Reg Replaces Kramer

Will the last one out please turn off the lights?

Excited to be here and eager to talk if anyone has questions or thoughts about the potential for improvement to our journalism in Connecticut.

You can reach me at mderienzo @ journalregister.com or find me on Twitter at Twitter.com/mattderienzo

Welcome matt

but with that said I am in awe....30 years! and a pick slip. that bites big time. I was not always pleased with stuff at the NHR. But jack does knows our city. And I see an improvement happening in the news not just being press releases from city hall.

So with that said, just because the "man" says it is news, does not mean it is.

Wow, Kramer has been around forever. I have friends at the Register. I hope their jobs are secure but the way it's going, they probably aren't. I think the Register is going the same way as the New Haven Advocate and that my friends is very sad indeed

THIS IS FATAL NEWS FOR JOHN DESTEPHANO!

Hey Matt, Here's a suggestion: Competitive salaries so your hard working, grossly underpaid reporter/writers/copy staff can afford to live above the poverty level. The ...s that have run the NHR into the ground have gotten fat for too long while good newspaper people have departed so they can raise families and live normal lives. Asking people to do more work without increasing pay is a disgusting American corporate trend that is dividing our country The good people that have remained at the NHR deserve better than another "work more without consideration" get rich quick ...

To Joe and cedarhillresident,

There is no joy in walking into a job when someone else has lost theirs on the same day.

Jack poured everything he had into the New Haven Register for many years and he has my utmost respect for that.

Thank you for your comments about improving coverage. Abbe and others are doing a great job and I will do everything I can to support them.

Matt

This guy is nothing but another shill for the snake oil salesman posing as the CEO of the company. Has real news coverage actually increased at any JRC newspaper or is it all digital smoke and mirrors?

@ City Hall

Please get it right. After 18 years taking a pay check from the taxpayers the mayor must
get his name spelt correctly. It's vital that State Marshalls and Attorneys can eventually serve subpoaenas on him to try to collect all the tax he has mis-spent.

It's not DeStephano. It's NOT 'PH' as in phony, though you would be forgiven for thinking this.

It's DeStefano. It's an 'F' as in Failed .... It's easy to get it right. Just think he 'F'ailed to become governor ad his ideas are in 'F'airy land.

well matt
thanks for your reply. i do however think it is very wrong the way jack was let go. i think jrc should have given him a chance to retire at least. you just dont do that to someone who puts their life into your company for 30+ years. I'm gonna give you a chance but let me tell you i'll be watching and i already let my friends know that my phone and even my house is open to any one of them 24/7/365. the paper may shoot them down, but i wont

I am an actual NHR subscriber (how many of them are left?) and have been my whole life, I have had the paper delivered (and not to my inbox) for probably the past 25 years since I moved back to the New Haven area. Of course I have watched a steady decline in what was already a mediocre paper to begin with. So sad that we pine for the "old" NHR! This is not really their fault, it is just the way of the newspaper business. However to let Kramer go like that, like he has absolutely nothing left to offer, is really sad. Out with the old and in with the new, literally and figuratively. So as an actual subscriber I see the digital first as totally ignoring their actual customers, those of us (few left) who actually pay for the paper. I never read the NHR website, it has so little content of I want national news I go to the NYT, CT news to the Courant, local I go to a Patch site, to the Independent, or wait for the newspaper and what little content it still has left. However, that paper and the news it presents is still incredibly important, since it is really one of the only actually journalistic enterprises left, that seems to see its role as chronicling local events. When all is said and done, that is still an important, critical and unique role, and one that should not be lost be it to digital first or bankruptcy or whatever. I hope the new young management of the paper (yes it still is primarily that) understand and appreciate that role.

Sorry to hear about Jack. He's a decent guy who got stuck with one of the worst jobs in the newspaper business.

I've worked with Jack over the years and he's always been a total class-act. Jack, if you're reading this, know that you'll be missed.

Here's a suggestion for the Reg..try building a website without a minefield of hotlinks buried in the background. Oh I forgot...thats how you trick advertisers into thinking they got actual clickthrus.

Matt,

Let's be honest. The only way to improve coverage is to increase staff and resources. By eliminating the editor in chief position it is evident that you have the ability nor the desire to do either. Question: Have you ever covered a news beat at a local paper? And, if so, for how long? Jack Kramer was a guy that knew what it took to be a successful journalist while somehow balancing corporate greed that only cared about profit margin. Jack Kramer was New Haven for many years. Getting rid of him in this manner is a absolute joke....

Yup,
Well Matt, I said I'd give you a chance, but I truly have to say, I don't know how I can when your first move was to let 2 more people that I know of go this morning one of them is another with over 30+ years in the business, who I personally know poured his heart and soul out for your paper. You guys are ridiculous. If you truly wanted to provide better coverage and more hard news to your customers you guys would be adding people not cutting them. Let me tell you what I see happening here Matt. I see you guys cutting all the old timers with a ton of experience and hiring a bunch of kids out of school to cover greater new haven just to save a dime. mind you these kids wont have a clue as to whats going on and wont have the contacts or the experience to give the paper justice. I know it's not you and you're getting your marching orders from up top, but you have to realize something, you guys are killing yourselves in the long run doing this. like I said I have provided info as well as pics to the paper that were published. I will continue giving stuff to people I know but if and once they're gone, my calls to you guys are gonna stop. I also know alot of other people who are saying the exact same thing. When they want to cut someone who's been at the paper and has years in the biz do the decent thing, let them retire dont kick them in the ass out your door. that is just not right these are people we're talking about. Matt, mark my word, you guys keep going down this road and the paper is gonna go down in a big ball of flames. You say that you respect Jack - Do you truly think the way he and these other two people were let go is fair? State your opinion on that here in the open for all to see.
Joe

The bottom line is that I have great respect for Jack and always have. I hate to see him and other talented and dedicated people lose their jobs, and I hate even more being involved in it in some way.

I can't defend past corporate environments that Jack had to deal with - but will say that your description of him as an editor who worked hard to do his best under those difficult circumstances, and do his best to protect and support his staff, are right on.

But I can tell you that the new leadership of the New Haven Register and its parent company are dedicated to journalism and to making the "digital first" transition that we believe will ensure there is an actual future for local journalism.

The transition is not going to come without changing the structure of how our newsrooms operate. Good people can sometimes be lost in that shuffle.

I'm approaching this job with humility and a strong sense of responsibility toward the hugely talented and hard-working people in the New Haven Register newsroom and elsewhere in the state and the communities they serve. I don't take it lightly at all, and I view it as being about protection of the future of local journalism, not about a balance sheet.

...l Matt. You cut two more NHR newsroom employees today? And you have the guile to mention journalistic integrity? ... The founding fathers of those country, the ones who fought to protect the First Amendment, are rolling over in their graves...

Once upon a time, there were two good newspapers in New Haven, the morning Journal-Courier and the afternoon Register. Most of the important news of the day was printed in one or the other, but it was presented in a boring way.
Then a miracle happened. The old regime of Lionel Jackson Sr. retired and for a few, brief years, Lionel S. Jackson Jr. poured big money into the paper. The staff responded by winning just about every journalism prize there was to be had. From covering the tornado to the Blizzard of 78 to prizes in photos and graphics to City Hall, the papers had it all.
But like Camelot, it wasn't to last, and Lionel Jackson Jr., who always was a patsy for a quick-talking snake-oil salesman, sold out to Ralph Ingersoll, Mike Milken and Goodson-Todman Productions (you know, like the Dating Game).
The only good thing about this turn of events is that it brought to town a gentleman named Tom Geyer.
Over the years, the two papers were folded into one, the dollar ruled and layoffs soon followed.
Geyer oversaw two rounds of layoffs. He refused to oversee a third round, saying the paper could no longer provide any kind of good journalism with so thin a staff.
Geyer was told: Either supervise the third round of layoffs or be part of it. Geyer chose the latter. He left on one day, and the third layoff, including yours truly, went out the door the next.
I've told this story before, but this is in answer to Matt DeRienzo's point. Geyer was faced with the same Hobson's choice DeRienzo was. He walked the walk while Matt didn't, choosing to keep his job despite having to kick Jack out the door as his first order of business in New Haven.
Matt has been running the Torrington paper. I'm sure Matt will tell you that running a paper in a small, old mill town is the same as running a paper in New Haven.
Don't believe it. New Haven is unique, with its poverty and intellectual richness, its crime and business success all living side by side in one package.
Jack Kramer ran the Suburban Desk of the Register for years. He then became editor and covered for his bosses for decades. And for his trouble, he is kicked out the door without any face-saving cover story such as early retirement. Just see-ya and don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.
The Register has had a rich if not always stellar history. I'm not sure of Matt DeRienzo's place in that history. It does not seem that he is traveling on the high road if his first days are any indication.

I worked at the Journal Courier and then at the Register in the '80s, and remember when there were still investigative reporters. I worked with many amazing people and can quickly think of several who went on to climb much higher in the field--even a few who went on to win Pulitzers. Reporters, photographers, editors. Some of those people were a tremendous influence to me. It's very different now. I'm so very sorry for Jack and all of the people who've suffered through the changes at this paper. Good luck to Matt in steering the latest transition, but I don't believe the New Haven Register will ever be anything like it used to be again.

Matt DiRienzo, ... Everyone else sees what's going on here, yet you try to peddle the same old tired line. The good will that the Register enjoyed for 14 days with its graceful handling of the tragedy involving one of its own is now gone. What a way to run a place into the ground. I feel for Jack Kramer, a true pro, and the others who were jettisoned. Remember, Matt, what goes around comes around in JRC land.

Re: "I don't believe the New Haven Register will ever be anything like it used to be again."

This is true, but it's also true of literally every other newspaper in the United States. Newspapers may continue to fulfill an important role in our lives for years to come, but they will never be what they used to be and it's pointless to wish for it.

Look at it this way: Radio survived TV, but the Golden Era of radio is gone forever. Radio will never be what it once was. Does that mean there's no longer an audience for it, and no longer good radio programming? Of course not! There is still great, cutting-edge radio being done -- check out NPR on a weekend if you don't believe me. But radio now reaches a smaller, more targeted audience.

Rather than looking backward, it's important to look ahead and try to predict what useful role newspapers can still play in a 24-7 mobile news world.

Of course I agree that this is every paper in the U.S., and that things must change. I did say good luck. But at the Register a lot of important things--not to mention people--were thrown out the window over the years, and not always in the interest of good change. There are still some good reporters, photographers and editors there. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes in the digital age. Maybe if someone is willing to put a little money so it's not always about pinching pennies, if this is possible right now...

I started to feel a twinge of sadness about the current direction of the Redge (and I am a subscriber), but then I cheered myself up by remembering what social troglodytes and corporate suckups they used to be, despite a sizable number of good reporters and photogs. Check out the archives from the 60s and 70s to get the flavor.

They still have troglodyte tendencies (i.e. Tuesday's front page, above-the-fold headline "Labor on Attack in Elm City"--Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid). So maybe it's a good thing that they have fewer people to do what they think is "journalism." Now they can have more amateur video, more wire service stories, more celebrity gossip, even bigger type for paid death notices and even smaller page sizes. The more they work themselves into irrelevancy, the less damage they can do.

The Independent, fortunately, has picked up the slack when it comes to local coverage. That pretty much makes the Register irrelevant.

On the other hand, if anyone wanted to revive the Journal Courier...

Jack Kramer gave it his all and can be rpoudof the job he did. Corporate stripped the newsroom of reporters and severely limited his ability to report the news in depth. For Jack after the shock wears off, he will realize life can be very good - not having to deal with the JRC crap. As regards the JRC "digitally first" concept - it seems to be based on a horrible website, dependent on amateurs to give them news & photos, news is rarely updated during the day(important story appears in morning and is not updated until next day. Advertisers should really check out often & where their ads appear on the website.