So this is goodbye.
On July 13, I will join the ranks as a loyal Valley Indy reader.
This summer, I embark on a new career as a multimedia journalism professor at Southern Connecticut State University.
It’s an exciting move for me — but one that unfortunately means I won’t be able to work at the Valley Indy anymore.
The change is bittersweet.
Coming to the Valley Independent Sentinel was one of the easiest decisions I’ve had to make.
I wanted to return to the Valley — an area filled with tradition, pride and more interesting news than anywhere else I’ve been.
I believed that technology was improving journalism — not destroying it, as so many despaired. So I wanted to be part of an experiment that sought to prove it to the rest of the world.
Over the past three years, I’ve helped Eugene Driscoll build this idea — that local news matters and that the Internet is the best way to bring it to a community — into a reality.
We’ve have the freedom to try new types of reporting:
- Using chat rooms to cover everything from snow storms to budget hearings
- Making robots act out our reader comment section
- Asking our readers “How can we help you today?“ after Irene knocked out power to the bulk of our coverage area
- Telling the behind-the-scenes stories that other papers refuse to cover — like what sometimes happens after the public hearing.
We’ve brought the public officials to the public — whether they were answering questions via live video chats, or responding to citizen concerns on the Valley Indy Facebook page.
There are no corporate mandates here. No layers of bureaucracy.
Just a small office with three people who come to work everyday asking: How can we help our readers understand their community better?
The best part: Our readers — you — have helped us understand the community better in return.
You’ve called us out when we missed the context to a story. You’ve let us know when there’s an accident on your street, or when you’ve been wronged by your government.
You keep us up to date on your community, so we can keep you up to date on your community.
It’s something I’ve never experienced at another paper — and something that doesn’t happen very often at the level it does here.
For so many reasons, leaving the Valley Independent Sentinel has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.
I’ve learned so much from Eugene Driscoll about reporting, editing and how to use the Internet in the best ways for news.
Any lessons I bring forward to the next generation of journalists were formed and developed here at the Valley Independent Sentinel. I owe my new opportunities to Eugene, the staff here and at great people at the New Haven Independent.
I still love the Valley, and continue to strongly believe in the Valley Indy’s mission.
I’m happy I’ll be able to stay a part of the Valley Independent Sentinel community as a reader.
I know Eugene and Ethan will keep working tirelessly to keep us informed. I’ll continue to learn from them, as I have while working here, because I know they will continue to try new ways of reporting using new technology.
I’m planning to do my part by becoming a regular donor to the site.
This kind of quality reporting is not cheap. But as long as the Valley Independent Sentinel can continue to raise enough money, we’ll all continue to get it for free.
