OK brain, stop spinning a minute. Online comments, Community Media Lab, public forums, live-streamed chats, Twitter, Facebook …
I'm Ed Stannard and I recently started my new job as one of the New Haven Register’s two community engagement editors, along with my colleague Angi Carter. It’s my fifth job at the Register, and one they didn’t teach me much about this way back in journalism school, since online referred to waiting for lunch in the dining hall or for tickets to a concert.
But as each new tool has come along, it’s been another way for journalists to help people tell their stories, and the digital revolution has made it so much easier and faster.
Angi and I are creating this job from the ground up, and it’s been a whirlwind, for me, of thinking of ways to bring our audience, our readers, closer to the process, to find ways to help the public let us know what is important to them and to spread the word throughout our news staff.
There have been some basics to take care of: It helps to reach our excellent news and sports staffs if you know who they are, so we’ve put up a complete directory. We’ll be expanding this with bios, photos and our Twitter and Facebook contacts as we go along.
Another part of our job is to nurture and support our Community Media Lab bloggers. They are an eclectic bunch of people who are passionate about their interests. We feature them on the nhregister.com home page and on our Facebook page.
You can find them all at nhregister.com/bloghaven, and I hope you’ll check them out and let them and us know what you think of their work.
The Community Media Lab is a big place, and we’re looking for more members. So if you or someone you know has a desire to write and share it, let us know. We’ll help you start your blog if you want us to, and if you already have one, we’ll link you to our site.
I’ve been asked what I’m most looking forward to in this job. That’s easy: Meeting and getting to know more people in the New Haven area, where I’ve lived most of my life. I love the city and the area: I grew up in West Haven and live in Branford, but work, church and many weekend events are in the city, and my roots in New Haven are on both sides of my family tree.
So please wish me luck, and let me know what you think I should be doing in this new venture. You can call me at 203-789-5743 or email me at estannard@nhregister.com. I’m also on Facebook at Ed Stannard-Register and on Twitter at EdStannardNHR.
Keep in touch!
(By the way, if the title of this post sounds familiar, congratulations! You're well-read. It's the title of one of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber's books.)