Clearing up some misconceptions

The news the other day that the New Haven Register will outsource the printing of our newspaper to the Hartford Courant, at a loss of 105 full- and part-time production jobs, understandably created a shudder throughout the region. But we’ve been getting questions from people who misunderstand what’s happening to their newspaper. So here’s the bottom line:
- The Register will still cover Greater New Haven, as always, from New Haven -- we’re not leaving the city.
- Newspaper subscribers will continue to receive their paper.
A newspaper, in a real sense, is “owned” by its community, and we know that any time we make a change, even something small like deleting a comic strip, we upset a lot of readers. So the news that we will no longer print the paper and plan to move out of our Long Wharf plant is historic. But the newspaper that is delivered to subscribers won’t change.

The glory days of print newspapers are gone and while the changes are painful to live through, that’s not likely to change. There is sadness about the layoffs. Several of the pressroom guys who are being let go have been here for decades. I was among 20 newsroom people laid off in 1990 (I

But this plant is just too big for who we are now. The only thing keeping us from looking for a smaller space is the presses. So, having the Hartford Courant print our papers frees us up to downsize. We’re not the first. As our story said the other day, papers in New London, Stamford, New Britain and Bristol are printed out of state or in Bridgeport.
But to quell another rumor:
- We are not being bought out by the Courant and we are not merging with it.

As for other concerns that have come up: Local delivery of the newspaper will not be affected. Papers will be trucked from Hartford to our subscribers, just as the Courant is. And we’ll still compete for news with the Courant. All of our news is posted online before the paper is printed, so there is n

The news industry, like many, is in the midst of a revolution, moving from printing to online. The Journal Register Co. is betting that news companies that focus on delivering the news digitally, whether on the Web, on your smartphone, or on some medium that hasn’t been thought of yet.
It’s disconcerting to be in the midst of this change, but it’s exciting too. I love learning the new tools we use to report the news. I’m sad for those who are losing their jobs, but to be honest, I won’t miss this old shirt factory much. I think it will be great to work downtown again in what I think is the best city in Connecticut.
Contact Ed: estannard@nhregister.com
Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices
Facebook: Ed Stannard-Register, Community Media Lab
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