.
Job creation will have to precede any significant rebound in real estate and other areas, they said, and several local manufacturers have started hiring again.
One sign of an impending or in-progress recovery is that local temp agencies have started to get busy again. That could mean that employers are easing back into job creation, with the next step being addition of permanent staff jobs.
At The Register Citizen, we have seen an encouraging uptick in help wanted advertising.
You can follow the latest job openings in Northwest Connecticut at http://jobs.registercitizen.com or follow them as they are posted on Twitter at www.twitter.com/northwestCTjobs.

LATEST COLUMN: How newspaper ads protect the public's right to know

2010-03-02T21:28:00.001-05:00

How newspaper ads protect the public's right to know

All kinds of local government decisions can affect your quality of life and your pocketbook. If a cell tower is built between your back porch and the rural scenery on the horizon, the value of your property can go down. And that, literally, could mean that you have less money to live on in retirement. ... State law requires that you get a heads up about decisions like this before they are made, so that you have the opportunity to influence them. That comes in the form of paid legal advertisements in a “newspaper of general circulation in the community.”

Move Your Money movement celebrates community banks

2010-02-17T15:31:00.002-05:00

Residents and small business owners in Northwest Connecticut have known for a long time the value of our local community banks.

Now there is a nationwide movement urging people to support community banks by switching their deposits from mega-banks such as Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo.

"...since April, JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo -- all of which took billions in taxpayer money -- have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion," Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson said in a column announcing the Web site www.moveyourmoney.info, which helps consumers search for community banking options.

No searching necessary here ... If you're down with this concept, consider supporting Torrington Savings Bank, Northwest Community Bank, Litchfield Bancorp or First National Bank of Litchfield, and in the Farmington Valley, Collinsville Savings Society, Simsbury Bank and Farmington Savings Bank.

And don't forget the credit union option - a very good one - including Northwest Hills Credit Union, Torrington Municipal Teachers and Federal Credit Union and Hartford Federal Credit Union.

With each of these local financial institutions, you can have confidence that money stays local and is reinvested in the community.

And if you have a problem, you can know that the top decision makers are accessible. They are your neighbors. They are involved in community organizations and serve on local boards.

The whole concept of "Move Your Money" is at the very least an opportunity to be grateful for what we have in this region in terms of solid community banks.

Follow local job postings on Twitter

2010-02-15T12:53:00.002-05:00

I'm excited to tell you that we've made it a lot easier to keep up with local job openings.

Our partnership with Yahoo! Hot Jobs provides local employers with the best local presence in Northwest Connecticut as well as extended reach through Yahoo's national network.

Now every local job that we put on our RegisterCitizen.Com and Yahoo! partnered Web site will be "tweeted" on Twitter at www.twitter.com/northwestCTjobs.

If you are using Twitter, this is a natural for you ... become a follower today.

If you are not on Twitter, you can still go to our direct Twitter page at any time and keep up with the latest postings.

And, of course, you can still go to http://jobs.registercitizen.com at any time and enjoy all the benfits there, such as searching for the type of job, the region and the pay range you are seeking.

And don't forget. You can upload your resume at our page by CLICKING HERE. Potential employers in Northwest Connecticut and the Farmington Valley are searching those resumes to recruit their future employees.

What I learned from readers yesterday

2010-02-09T09:01:00.006-05:00

I had an interesting and informative exchange with readers yesterday on RegisterCitizen.Com. CLICK HERE to see the whole thing.

We received many good story ideas, and thoughts on aspects of the news, in general, on which our reporters and editors should focus.

But we also got some great questions and feedback about the operation of RegisterCitizen.Com and The Register Citizen.

Reporting suggestions included:

* More specifics about what the Winsted police focus on, from drivers using cell phones to speeding in particular neighborhoods.

* Go beyond the statistics for unemployment and provide an in-depth analysis of what it is like to be looking for a job in Northwest Connecticut and the impact that is having on some families.

* Provide a more in-depth analysis and continue to follow the issue of sex offenders living in particular neighborhoods and near schoolchildren.

* Further examine the heroin problem in Torrington and how it has led to crime and overdoses.

* Stay on top of and examine the unfolding changes in the Winsted school system, as parents are very concerned about what is happening.

Feedback about our news gathering and policies included:

* Loud and clear, spelling and grammar mistakes were the #1 thing mentioned as a problem.

* The second biggest concern was how to clean up some of the nasty and/or abusive comments that make it into Sound Off and story comments online. Some suggested requiring that readers go through a registration process before being allowed to comment.

* Others said they'd like to see less emphasis/space devoted to national news.

* A reader questioned why we get beat sometimes by the competing daily newspaper out of Waterbury. The choice of a new assistant school superintendent in Torrington was cited.

* Support was expressed for our new emphasis on reporting every news story on RegisterCitizen.Com first, as soon as we've confirmed it. And in this new environment, impatience was expressed over being an hour later than other news sources yesterday morning, for example, to report that a Goshen man had died from injuries in a car accident the night before.

* Concern was expressed over the price of paid obituaries.

* Concern was expressed over the perception of bias in some of our crime reporting, where the accused is treated in stories as though they are guilty. Concern was also expressed

* Support was expressed for our weekly newspaper, "Good News About Torrington," and for reporting more positive news and human interest stories in The Register Citizen.

* Concern was expressed that sexual abuse stories include too many details, which are harmful to victims and families and not appropriate for young readers.

* Concern was expressed over how Web site moderators decide which comments to remove and which comments to leave up on the site.

* The suggestion was made to open the pages of The Register Citizen and space on RegisterCitizen.Com to more "citizen journalism."

* A question was raised about whether police blotter items should remain online indefinitely when in some cases the original charges end up being dropped.

* A reader suggested having an online listing of local movie theater times.

See the original article for some of my responses. Stay tuned for follow-up on many of these other great suggestions and ideas.

Podcast of my interview for course at Northwestern Connecticut Community College on changes in local media

2010-02-08T15:00:00.002-05:00

I had the opportunity recently to record a Podcast interview with Dr. Steven Minkler for his class on mass media at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.

We discussed the role of local media and how it is changing, particularly how a traditional newspaper business such as The Register Citizen is transforming into a multimedia company.

Click below to listen.

Unit_04_DeRienzo.mp3

A Twitter feed for every need

2010-01-28T12:15:00.004-05:00

If you are on Twitter, or have been thinking about it, we have you covered in terms of local news and information.

Foothills Media Group, including The Register Citizen, Foothills Trader and weekly newspapers, quarterly magazines and Web sites, has the following feeds running on Twitter. Click on the links below to start following them for links to breaking news stories as well as exclusive updates on local news and information that aren't available anywhere else.

The Register Citizen

www.twitter.com/registercitizen

Register Citizen Sports

www.twitter.com/nwctsports

Foothills Trader

www.twitter.com/shopfoothills

Litchfield County Mom

www.twitter.com/litchfieldmom

The Litchfield News

www.twitter.com/litchfieldweb

The Avon News

www.twitter.com/theavonnews

The Canton News

www.twitter.com/thecantonnews

The Granby News

www.twitter.com/thegranbynews

The Simsbury News

www.twitter.com/thesimsburynews

A Note To Readers

2010-01-04T11:11:00.001-05:00

Jan. 1, 2010

To Our Readers:

On behalf of our entire team here at The Register Citizen, we hope that you have had a happy holiday season and we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

We are happy to be producing a newspaper for you at the start of 2010 that is much improved compared to the start of 2009, and we hope you’ll agree that is the case.

At the same time, we see many areas, every day, where we can and will do a better job. We share your frustration with spelling, grammar and proofreading errors. And we’ve seen far too many missed opportunities to go deeper into a local news story and leave fewer questions unanswered.

Over the past year, we have again expanded local news and local sports content, particularly in our Sunday paper, and added new features such as locally themed crossword puzzles and word searches every day.

No longer are we presenting the news only once a day, and only on newsprint. You can get breaking news at all hours at www.registercitizen.com. You can even sign up to receive daily headlines and breaking local news alerts by email.

And readers of The Register Citizen have turned to the story commenting function of our Web site in droves, 24/7, to participate in “Sound Off” and debate the issues of the day with each other.

In 2010, expect to see our online presence continue to grow, with an expansion of local breaking news alerts and the launch of local news videos.

Our commitment to improving the print edition of The Register Citizen is stronger than ever, and we are eager to hear from you about what is wrong, what is right, what is missing. Our editor, Jordan Fenster, can be reached at jfenster@registercitizen.com or 860-489-3121, ext. 333. Our managing editor, Liz Strillacci, can be reached at estrillacci@registercitizen.com, or 860-489-3121, ext. 334.

We also recognize that none of this is of use to you if you are not getting your copy of the newspaper on time, and where you want it. Or if dealing with your bill or requesting a vacation stop is so aggravating that you don’t want to pick up the phone. If you ever have trouble resolving a problem with your delivery or your bill, please don’t hesitate to contact our circulation director, Timothy Lee, directly at 860-489-3121, ext. 370.

And as always, please feel free to contact me directly with any question, problem or suggestion relating to your newspaper and how we can do a better job serving you.

Matt DeRienzo

Publisher, The Register Citizen

mderienzo@registercitizen.com

860-489-3121, ext. 350

Interactive calendars offer self-service publicity for community events

2009-12-21T19:06:00.003-05:00

Do you or your organization, church or club have a community event that needs publicity?

Our recent expansion of the online presence for our weekly newspapers, Good News About Torrington, the Thomaston Express, The Granby News, The Avon News, The Canton News and The Simsbury News, makes it easier than ever to spread the word, and to a wider audience in Northwest Connecticut and the Farmington Valley.

Our new Web sites have an interactive, self-service community events calendar. All you have to do is CLICK HERE and enter all of the information for your event, including time, date, contact number and any details you want to provide. You can even upload a photo to go with it.

The service is completely free, and in the process of adding your event to our online calendar, the editors of The Register Citizen and our weekly newspapers will be notified automatically so they can include your event in upcoming print editions of our newspapers as well.

And if you are a fan of The Foothills Trader, you should know that it has a new Web site, too, and its own interactive calendar. CLICK HERE to submit events to the Foothills online calendar for an audience that extends from Salisbury to Watertown and from Sharon to Simsbury.

New name reflects evolution of local media

2009-11-30T08:13:00.002-05:00

The front page of this morning’s Register Citizen includes the announcement of a new name for the local organization – of which I serve as publisher – that publishes this newspaper and others in Northwest Connecticut and the Farmington Valley. (CLICK HERE for story.)

What does this mean for the average reader of The Register Citizen? In terms of changes to how the paper is run or what it contains, nothing, really. We continue to look for ways all the time to expand the amount and quality of local news and local sports content that we provide to readers seven mornings a week in print and 24/7 online.

The christening of “Foothills Media Group” is, however, a reflection of how we’ve adapted to changes in technology, changes in readers’ habits and lifestyles, and the changes our advertisers have had to make to adjust to both of those things.

Here’s an example of how quickly we have changed to adapt to these trends. Barely two years ago, we needed no local corporate “name.” We were The Register Citizen and the Foothills Trader. That’s it.

We saw a need and opportunity to help advertisers reach every home in Torrington – and a void in “positive” community news – and so we launched the weekly Good News About Torrington.

Then we took over management of the Thomaston Express, a weekly newspaper with decades of history in providing local news coverage for that town. It was a great fit for us, on the edge of The Register Citizen’s coverage area and also complementing the reach of the Foothills Trader.

As the Hartford Courant cut back significantly on local news coverage, and we noticed how well the weekly newspaper model was serving both readers and advertisers, we stepped up to launch The Granby News, which is mailed to every home in Granby and East Granby and ended up filling a huge void in local coverage in those communities.

In the meantime, RegisterCitizen.Com was re-launched, exploded in popularity and extended the daily newspaper’s household penetration in Northwest Connecticut far beyond the daily print edition and in a more dynamic, targeted format.

We partnered with the #1-trafficked Web site in the country, Yahoo!, for employment advertising and for the sale of Yahoo! home page advertising targeted directly to local Web site visitors and their viewing and spending habits.

We expanded into glossy-cover magazines, such as the twice-a-year events guide “Every Town Has a Green,” that offer readers and advertisers more shelf life than the daily newspaper.

We started offering advertisers full-color commercial printing and zip code-targeted delivery of glossy advertising fliers, at a fraction of the cost they would otherwise pay for postage alone.

And we found unique ways – such as LitchfieldCountyMom.Com and the quarterly magazine that accompanies it – to serve key demographics within our community with targeted formats that were unprecedented in this area.

Today we are announcing the launch of three new weekly newspapers – in the growing, under-served Farmington Valley towns of Canton, Avon and Simsbury. CLICK HERE for story.

In the coming weeks, we will be unveiling a dynamic online presence for these new weeklies and our existing ones. And we’ll be launching FoothillsTrader.Com, extending our popular regional shopper brand onto the Web.

That’s why, in a nutshell, that “The Register Citizen and the Foothills Trader” doesn’t come close anymore to describing everything we do here to blanket Northwest Connecticut and the Farmington Valley with local news, information and a range of option for advertisers.

Welcome to “Foothills Media Group.”

Matt DeRienzo is publisher of The Register Citizen. He can be reached at 860-489-3121, ext. 350, or by email at mderienzo@registercitizen.com. For more, read his blog at www.registercitizen.com/blogs.

Register Citizen welcomes new department heads

2009-11-12T13:05:00.002-05:00

We've made some important changes and additions to the leadership team at The Register Citizen and its sister publications.

CLICK HERE to read more.

LATEST COLUMN: How are we doing? Well, thanks for asking

2009-11-12T13:04:00.000-05:00

How are we doing? Well, thanks for asking
If I had a dollar for every casual conversation these days that starts with or turns to the woes of the newspaper industry, I’d have enough money to, well, buy a few dozen friends a subscription, at least.

Offspring

2009-08-26T19:59:00.004-04:00

On a personal note, I am pleased to announce an addition to my family.

Cash Reto DeRienzo was born at 11:49 a.m. yesterday, in the car on the way to New Milford Hospital!

He weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19.25 inches long. He joins a very excited sister, Marley, age 2 1/2.

I will be taking a few days off from my duties as publisher to enjoy my new son.