Episode description

Ellen and Dan talk with Andy Thibault, editor and publisher of the Winsted Citizen in Connecticut. The Citizen is a monthly print newspaper serving Litchfield County and the surrounding area. The only digital presence is the Winsted Citizen Blog. But that's about to change, Thibault says. He's going digital. 

Starting a news organization is never easy, but the Citizen hit a brief speed bump. A speed bump named Ralph Nader. But according to Andy, everything is moving ahead just fine.

Jack Walsh, a graduate student in Northeastern University's journalism program, joins Dan and Ellen to talk about his recent profile of the Chelsea Record,  a 150-year-old weekly paper in the small city of Chelsea, Massachusetts. You can find Jack’s story on our website, whatworks.news.

Dan has a Quick Take on Gannett. Recently, many union journalists at Gannett staged a one-day strike. Yet there are some interesting moves being made at the top of the company as well. Ellen discusses a recent poll about local news and accountability journalism. Surprisingly few  Americans believe that local news media hold public officials accountable, according to a national poll commissioned by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. This shows the devastating impact of the hollowing out of community news. And it calls into question whether local journalism is fulfilling  one of its primary missions.