WINSTED, Conn. -- At age 88, Ralph Nader believes his neighbors in northwest Connecticut are tired of electronics and miss the feel of holding a newspaper to read about their town.
So at a time when many local newspapers are dying, the longtime activist and four-time presidential candidate is helping start one.
The first edition of the Winsted Citizen is now circulating around the old New England mill town, covering stories about a newly opened food co-op, a Methodist church closing after lagging attendance and the repair of a century-old bridge.
"If it works, it will be a good model for the rest of the country," said Nader, who once delivered a long-gone Winsted daily paper in his hometown. He said he splits time now between Winsted and Washington, D.C.
That daily paper, The Winsted Journal, began in 1996 but shut down in 2017, unable to make enough money. A town of about 8,000, Winsted has seen better days.
Locals still talk about the 1955 hurricane that wiped out much of Main Street and killed a big employer, the Gilbert Clock Co. Winsted is surrounded by several better-off smaller communities, with the surrounding Litchfield County being a popular second-home destination for city dwellers, and the Winsted Citizen will cover those, too.
Since the Winsted Journal shut down, people are losing touch with what's going on in local government and the news that knits a community -- who's getting engaged, who's given birth -- Nader said.
"After a while it all congeals, and you start losing history," he said. "Every year you don't have a newspaper, you lose that connection."
Nader invested $15,000 and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to start the Winsted Citizen. Its masthead lists 17 reporters. They get paid, Thibault said, "when they write a story."
The publication's motto: "It's your paper. We work for you."
The Winsted Citizen plans to publish monthly until January, when it will become a weekly newspaper, Thibault said. He said he plans to sustain the publication through advertising, donations and subscriptions -- $25 for the rest of 2023, and then $95 annually.
Nader is full of suggestions but is not intrusive, Thibault said. The consumer activist and former presidential candidate doesn't dictate a political stance, he said.
Thibault has used his connections to build a solid bench of contributors, including longtime Hartford Courant editorial cartoonist Bob Englehart. The first issue includes a lengthy profile of a successful local basketball coach and a story about a project to paint a five-story mural in two abandoned mill buildings.
The depiction of Winsted as a news desert has grated on some. Bruno Matarazzo Jr., a reporter for the nearby Republican-American in Waterbury, taunts Nader with tweeted reminders that the daily newspaper regularly covers Winsted. Waterbury is about 28 miles from Winsted.
"It's different coverage when a town has its own newspaper than when you have a daily coming in to cover it," said Janet Manko, publisher and editor in chief of another Connecticut weekly, the Lakeville Journal, which had published the Winsted Journal before it closed.
Given Nader's romance with print, it's somewhat odd that the lead story in the Winsted Citizen's inaugural edition talks to young Winsted residents about how they get much of their news from social media. Thibault said he plans to build an online presence.
"I like print," said Terry Cowgill, a columnist for the CTNewsJunkie.com website. "I still like holding a print newspaper in my hand. I'm 65 years old. Most people under 50, certainly under 40, have scarcely ever held a newspaper in their hands."
He's rooting for the Winsted Citizen, though. Cowgill said he suspects its best chance for long-term success hinges on whether Nader can trade on his celebrity for foundation grants.
Volunteers fanned out on a frigid day last week to deliver copies of the first 12-page issue. One woman, Ruthie Ursone Napoleone, stopped a delivery car to ask for more copies. Her father's obituary was in the first issue, her nephew was quoted in another story and a third featured her workplace.
She hugged the person who gave her the extra papers. "I wish my dad could read this," Napoleone said.
Information for this article was contributed by Jessica Hill of The Associated Press.
Michelle Manafy, reporter for The Winsted Citizen embraces subscriber Ruthie Ursone Napoleone while delivering the first issue of the paper in Ursone Napoleone's neighborhood, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. Ursone Napoleone had several connections to the first issue, her workplace and nephew were featured in two separate stories and her father's obituary is in the paper. She stopped Manafy to ask her if she could have extra copies and said, "I wish my father could read this." At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch the Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Melissa Bird, Director of The American Museum of Tort Law, right, smiles as she opens new newspaper carrier bags to show Andy Thibault, Editor and Publisher of The Winsted Citizen, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Marie Bonelli, reporter for The Winsted Citizen, delivers the first issue of the paper to homes, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Andy Thibault, Editor and Publisher of The Winsted Citizen, left, looks over the papers first issue with town planner Lance Hansen, center, as Winsted economic development director Ted Shafer, right, looks over his own copy, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Andy Thibault, Editor and Publisher of The Winsted Citizen, carries the first bundle of papers off a pallet as Advertising and Circulation Director Rosemary Scanlon holds the first print press plate while a group of musicians play behind them after the arrival of the first delivery of the paper on, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Marie Bonelli, reporter for The Winsted Citizen, delivers the first issue of the paper to homes, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Advertising and Circulation Director Rosemary Scanlon carries bundles of paper into The American Museum of Tort Law, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch The Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Winsted Citizen subscriber Ruthie Ursone Napoleone, left, opens the first edition of The Winsted Citizen, looking for her father's obituary as reporter Michelle Manafy, right, looks on, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Winsted, Conn. Ursone Napoleone had several connections to the first issue, her workplace and nephew were featured in two separate stories and her father's obituary is in the paper. She stopped Manafy who was delivering papers to ask her if she could have extra copies and said, "I wish my father could read this." At a time that local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, longtime activist Ralph Nader is helping give birth to one. Nader put up $15,000 to help launch the Winsted Citizen and hired a veteran Connecticut journalist, Andy Thibault, to put it together. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)