November 13, 2008 7:45 pm

Journal Register trainwreck laying waste to Nutmeg print media.

It is fascinating, in a “you know you should look away but you can’t” sort of way, to observe the devastation that a bunch of over-leveraged, greedy punks wreak when their self-enrichment scheme goes off the rails.

Fresh off the news that the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald will soon be closed comes the news that additional layoffs will occur at what remains of the the New Haven Register, according to reports from the recently delisted media holding company.

These guys are a poster child for poor corporate conduct. Here is Connecticut Republican State Chair Chris Healy on the subject of the Journal Register Co.:

… in the mid-1990’s, the Journal Register Co., a hedge fund with no newspaper people to speak of within its ranks, came to town looking to buy a community newspaper. They had already taken over the New Haven Register. The owners of the Register, the Miller family of Pittsfield, MA, who also owned the famed Berkshire Eagle, were up against it financially and sold their most profitable paper [the Torrington Register-Citizen]. …

After assuring everyone that all would be the same, the Journal Register gutted the newsroom, closed the bureaus, pulled the Capitol reporter and cut the pages from around 48 to 24. They added a Sunday edition that was merely a pile of ads with little more than wire copy. Ad rates went up dramatically. Hey, they thought, what are these yokels going to do? It worked well for the shareholders and the corporate types at the Journal Register Co. … now even the Register Journal has hit a wall and the fire sale is on.

The long-term trends and other poor investments across the country has caught them short. Their stock, which once traded in the 40’s, is now worth a cent.

When the Chairman of the Republican Party devotes this much time and effort to over 1200 words detailing how egregiously your conduct has violated the principles of business, community, and the field you’ve invested in, you must really suck. But, you don’t care, do ya Journal Register ?

Sources: Paul Bass, New Haven Independent; Chris Healy, The Everyday Republican

Anonymous

I’ve worked for The Hour, Brooks Newspapers, the CT Post and the Danbury News-Times since 1985. And BELIEVE me, when newspaper management “assures you all will remain the same”, those are code words for “get your resume in order FAST.”

Currently I’m out of the newspaper business, having been laid off from the News-Times shortly after their 3rd new owner within 18 months took over the paper. And that has pretty much killed my newspaper career in Connecticut, since until MediaNews Group sold their newspaper holdings to Hearst a few months ago they owned every major newspaper in Fairfield County. Frankly, there are no more newspapers left to work in – unless one wants to relocate to another state or move up to Hartford.

I even went back to The Hour to see if I could wrangle my old job back, and was advised by an old coworker who is now part of management NOT to take the job. I was informed that the presses had been sold as scrap, the staff cut back, and the building would probably be going up for sale in the not too distant future. So I bailed on the job and went back into office administration, a job I dislike intensely but pays pretty well.

Sad to say, newspapers’ time appears to be over, unless their management can develop some new strategies for maintaining employee loyalty and invent new reasons why people should be advertising in them.

The Number One reason why newspapers are failing today is not the advent of computers – it’s the constantly rising price of advertising! The attitude has always been “where else are they going to go”, but here it is, fellas – they will go ANYWHERE so long as they can get an ad without paying YOUR rates. The chickens have come home to roost, and you just can’t believe it’s happening, can you???
Barnstorm

The Hour was a much better paper when it came out in the early afternoon. Ever since it became a morning paper it has gone steadily downhill. Most of the articles are cut & pasted from the internet and the local “reporters” they do use must have gotten their journalism degrees in Serbia. Why does The Advocate have much better and more timely Norwalk news than the Hour?

The Hour (motto: “Yesterday’s news first thing tomorrow”)could go out of business tomorrow and the local community would get over it pretty quickly. I sure wouldn’t pay for internet access to it if it stopped a print edition entirely.
Pluto

I have a personal grievance with the Norwalk Minute dating back more than 10 years, but I’m Irish and we don’t forgive or forget – but I hate even thinking about the idea that I couldn’t have the sensual pleasure of working my way through the weekend NY Times. I make do with the computer news during the week because of work hours, but there’s just something so SATISFYING about ripping the Times apart.
Anonymous

Hey Barnstorm, you said an interesting thing. Do you know that The Hour is the ONLY newspaper in Fairfield County that makes you PAY to “subscribe” to its online edition? If all the other newspapers in the area offer FREE websites, why should anyone have to pay to view The Hour’s website? That’s where I draw the line. I refuse to pay to read that paper online. I buy it on Sundays only, and mostly just to get the store flyers.

As for the Advocate, the reason they have better Norwalk news than The Hour is because the Advocate has a Norwalk edition – or they used to, before they vacated their West Avenue offices. It was part of their ploy to take over the area and force The Hour out of business. Didn’t work, though.
Anonymous

When you start comparing newspapers in Ct look to media coopertaion.WTNH web site highlights Ct Post,Advocate and The Greenwich times on their website along with the papers news.I know the papers are related but is WTNH also a Hearst holding?
Anonymous

Judge Kevin Carey said the company, which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and other dailies, could pay $74 million that was owed to employees before Monday’s bankruptcy petition was filed. That total includes a cap of $10,950 per person but excludes payments for health care, long-term disability, reimbursable expenses, workers compensation and retiree medical care.

Its only going to get worse some say
Anonymous

To poster #5:

I don’t believe WTNH is owned by Hearst. However, the WTNH website uses the same Topix forum board that most of the online newspapers in Connecticut use – the Advocate, the News-Times, the Greenwich Time, the CT Post, and all Brooks Newspapers use Topix.

Topix is nationwide so you might be reading a post from John Smith in Wallingford and then reading one from Jim Jones in California, both of them responding to the same story or subject.
Anonymous

The Hour has seen the light!Giving away online news just like The Advocate,they must be hurting to give anything back to the city without Moccia’s name on it.Check it out they never had so many readers online before.

Now that most of their newsroom have been let go or quit maybe its time to work with the taxpayers and not against them.Some of the old timers will be missed.
Anonymous

The Hour doesn’t “give” anything away online. They’re one of the only newspapers in Connecticut that REQUIRE you to purchase an online subscription before you can read any of their articles.

You may access the classifieds and the obituaries for free without any paid subscription, but if you want to read the articles, you have to pony up some bucks first.

The News-Times, CT Post, Advocate, Greenwich Time, and Brooks Newspapers are all online for FREE. No subscription needed. As are all of the weekly newspapers put out by Hersam/Acorn Press.

Only The Hour makes you PAY before being “allowed” to read it online.
Anonymous

The Hour is full of propaganda and yesterday’s articles from the Advocate. I quit subscribing to it 2 years ago.

It is good for wrapping fish.
Anonymous

#9 fraid to tell you but you don’t need the secret decoder ring for the moment to read headline news in the Hour on its main page.

You must realize by now most of the old timers are no longer with The Hour.

Thinks The Hour realizes Norwalk wants something new something honest something objective.

Who is the editor now can you name them?

#10 At least your fish are informed by the looks of The Advocate lately most articles come to the blog nowadays to rehash.Their reporters are known to stay the meeting at city hall and at least we get what actually went on deadline or not.