Old Press building sold... sort of

The old Bristol Press building

A land sale of $1,050,000 last week appeared on its face to show that the old Bristol Press building at 99 Main St. had changed hands. The Journal Register Co., the paper's former owner, sold it to something called 99 Main St. LLC. But it turns out that 99 Main St. LLC is headquartered in New York City at 5 Hanover Square on the 25th floor, which happens to be the same address as Digital First Media, a company that owns the JRC. So it was just a paper transaction of some sort, perhaps related to the JRC's recent escape from bankruptcy proceedings.

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Watch documentary about Press online

Want to watch the Emmy-awarding documentary that focused much attention on the near demise of The Bristol Press? It's online here.Warning: it contains a lot of me talking on camera.
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Don't forget to watch TV tonight

You can see a well-crafted, interesting and enlightening documentary on the Bristol Press and the fate of newspapers for one hour on CPTV at 8 p.m. (it airs again at 10 p.m. Friday).
Watch it and you'll see my editor, Bill Sarno; my wife, Jackie Majerus; City Planner Alan Weiner; Chris Bailey from the American Clock and Watch Museum; state Rep. Frank Nicastro; me and a cast of thousands, including cameo appearances by the city assessor and his staff, some familar Korean War vets and even former Mayor Bill Stortz.
I met a guy who put me to music. And another who edited out my ums and ahs.
These are strange times.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Not goners yet!

Thanks to YourCT.com for the write-up about our surprising success in saving the Press a year ago.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

I'm never going to be a star

Here's my conclusion after watching myself on the big screen at the Mark Twain House's auditorium last night: It's a good thing I never dreamed of hitting it big in Hollywood.

But I give the makers of "On Deadline: Is Time Running Out for the Press?" credit for making all of the people I knew in the CPTV documentary look better and sound more eloquent than they usually are in real life. Filmmakers John and Rosemary O'Neill certainly did that for me.

Anybody who cares about The Bristol Press should make sure to watch this solid, interesting and professional hour-long special on Connecticut Public Television this week. It airs at 8 p.m. Thursday and again at 10 p.m. Friday.

The panel discussion about the future of newspapers and news outlets that followed the documentary last night, which included both the Press owner, Michael Schroeder, and me, wasn't bad either. I think you can hear highlights from it on WNPR's always excellent "Where We Live" radio program at 9 a.m. Thursday.

I am sure that time is not running out for the press, or the Press, but what the future will bring, I have no idea. The days of newsprint are, clearly, drawing to a close, whether it's two years from now or 10. But that doesn't signal the demise of the press because I'm equally sure we'll be pushing ever more news online and searching out ways to get our work to readers however they want to receive it. 

There's still this touchy issue of how we get paid, of course, but that will ultimately get sorted out. As I've said lots of times, we're in a time of rapid change. The trick is to survive the rocky period so that we can share in whatever the future brings.

For Bristol, that's what important.

And I'm so glad that the efforts we made to keep this newspaper alive in its darkest days made it possible for it to survive, if not yet to thrive. 

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

A look back on the effort to save the Press

With a new CPTV documentary airing this week, I've been thinking quite a bit about those strange couple of months at the end of 2008 when it appeared The Bristol Press might close down forever. The documentary captured some of that on film, though it wound up focusing more on the future of newspapers since, of course, the Press remains open.
We beat on a lot of drums in November and December of 2008 in the hope that by creating a stir, a buyer for The Bristol Press might emerge. That the strategy actually worked is still kind of astounding to me. Michael Schroeder, who bought the paper (and the New Britain Herald, too), entered the picture because he read Dan Barry's brilliant piece about our plight in The New York Times -- a piece that got written because of all the attention we stirred up in Connecticut, Barry's old stomping ground.
A key part of what happened was the effort we made to get state officials involved -- the so-called "newspaper bailout" bid that was never anything like it got portrayed. But we (reporters Jackie Majerus, Adam Benson and yours truly) really couldn't stop the bailout focus -- though we tried. Even so, maybe it was just as well because it helped spread the story across the globe, which meant that it came to the attention of more people.
One thing that we never said at the time was that I wrote a memorandum to the state's commissioner of economic development that became a sort of blueprint for what the state tried to do to help. When state officials and legislators met behind closed doors, they read it -- and acted on it, too, to my great joy. The memo had to be secret then because I ripped into the company that was still paying my salary.
Now, though, there's no reason not to share it, because the memo does capture the truth of what was going on. I'm not sure that journalists would generally agree that writing secret memos to state leaders is fine, but I would counter that watching helplessly as an evil company shutters 13 newspapers surely isn't fine either. So we did what we did. And I think the results make it pretty clear that it was the right thing to do.
I really have no doubt the Press and the Herald would not have survived if we'd just gone along doing nothing more than our daily quota of community journalism.
Anyway, here's the memo:
December 4, 2008
Memorandum about the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald

To:  Joan McDonald, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development

From: Steve Collins, Bristol Press reporter

Subject:  What you can do to help preserve Central Connecticut’s newspapers

Let’s say the most important thing right up front: We don’t want a bailout.

What we want instead is the assistance of the many astute development officials in the state government to help identify potential buyers for these papers and to pinpoint what existing programs and policies might prove beneficial to a new owner.

Without that helping hand, there is a good chance that two important dailies and 11 weeklies in Central Connecticut will close on Jan. 12, leaving a number of communities without any source of news, putting more than 100 employees on unemployment and undercutting any number of local businesses that depend in part on the newspapers.

The background on this issue is straightforward. In the mid-1990s, the Journal Register Co. bought The Bristol Press, The Herald in New Britain and a number of weekly newspapers in Central Connecticut. At the time, most of them were profitable to a degree almost unimaginable today. After 14 years of JRC ownership, all of the papers are struggling and most of them are losing money, or so we’re told.

Let’s address the reason why the papers are struggling, because that is the root of the business criteria that must drive what you do now.  The JRC’s former management believed that by paring expenses at every opportunity, it could maximize profits. But what happened instead is that almost every step the company took to raise profits instead drove away both readers and advertisers, from switching its dailies to morning delivery to dumping the traditional broadsheet design in favor of a tabloid style. It added a Sunday paper, The Herald Press, without adding any staff at all to give it substance, serving merely to weaken every one of its papers every day. Those of us who worked in the trenches saw calamity after calamity, with everything from customer service to circulation slashed in misguided, nonsensical attempts to turn things around.  It’s taken 14 years at The Bristol Press, but the results of the company’s experiment are clear: Eventually, cutting service and ignoring customers leads to losses rather than profits.

Now we hear daily that people can’t get their paper delivered at home, can’t get their letters to the editor printed, can’t get their church or group announcements into print, can’t get even get their advertisements done right. The management of these papers has created a system so inept that many of the things newspapers have always done, from editorials to fire calls, have simply fallen by the wayside.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We know that the halcyon days of newspapers are gone, perhaps forever, but they can still make money while performing a crucial public function. There is no reason to shut their doors, fire 100+ workers and turn off the lights.

What’s needed to turn them around? Nothing more than a chance to let employees do their jobs under management whose aim is to respond to the public, treat workers with respect and take seriously its role as guardians of the First Amendment. Treat the community as a partner and it will be. Treat it as a place for plunder, as the JRC did for years, and the trust that is the linchpin of a successful paper is undermined.

I was lucky enough to get to know a great old newspaper publisher, Bart Barnes, during his last years.  I know that his success went far beyond making some good money for The Bristol Press. He championed Freedom of Information in Connecticut. He pushed for Bristol to get good roads, good schools, new development and so much more. He was an active, interested participant in almost everything that happened in his hometown and in the newspaper world for well over half a century. But Bart was not just a crusader, not just a businessman. He was also a journalist. I remember how proud he was that his story of what happened in Bristol during the 1955 Flood made it onto the national Associated Press wire, even if they mistakenly attributed the piece to his brother. He cared about the news. His successors at the JRC don’t even know what news is all about.

Perhaps the era of Bart Barnes is gone, but the paper he shepherded is not. The JRC’s former management tried in so many different ways to undermine it that it’s a little hard to believe the Press remains alive and still relatively vibrant for something that is a shadow of what it should be. We still serve as a watchdog, still deliver hard-hitting and important stories, still make sure that what’s important to Bristol is in the paper. The Press is, despite the company’s efforts, not dead and it’s not a trifle from the past that can be tossed aside.  Don’t let the JRC, which did so much to wound this valuable community institution, turn around now and kill it.

What can you do?

To begin with, get involved.  Talk to the JRC’s executives today who are perhaps trying to make the best of the terrible situation they inherited. Talk to the broker in New Mexico who’s trying to sell the paper. Look at the books with a steely eye and see if the numbers presented for the papers that are slated to close – and those that might remain open – actually show the dire situation claimed by management. Consider that newsprint, the most costly part of a paper, is likely going to come down in price quickly in the coming year, helping to cushion the blow of a recession that’s been especially hard on America’s newspapers. And then go out and see if you can find potential buyers because the JRC is unlikely to be doing anything much to round them up on its own. It’s barely afloat at all given its huge debts. Talk to community leaders who might be interested in the role Bart once held. Talk to competing newspapers that remain true to their ideals, such as the Journal Inquirer, the Record-Journal or the Republican-American. Talk to newspaper companies such as Hearst, Tribune and Gannett. Talk to the paper’s own employees and see if perhaps a nonprofit or an employee-owned enterprise could be created to keep them alive. Search for a buyer wherever you can because jobs are at stake, yes, but also because the very soul of our communities is at risk.

Scour the existing programs that Connecticut, Bristol and New Britain can offer to potential buyers, the sorts of incentives and tax breaks that businesses are routinely allowed in order to create or preserve good jobs here. Find the ones that might matter, the programs that might induce a wary buyer to take the chance. This isn’t charity or a bailout. It’s what Connecticut does for businesses that want to be here rather than somewhere else, or simply gone.

I recognize that in speaking so candidly, I’m sticking my neck out, and everything I’ve seen from the JRC for years makes me wonder if I’ll still be around to collect the pathetic little severance package promised to workers who remain on Jan. 12. But this isn’t about what’s best for me. It’s about saving something integral to the functioning of a large region of our state, not just preserving two daily papers and 11 weeklies that are crucial parts of their communities, but pumping life back into them – and partly through that effort, pumping life back into places that face a dire future without a paper to rally them to greater heights.

The Bristol Press, The Herald in New Britain and these weeklies deserve better than to be struck down by a company that drained them for years and now wants to discard them. With assistance, they can be what they always were: the voice of the people, the conscience of the community, the sounding board for cranks and kingpins, the preserver of our history, the path to our future, the most crucial element of our democracy.

This effort isn’t just about lending a hand to some little papers that are easily overlooked in the mad rush of day-to-day living. It’s about securing a path for the flow of information that government and society depends on. And while the Press, the Herald and the weeklies may be the first targeted for closure, they won’t be the last unless we collectively find a way to keep this valuable gift from our ancestors thriving.

Connecticut, where America’s oldest continually operating newspaper is still pumping out pages, should not now be the spot where American journalism begins to die.

We don’t need a bailout to remain in business. We don’t need the taxpayers’ money. We only need a helping hand and some hard work from the people we pay to do just this for us.

I’m not alone in saying thank you for anything you can do, for the papers, their towns and the people of Connecticut.

Note:  There are many stories and links on my Bristol Blog at www.bristoltoday.com that go into many of the issues involved in much greater detail. Here are a few worth noting:

Rell, Blumenthal agree on need to save the Press (Bristol Press story)

City leaders vow to fight to save the Press (Bristol Press story)

The city needs its newspaper, community leaders say (Bristol Press story)

… And on the subject of the Herald (The New Britain Progressive)

Saving the hometown dailies (New Britain Community News)

Newspaper Funerals are the Worst (Chris Healy)

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

"On Deadline" panel at Twain House features Bristol Press

Press release from the Mark Twain House:

FILM SCREENING, PANEL OF JOURNALISTS AT THE MARK TWAIN HOUSE & MUSEUM FOCUSES ON THE FUTURE OF NEWSPRINT JOURNALISM
“The Death of My News May Be Greatly Exaggerated,” a Collaboration with Connecticut Public Broadcasting-CPN/WNPR, Includes Screening of Important New Documentary, On Deadline: Is Time Running Out for the Press? Panel Discussion Follows with Key Local Media Figures
 “I tell you I have been in the editorial business going on fourteen years, and it is the first time I ever heard of a man's having to know anything in order to edit a newspaper,” Mark Twain wrote in his immortal essay “How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once.”
Nowadays, editors do need to know something, and one of those things is the way newspapers must cope with declining readership and advertising – and how to get the same quality news onto the Internet somewhere, distinguish it from the general run of Internet rubbish, and above all, pay for it to be written, photographed or videotaped, designed and produced.
The Mark Twain House & Museum is collaborating with Connecticut Public Television and WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio on Tuesday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m., for a two-hour event, “The Death of My News Is Greatly Exaggerated.” It includes a screening of a critical new documentary on the future of newspapers by John and Rosemary Keogh O’Neill, On Deadline: Is Time Running Out for the Press? followed by a panel discussion led by WNPR's John Dankosky along with key players in this changing trade.
Tickets are $15 ($10 for Mark Twain House & Museum and CPTV and WNPR members) and can be purchased by calling 860-280-3130.
On Deadline focuses on the near-demise of the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald two years ago, with an update to the present story, along with interviews with key figures of the news business, many of whom have brought news coverage online in serious, thoughtful and sustainable ways.
Participants on the panel, some of whom are important players in the documentary, include:

--Michael Schroeder, Editor and Publisher of The New Britain Herald and The Bristol Press, whose intervention in 2008 helped rescue those papers;

--Steve Collins, Staff Writer, The Bristol Press, who helped beat the drum for the newspaper’s plight in the Bristol community;

--Naedine Hazell, Editor, The Hartford Courant, which has been trying an unusual fusion of newspaper, television and online news presentation;  

--Christine Stuart, Editor/Owner, CTNewsJunkie.com., which for the past four years has been covering the state government and other events like a blanket;

--Mark Pazniokas, Capitol Bureau Chief, CTMirror.org., the star state reporter who has developed this new news website with fellow ex-Courant hands Mike Regan, Bob Frahm and others.

On Deadline will be aired on CPTV on Thursday, March 4, at 8:00 p.m. (with a repeat on Friday, March 5, at 10:00 p.m.).  

The event is one in the museum’s continuing series of Mark Twain 2010 Centennial Celebration events . The Hartford Financial Group, Inc., is the Mark Twain House & Museum’s Centennial Sponsor.

The Mark Twain House & Museum has restored the author’s Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works during the years he lived there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.  In addition to providing tours of Twain’s restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and educational programs that illuminate Twain’s literary legacy and provide information about his life and times. The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Sunday, noon-5:30 p.m.  For more information, call 860-247-0998 or visit www.marktwainhouse.org. Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are made possible in part by support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Chamber disappointed in Press busway editorial

Statement from Mike Nicastro, head of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce:
As the executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce I have to state how disappointed the Chamber was this morning to see the Bristol Press editorial staff endorsing a Busway project that is out of control with costs and will provide no tangible benefit to Bristol or any of the communities that make up the Central Connecticut Chambers.  Since saving the Press and Herald from the “mouth” of bankruptcy the paper’s management has repeatedly told the Chamber that they were going to “completely change the newspaper” and that coverage of Bristol and the Bristol region would be better than ever.  Evidence of this change has been minimal at best.  The Busway issue provided maybe the greatest opportunity for a breakout from the status quo and leap into a new day.  The Press editorial board missed the opportunity.  They could have worked hand in hand with the two largest communities of Bristol and New Britain to push our federal leaders to adapt to the changing environment and work with us to evolve the limited and costly Busway project into transit solution that could service hundreds of thousands of residents providing a bidirectional rail solution to New York and Hartford with the potential in future to service Bradley International and Boston.  Instead they chose to protect that status quo.  Instead of demanding to know why this project is in reality a 60/40 (new federal money/state) split and not the 80/20 that we have been told all along that it was they stayed silent.  Instead of leading, they chose to follow.   If we are going to change the future of our region we need to be happily accused of being “dreamers” and we need to fight to reverse ridiculous bureaucracy that works to force through bad ideas simply because they’re “too far along.”   We have to work by the adage that “good enough is not good enough.”  This was the opportunity to make that statement and they just plain missed it.  

Michael D. Nicastro

President & Chief Executive Officer

Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce/

Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Press editorial: Do the busway

The Press has an editorial today detailing the argument for moving forward with the busway. Please be aware that I have exactly nothing to do with what stances my paper takes on its editorial page.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Documentary featuring Bristol Press to air on CPTV next month

FILM SCREENING, PANEL OF JOURNALISTS AT THE MARK TWAIN HOUSE & MUSEUM FOCUSES ON THE FUTURE OF THE PRESS

“The Death of My News May Be Exaggerated,” a Collaboration with Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Includes Screening of Important New Documentary, On Deadline; Panel Discussion Follows with Key Local Media Figures

WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford

Join The Mark Twain House & Museum and Connecticut Public Broadcasting for a screening of a critical new documentary on the future of newspapers by John and Rosemary Keogh O’Neill, On Deadline: Is Time Running Out For The Press? followed by a panel discussion led by WNPR's John Dankosky with some of those involved in this changing trade.

Participants will be:

Michael Schroeder, Editor and Publisher, The New Britain Herald and The Bristol Press

Steve Collins, Staff Writer, The Bristol Press

Naedine Hazell, Editor, The Hartford Courant

Christine Stuart, Editor/Owner, CTNewsJunkie.com.

Mark Pazniokas, Capitol Bureau Chief, CTMirror.org

TICKET PRICES: Tickets are $15 ($10 for Mark Twain House & Museum and CPTV members) and can be purchased by calling 860-280-3130.

(On Deadline runs on CPTV Thursday March 4 at 8  p.m. with a repeat on Friday March 5 at 10 p.m.) 

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

25 years ago today

City historian Bob Montgomery just told us that 25 years ago today, the Barnes family announced it was selling The Bristol Press. That's a sad day in Bristol history.
Though corporate owners did right by the paper at first, it went into a free fall after the 1994 purchase of the then-thriving daily by a company I don't want to name or remember. Thank God we're done with them, after Mike Schroeder bought us a  year ago.
Though this remains a perilous time for any newspaper, at least we're still alive and still have hope that the world ahead still has room for this little paper's coverage of the town it has served since 1871.
Even so, I miss Bart Barnes.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol in 2035

We're working on a project about what Bristol might be like in 2035 -- a quarter century down the road.

Now, of course, Bristol could be a smoldering ruin by then. Or it could be like something out of 'The Jetsons.' But what we're really looking for what's likely to happen and what should happen.

What's Bristol going to be like? Let's see if a consensus exists.

I've set up a new website HERE that will house this little project. I hope that some of you will contribute your ideas there.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

"New Bristolville"

You might want to catch this column by our executive editor.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Documentary film about Bristol Press nearing completion

Last winter, when it appeared The Bristol Press would close, some documentary filmmakers began producing piece for CT Public Television about the demise of the paper. Focusing on the Press, it aimed to tell the larger story of the industry's troubles, and what they mean for cities like Bristol.
Other than making the hideous mistake of putting me on camera -- which good editing could still solve - they seem to have done quite well. You can see some clips here.
The producers are interested in finding potential funders so if you've got some cash sitting around that you can afford to give away -- and you don't feel like giving it to me - then this could be a nice thing to support.
Drop me a line if you're interested in helping them and I'll get you in touch.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Senior wellness clinic

Anyone who doubts the power of the press, or questions whether Bristol needs a newspaper, should look at what happened when Bristol Hospital decided to shut down the wellness clinic at the Beals Senior-Community Center.
By focusing attention on the story, the Bristol Press clearly showed both hospital and city leaders why keeping the clinic open mattered to so many struggling seniors -- and because of that they found a way to save it.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Foreclosures, anyone?

I have to write a story about foreclosures in Bristol -- thanks, boss -- so I'm eager to hear from anyone who is struggling to hang on to their home or willing to tell me about what it was like to lose one to the bank or the city because you couldn't keep up the payments. If you've got an interesting angle on the issue, let me know! scollins@bristolpress.com

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

The Courant's slipping standards made clear

Let’s take a look at the evolution of a story that appeared in today’s print edition of The Hartford Courant, a once proud newspaper that apparently has thrown journalistic standards to the wind.

To begin with, take a look at Bristol Press reporter Jackie Majerus’ July 21 story.

BRISTOL — The city’s plan to spruce up Main Street is delayed at least another month..

The Bristol Development Authority’s streetscape project, which will add decorative enhancements like brick pavers, street trees, benches and lighting, is slated to extend along the east side of Main Street from Riverside Avenue to Center Street.

On the west side of Main Street, there won’t be any changes until past the railroad track at the edge of the city-owned former mall property, where some improvements are slated.

The project is supposed to mirror the work the BDA oversaw on North Main Street few years ago, but the non-profit board that oversees the 17-acre, former mall property hasn’t signed off on it yet, temporarily halting the streetscape project and possibly jeopardizing the state funding to pay for it.

The BDA expects the state to pay $1.5 million toward the work and the city to pick up the rest of the tab, about $250,000, but if the work isn’t started soon, the state might withdraw the money, according to Jonathan Rosenthal, executive director of the BDA.

The problem is that state funds for downtown projects are now pooled, which means that not only the BDA, but the mall site overseers, the Bristol Downtown Development Corp., must also endorse projects and expenditures.

But some on the BDDC board — most notably, Jennifer Janelle — weren’t ready to give the go-ahead.

Because the BDDC just selected a firm to do a parking study, Janelle said, it only makes sense to let them do the work before the streetscape project that involves parking along the former mall property gets under way.

"Let’s give them the opportunity," said Janelle. She said the city could move ahead with signing contracts for the streetscape while the parking study is under way.

The study may end up recommending parking meters, pay stations or other things, said Janelle, that could impact the streetscape. The streetscape can wait a little longer to get the input from the parking specialists at Tighe & Bond, the company doing the study, she said.

City Councilor Ken Cockayne, who is the council liaison to the board and doesn’t have a vote, strongly opposed the streetscape.

By doing the work on Main Street, Cockayne said, the city would take away parking spots that are needed now. He also charged that the project is wasteful.

"We’re spending money because we have it," and it is important to do the parking study first, said Cocknye. But John Lodovico, a BDDC member, said he spoke with some of the business operators along Main Street and found they were unconcerned about the expected loss of two parking spaces under the streetscape plan.

Dick Harrall, the executive director of the BDDC, said the parking study would probably not get into the kind of detail on the east side of Main Street that the streetscape plan does.

Both Harrall and BDDC Chairman Frank Johnson said any new developer will have to take the parking needs of Main Street merchants into account when planning the use of the 17 acres.

Rosenthal agreed, saying the parking study will delve into areas behind buildings and other spots, while the streetscape is a much narrower focus.

But if the streetscape project isn’t approved and moving forward soon, according to Lodovico and Rosenthal, there’s a good chance that the state will yank the funding and the project either wouldn’t be done or the city would end up paying for all of it.

Rosenthal said he needed the BDDC’s endorsement before he could proceed.

"It’s not ours to hold up," said Gardener Wright, a BDDC member.

"I would say it is," said Rosenthal. "You’re controlling the money." If they don’t endorse it, he said, the message is that the city isn’t committed to the project.

The BDA voted a year ago on the streetscape design.

Johnson said the BDDC spent considerable time at two of its meetings arguing "over two parking spots" on Main Street. He said Main Street business owners care about more than parking, and that streetscape improvements will help them.

Johnson and others argued that the streetscape is a "separate issue" from the mall site and the parking study isn’t needed to proceed.

Janelle said it is about coordinating the work downtown, not just about two parking spaces.

"It should all just be done at once," she said. "To me, it’s inefficient."

After a heated exchange, at a BDDC meeting Monday, Johnson referenced Biblical King Solomon’s dilemma and offered to "split the baby" by having the parking consultants look at that block of Main Street first, make a recommendation about the streetscape and then proceed with the rest of their study.

Rosenthal — who was worried about the timing — said, "I think it’s a good compromise. It doesn’t delay things too much."

Johnson said he wants to see the streetscape project done on Main Street. It will help businesses on the street, show residents some progress downtown and also demonstrate to potential developers a commitment to the area. The BDDC will take it up again at its August meeting, he said.

On the Courant’s website, Aviv Blasbalg rewrote the piece in an abbreviated way without doing any original reporting (see it here). He did, however, credit The Bristol Press with almost all of the information contained in the piece, sprinkling his report with “the Bristol Press reported” or “told the Press.”

Just to be clear, here’s what the Courant put on its website on Thursday, July 23:

Main Street project delayed

BRISTOL — - A delay to a project to spruce up Bristol's Main Street, caused by another committee's decision to conduct a parking study, could result in the project losing state funding, the Bristol Press reported.

The Bristol Development Authority's streetscape project is supposed to add enhancements such as brick pavers, trees, benches and lighting along the east side of Main Street, from Riverside Avenue to Center Street.

The project is being delayed at least a month as a result of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.'s decision this week to conduct a $36,800 parking study of a 17-acre former mall located near that stretch of Main Street.

The state is expected to pay $1.5 million for the streetscape project, with the city paying about $250,000, but if work does not begin soon, the state may withdraw the money, BDA executive director Jonathan Rosenthal told the Press.

State money for downtown projects is pooled, which means the BDDC must also endorse any projects and expenditures.

While the BDA has given the go-ahead for the streetscape project, the BDDC has not because some members of that board want the parking study completed first, the Press reported.

BDDC member Jennifer Janelle said the study could recommend parking meters or pay stations that would alter the streetscape project, the Press reported.

The two committees agreed to a compromise in which the firm conducting the study, Tighe & Bond of Westfield, Mass., will take a look at that stretch of Main Street first and make a recommendation before proceeding with the rest of the study, the Press reported.

— Aviv Blasbalg

That version was aggravating mostly because it is so irksome that a Courant staffer who could be out doing real reporting was instead rewriting someone else’s story. That’s pretty low. But at least the story was honest in telling readers where the information came from.

But now consider the final transition of Majerus’ story, in the Courant’s Friday, July 24 print edition on page A8.

I don't think the print version is online anywhere, but it reads, in its entirety:

BRISTOL – A delay to the project to spruce up Bristol’s Main Street could result in the project’s losing its state funding.

The Bristol Development Authority’s streetscape project will add enhancements such as brick pavers, trees, benches and lighting along the east side of Main Street.

The project is being delayed at least a month as a result of the Bristol Downtown Development Corp.’s decision this week to conduct a $36,800 parking study of a 17-acre former mall near that stretch of Main Street.

The state is expected to pay $1.5 million for the streetscape project, with the city paying about $250,000, but if work does not begin soon, the state may withdraw the money, said Jonathan Rosenthal, executive director of the development authority.

Notice how it is essentially the same story as the one that appeared online, stripped down even further. But there’s no longer even a hint that everything in it came from the story in the Press that Majerus wrote three days earlier.

Just to make sure, I called Rosenthal. He confirmed to me today that nobody from the Courant spoke to him this week. Yet there he is, quoted in the Courant.

That’s sleazy, cheap and thoroughly unprofessional journalism by the Courant, a paper that once had integrity from cover to cover. Now it runs slapdash theft and calls it news.

*******

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

New digs for an old paper

As many of you probably realized, I've been on vacation. Though the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tempted me to put on some cool duds and head out on the road with a guitar, I decided to return to work. Since I can't sing or play music, it was probably for the best, though I've heard some opennig acts over the years that have made it clear that talent isn't always necessary for success.

Anyway, I'm back.

We're in the new Bristol Press office now, a cozy little place with a fine view of the rubble field where the mall once stood. As long as we're here, you can rest assured we'll know if a developer shows up.

I anticipate more attention to Main Street parking now that I see just how little of it exists, but otherwise the change in locale shouldn't make much difference to readers.

It doesn't seem like I missed much. But let me know if there's something that should have been in the paper but wasn't. I may be able to help.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

The Bristol Press is moving

If everthing goes according to plan -- and when does it? -- The Bristol Press will move into its new quarters on Main Street this weekend.

I have lots of conflicting emotions about it, but recognize the century-old building we're in now is set up for the industrial production of papers, which is no longer what we do. It's hard for a newsroom to hum in a largely empty building.

But still. It's kind of painful to pack up and move on, as we all know.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Changing deadlines

I keep forgetting to post this: To ease the crunch on editors in the evening, most of what we write needs to be finished before 6 p.m. (breaking news excepted, of course).

So those of you who are used to phoning later, or telling me something at a night meeting, please be aware that if I don't hear from you earlier, I probably can't include what you have to say in the stories I write.

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com