… That is a loss for the community,” he said.Īmarante told the News that managing and reporting for the Arts and Entertainment desk has proven especially difficult during the pandemic. “I think it’s too bad whenever institutional knowledge leaves a newsroom. Currently, Beach writes a semiweekly personal column and covers the New Haven Superior Court. Most recently, he has served as the Arts and Entertainment editor for the Register.Īlthough Beach began working at the Register in 1977, he left after a few years to do freelance work, returned briefly, and then settled at the paper permanently in 1997. He told the News that “rough times” at the publication forced him to take on roles he was less comfortable with as a features writer, like city news. After spending 10 years as a copy editor, he transitioned to writing about television and entertainment and joined the national Television Critics Association. Senate campaigns.Īmarante began his time at the Register in 1975 when he was still a senior in college. She has covered the metro beat and past Connecticut gubernatorial and U.S. O’Leary, who declined to comment, has been working at the Register since 1970. … They knew where all the bodies were buried.”
Nonetheless, the departure of three experienced reporters will be felt in the newsroom, according to other local journalists.Īllan Appel, another reporter for the Independent, reinforced the importance of veteran journalists, describing O’Leary, Beach and Amarante as “real New Haven reporters who have been around for a long time. The group, which owns seven other daily newspapers across Connecticut, including the Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time and Stamford Advocate, has said it plans to invest in some 20 newsroom positions. “The Register was Exhibit A for hedge funds who were hollowing out newspapers,” Bass said of past ownership.Īccording to Bass, HCMG has acted differently, making efforts to invest in the publication. Among the previous owners is the Journal Register Company, which filed for bankruptcy alongside 26 of its affiliates, including the New Haven Register, in 2009.Īccording to Paul Bass ’82, editor of the New Haven Independent, the Register has a “bloody” history of layoffs. “It’s been very difficult with COVID-19 and then they offered us this buyout, and I’m almost 65, so I thought maybe it’s time to get out,” Amarante told the News.īuyouts are not new at the Register, whose previous owners have included junk bonds and hedge funds. It is meant for employees seeking a career change or retirement. HCMG, as the owner is known, offered the voluntary buyout program at a number of its newsrooms.
The three took buyouts from the paper’s current owner, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, citing age and the new reporting conditions brought upon by the pandemic. Most recently, O’Leary has covered city issues, Beach has reported on local courts and Amarante has served as the publication’s Arts and Entertainment editor.
The trio all began working at the Register in the 1970s, accumulating more than a century of experience. Mary O’Leary, Randall Beach and Joe Amarante plan to leave the publication by the end of the year. Three veteran reporters at the New Haven Register took buyouts last week, ending their decades-long presence at the paper.
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