New Haven Independent

The newsroom will be centered at the Courant.

And the Courant got a new publisher Monday: Richard Graziano, who currently runs the two TV stations.

Tribune Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels issued a release calling the new newsroom “the future of media. “Whether in print, over the air, or online — the delivery
mechanism isn’t as important as the unique, rich nature of the content provided.” Click here to read the release.

The question for news watchers: Will the company (as has been its wont in a multi-year budget-cutting tear) use the merging of the newsrooms as a way to continue reducing the number of reporters covering news in Connecticut? Or will it invest in the new operation to increase coverage as well as the way stories are reported and told? The company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Before issuing the release, Randy Michaels emailed Tribune staffers with the news.

His email message is reproduced below:

From: Tribune Communications [mailto:TribuneCommunications@Tribune.com]
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 11:13 AM
Subject: Message from Randy Michaels/Merging Hartford’s Newspaper and TV
Operations

Over the past year, we’ve talked a lot about transforming Tribune from a
collection of media businesses to a true media company, capable of
generating, collecting and aggregating content and delivering it to
consumers whenever and wherever they want it. Today we are taking
another important step in that process.

This morning we will announce that we will bring all of our media
businesses in Hartford, Conn., together under one roof. Later this
year, the Hartford Courant and our two television stations, WTIC-TV and
WTXX-TV, will join forces in one location to form the state’s largest
print/broadcast/online newsroom.

The joint operation will be led by Rich Graziano, who has been named
publisher of the Courant effective immediately. Rich takes over from
Steve Carver who will leave the company after a short transition period.
Steve has headed up the Courant since late 2006 and we wish him well.
Rich has been running our Hartford TV operations for the past four years
and he knows the market very well-he’ll be a terrific publisher for the
Courant.

We’re making a significant investment in Hartford. Following the move,
the television stations will broadcast news from a new state-of-the-art,
high-definition studio constructed in the Courant newsroom. We also
plan to expand news at WTIC-TV, adding a noon and a 6 p.m. news
broadcast.

Co-location will enable us to bring more resources to our news coverage
in Hartford and cut down on duplication. It also will benefit
advertisers by creating a more efficient one-stop shop for print,
broadcast and online ad sales.

This type of innovation is the future of media-a future in which the way
we deliver our content matters less and less. What’s important is the
quality and breadth of our content, and our ability to work together and
respond quickly to the demand for it. That’s what will keep us out in
front of our readers, viewers, listeners and advertisers, ensuring our
future and enabling us to stay ahead of our competitors.

The press release announcing the move is attached for your review.

Randy