Changes on the Way in New Haven Media Coverage
/The news media focused on New Haven is undergoing some changes, as one publication ends, a new electronic weekly business news round-up is about to begin, and a longtime local business paper is changing its subscription system, reducing the number of non-paying subscribers. New Haven Living magazine, published by the Hartford Courant Media Group in recent years, will cease publication with its January edition, the company recently announced. The New Haven-focused edition of the weekly CTNOW. an entertainment section, will also cease publication, last publishing on Dec. 29, the company said.
The Courant plans to continue publishing Hartford Magazine and the Hartford edition of CTNOW. 
Each monthly addition of New Haven Living was nearly identical to Hartford Magazine, usually with a handful of New Haven-focused articles and features added. The Courant reported that it made the decision while evaluating opportunities to invest in higher-growth areas and the cost of distribution in Greater New Haven.
Business New Haven, which began publication in 1993, announced in its latest issue that “we are changing our publishing approach” in an open letter to readers from veteran publisher Mitchell Young, under the headline “The Time Has Come To Decide. Do You Want Business New Haven?”
Young says that “only paid subscribers will be guaranteed” to be included on the newspaper’s circulation list beginning with the next issue. Subscriptions to the monthly print edition will be $24 per year.
“We believe in the value of quality local publications and we hope you find us worth the cost of a lunch – perhaps that is a way of saying there is No Free Lunch,” the full-page letter said.
A limited number of promotional copies will be limited “based on a proprietary algorithm for the support of our advertisers,” Young noted. He also indicated that plans are in the works to expand the publication’s CONNTACT.com website in the next year, as “we try to build our subscriber base” for the print edition. Business New Haven also publishes the monthly New Haven Magazine.
The Hartford Business Journal (HBJ), which prints a weekly print edition in the Hartford region and has a roster of electronic news publications and business-oriented events, added a statewide daily email aimed at business executives statewide in 2013. The paper recently announced that for those doing business in New Haven and Middlesex Counties, a weekly news round-up, New Haven Biz, will be added to the HBJ e-mail line-up on February 1.
The email is slated to deliver a weekly roundup of business news and information from the Elm City and beyond, the paper’s website explains. The Hartford Business Journal recently had a prominent location at the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Big Connect annual business-to-business event to promote the upcoming news service.
The publication also emails HBJ Today each weekday at noontime highlighting the day’s lead business stories. Subscriptions to the email-delivered news products, which also include the CT Health Care Weekly and CT Green Guide Weekly, are free. CT Morning Blend includes the top business stories from online news sources around the state and the nation “to keep business decision-makers ahead of the competition.” It also includes a stock market snapshot and a business calendar.
HBJ, with a strong local presence in Greater Hartford for more than two decades, is published by New England Business Media, which also publishes the Worcester Business Journal and MaineBiz. It also sponsors the annual CT Business Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center and numerous business programs and events in the region.
