Veteran Connecticut Journalist Leading News Launch in New Bedford

Barbara Roessner retired as executive editor of Hearst Connecticut Media Group nearly three years ago, departing a position she held for six years in a career in Connecticut journalism spanning four decades, most of it with The Hartford Courant.

It turns out that her past was only prologue for what’s next - leading a nonprofit local news start-up in New Bedford, MA.  It is an endeavor that reflects what’s changing across journalism, with an experienced hand at the helm.  And the effort has gained some attention of late beyond New Bedford, including an above-the-fold feature this month in the Boston Globe and stories in local and national media.

The digital-only publication is in the midst of hiring journalists, and preparing a website to go live, while raising funds to support the effort. The aim to inform the citizens of New Bedford and surrounding towns by providing in-depth journalism that incorporates voices from all of the city’s communities.

Expected to join Roessner in the initiative will be full-time journalist, freelancers, and local individuals new to journalism.  The founding publisher is Stephen Taylor, the former Boston Globe executive who launched BostonGlobe.com and Boston.com in the mid-1990s. 

The Board of Directors includes Lynne DeLucia, editor and co-founder of the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, an in-depth news website focusing on issues of health and safety, and a veteran of The Hartford Courant and New Haven Register.  The Board also includes Joel Alvord, whose career was spent in the financial services industry in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and who was a director on multiple public and private corporate boards including the Bristol Press Publishing Company.

Topics on the docket for coverage on the New Bedford Light website include environment, health care, schools, economic development, the waterfront, and social justice, with plans for regular investigative stories, and efforts are already underway to involve the diverse community in the local coverage.

“We seek to inform and nourish the civic culture of New Bedford and surrounding towns by providing in-depth, fact-based journalism and a broad platform for diverse community voices,” the organizers point out. “Through our innovative Journalism Incubator Project we promote media literacy and educate the public about the vital role of a free press in bolstering our democracy.”

The Light aims to raise about $600,000 during its first year of operations, the Globe reported this month.  It will be free for readers and funded through foundation grants, sponsorships for local and regional businesses and donations.  Roessner is working pro bono, according to the Globe.

Even in its current organizational phase, The Light has begun to offer webinars in conjunction with UMass-Dartmouth focused on topical issues, including a session with journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault last month.  Their Facebook page has amassed 500 followers since the start of the year, as word began to spread of the initiative, a temporary website was established, and the Light conducted surveys of local residents to help shape their plans.

Roessner told CommonWealth magazine last month that the goal of her staff is to contribute new news content, not duplicate what is already being generated. The traditional newspaper in town, the Standard-Times, is owned by the Gannett chain and local observers have suggested has seen its coverage – and staff – diminish in recent years.  In addition to the in-depth pieces planned, Roessner said she plans to run an arts and cultural calendar for the area, recruit and train town residents to cover some local meetings, and look to the community to provide content in the form of videos, audio files, and commentary.

Given the volume of pre-launch coverage the venture has received, the degree to which it proves successful will not go unnoticed.  Similar ventures have launched across the country, following the nonprofit model, including nationally recognized success in Connecticut, including CT Mirror, New Haven Independent. 

With Hearst, Roessner headed a newspaper group that initially included the Connecticut Post, Stamford Advocate, The News-Times (Danbury), Greenwich Time, The Norwalk Hour and six weekly newspapers. The New Haven Register, Middletown Press and The Register Citizen (Torrington) were added along the way.  A graduate of Wesleyan University, she started her career at the Meriden Record-Journal, then moved to play a leading role for just over two decades at The Hartford Courant, where, beginning in 1978 she was a politics writer, opinion columnist, projects editor and ultimately, managing editor for three years before moving on to Hearst in 2012.