The birth of a newspaper

It's a little bit exciting, really

My friend and colleague Andy Thibault, an investigative reporter’s investigative reporter, is starting a newspaper in Winsted, Conn., with backing from consumer advocate icon Ralph Nader

I’m on the newspaper’s board because, well, it’s Andy, and I believe news deserts are dangerous to all living things. (If you click on that link, 225 of the country’s counties have no newspaper. None.)

Despite the odds against such a venture, Andy’s lined up a murderers’ row (I mean that in a good way) of excellent journalists and the Winsted paper will start publishing next month.

I went to the grand launch in Winsted earlier this week, at Nader’s American Museum of Tort Law and yes, there really is such a thing. In fact, it is pretty cool. If Mr. Nader was there, I didn’t see him and I have to admit I looked.

But that was fine because the point was the launch, which was something like an old-time town meeting. It felt like everyone knew everyone else and if they didn’t, they wanted to introduce themselves. I learned that one woman and her husband had moved from town to be nearer grandchildren. I learned a local church was closing and I heard the names of some really awesome local diners I will try. At first, because I’d driven an hour through traffic and had come straight from work, I was completely disinterested in sitting still, but as more people talked and more had really good suggestions for the running of this newspaper, it struck me that this is what a small town newspaper does. It connects us. It sparks conversations we need to have. I am so very hopeful about this venture. Go, Andy and crew.

You can check out the start of the online version here.