Torrington: A Place of Innovation?

Artist's rendering of the new cafe and media lab.

Update: The NYT piece is up.

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A little birdie tells me the Register-Citizen newspaper in Torrington will be featured in a New York Times piece tomorrow. My guess is the subject will be the paper's recently announced experiment in getting its audience involved in community journalism.

The paper has moved to new and larger headquarters a few blocks away from its Water Street building, which the old Torrington Register had called home for 110 years. That in itself isn't news. But, as part of its new "digital-first" business model, the R-C is also opening a newsroom cafe, community media lab, community journalism school and a local news library, free and open to the general public:

"When you first walk into our new space at 59 Field St., it will look like a cross between a coffee shop, library and newsroom," said Publisher Matt DeRienzo. "We are issuing a permanent invitation for the community to be engaged and involved in how we report local news and information, at every step in the process."

There will be a coffee shop with Green Mountain Coffee, local baked goods. Sounds great? But here's the kicker:

The community will be encouraged to sit in on and participate, if they wish, in the newsroom’s daily story meetings, which will also be livestreamed at RegisterCitizen.Com, offering editors advice on how to cover stories, or pitching new story ideas.

I give Matt a lot of credit for thinking outside the box and trying to engage his readership. He really is trying mightily to improve the paper and to make his audience to feel like they have a sense of ownership in the R-C. And, in addition to the NYT, Matt is already getting a a fair amount of regional publicity for his visionary leadership on this subject (click here, here and here for examples).

But I'm not sure I would want members of the public, especially those who might have an axe to grind, sitting in on story meetings or looking over my shoulder as I'm pecking away at my keyboard on the subject of municipal wrongdoing or a three-car crash on Migeon Avenue.

But all eyes will be on this project and whether it succeeds in challenging the public to become involved in the editorial side of the news business. Good luck, Matt.

Disclosure: This blog is linked on the R-C's homepage through an agreement with the publisher, Matt DeRienzo. In an act of voluntary reciprocation, I link to the R-C here and use it as a source whenever possible. However, the paper exercises no editorial control over this blog. According to my stat counter, registercitizen.com is by far the largest single source of page views for Devil's Advocate.