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March 6, 2023

‘On a respirator’: Newspaper startup in Winsted misses payroll

By Andrew Larson

After publishing two editions, The Winsted Citizen appears to have lost its primary financial backer: consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

The nonprofit newspaper serving Nader’s hometown launched with much fanfare, including radio and TV coverage, national news stories and exuberant support from the community. A launch party at Winsted’s American Museum of Tort Law, which Nader founded, featured live jazz, hors d'oeuvres and a standing-room-only crowd.

But now the organization is running out of money.

Over the weekend, Andy Thibault, editor and publisher of The Winsted Citizen, informed staff the paper was “on a respirator and feeding tube.” He said morale has been destroyed and that “substantial” wages are owed.

The staff is meeting Monday to review financials. 

Nader provided funding for the pilot edition, which offered free advertising space to local businesses and was distributed to readers at no charge. He also covered the cost of forming a nonprofit organization. 

On Monday morning, an assistant for Nader, John Richard, said Nader’s group, Essential Information, had paid $15,000 to The Winsted Citizen, but there was only $56 left.

Thibault said Nader has not provided any funding for the March edition, which was printed last week, despite a promise to do so.

“Instead Ralph switched gears and, through his counsel, offered a loan of $8,000 that has not shown up,” Thibault said.

Although The Winsted Citizen was unable to meet payroll last week, Thibault said the organization will honor its obligations.

The group is already working on an April edition.

“I am so proud to work with all our staff individually and collectively,” Thibault said. “These are real people running on broken glass through the desert sand to get the job done. They are young and old, some approaching the end or their careers and some just starting.”

The Winsted Citizen published editions at the beginning of February and March. It opened an office on Main Street in Winsted. Subscribers purchased yearlong subscriptions; local businesses bought advertisements.

Thibault assembled a staff that includes alumni of The Hartford Courant such as editorial cartoonist Bob Englehart.

Media observers said The Winsted Citizen would fill a void in local news coverage. At a time when people increasingly obtain their news online, the newspaper's print focus was seen as a return to old-fashioned journalism.

In an interview with The Hartford Business Journal in December, Nader said the newspaper would be funded by equal parts subscription revenue, paid advertising and donations. 

Nader lives in Washington, D.C., but is domiciled in Winsted. Growing up, he was a paperboy for Winsted’s daily newspaper, which folded decades ago.

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