New Year, New Look, Same Award-Winning Journalism

Dear Friends,

You will notice The Connecticut Mirror looks different this morning. We decided to return to our roots – everything from our logo to the packaging of content to points of engagement on the website and other devices to better serve your need for fast, accurate and easy-to-find information.

It’s a new year with a new look but we continue to produce the same award-winning journalism.

With the largest Capitol bureau in the state, we enter our fifth year with quite a bit on tap. We begin 2014 as part of the Investigative News Network, a group of more than 90 nonprofit news organizations across the country, including ProPublica, the Texas Tribune, MinnPost, the Voice of San Diego and our good friends and neighbors at the New Haven Independent. It’s a great group to be a part of – all are mission-driven news organizations; all continue to serve a growing audience looking for in-depth reporting. Our inclusion in this group is also tied into our new look. More on that later in the week.

For our audience, a few things to note:

Enterprise Reporting – The Connecticut Mirror and its award-winning staff will continue to produce the high-level, in-depth reporting its known for across the state. Our audience has asked for more and each morning there will be something new for you – a deep dive with reporting, graphics and interactive elements on topics such as politics, health care, education, the budget and the environment.

Briefs – You will also notice this section in our centerpiece. It’s going to be a busy year, and this stream of content is where you can satisfy your need for quick information throughout the legislative session and election season. These used to be blog posts. In 2014, it’s all necessary information.

Mobile-Friendly – Our responsive design website allows a clean look on all mobile and tablet devices. As mobile audiences continue to grow, we want to enhance the user-experience.

Comments – We encourage thoughtful engagement to move the discussion on sometimes contentious issues. You will no longer have to log in through our system to start or contribute to a conversation. However, you will need to log in through Facebook or your e-mail provider. We want to reduce anonymity and move the discussion. Here is a solution.

Social Media – As more and more of our audience consumes content through social streams, we are also bringing other public policy reporting to one place through our Twitter stream on the right rail. There you will find other news organizations in the state, some of which are our content partners, who focus on the issues that shape Connecticut.

“Clean Read” – Don’t like clutter on your screen? Simply click “view as clean read” in the top right-hand corner of each story page. It looks even better on your mobile or tablet device.

Please feel free to reach out with any comments or suggestions. If you spot an error or a bug, please let us know and we will fix it. We’re all pushing together.

We’re glad you turn to The Connecticut Mirror. Thank you for your support.

Brett Orzechowski

CEO/Publisher

The Connecticut Mirror/The Connecticut News Project, Inc.