Paul Bass - New Haven Independent
NOTE: As of September 24th, Bass is no longer able to attend the conference. The New Haven Independent’s managing editor, Melissa Bailey, will take his place.
Introduction and Narrative: Paul Bass was a reporter at the New Haven Advocate for 15 years when he took a year off to write a book. Upon finishing Bass decided not to return to the Tribune owned paper, at the time awash in layoffs and budget cuts. Unhappy in corporate media, Bass began the Online Journalism Project, promoting not-for-profit business models for journalism. Through the Online Journalism Project Bass was promoting journalism done as a social utility, not as the product of a company. Touring the state, Bass was able to raise $80,000 to start the New Haven Independent, a five day a week online paper that just celebrated its two year anniversary this September. Today the New Haven Independent has three staff writers and others on contract.
Main Goal of New Haven Independent: “To cover the communities in New Haven that aren’t already covered by the media,” says Bass. The New Haven Independent has become a place where people from all walks of life come to discuss civic issues. Bass wanted to create a journalistic commons, where the public sets, or helps to set, the news agenda. To give the people of New Haven the raw material for Democracy and “let them run with it.”
Notable Achievements: From the traditional journalism perspective, the New Haven Independent has covered everything from a police raid of undocumented workers, zoning board decisions that were taking place in secret and the local board of education’s horrible attendance record. Their coverage has had a real impact on city policy says Bass.
For the community, the New Haven Independent has become a forum for people from various races and income levels. When a 13-year-old boy was shot by stray bullets, the friends and family of the victim were openly debating with city officials and wealthy people in other neighborhoods.
The New Haven Independent continues to expand — recently creating a partnership with the largest Spanish speaking newspaper in the state, creating a youth media group to teach kids video and starting a Podcast, all under the guise if not-for-profit journalism that is answering community demands.
