WLAD morning man Dave Rinelli invited me onto his show this morning to talk about the newspaper industry in light of the possible closing of Connecticut papers owned by the struggling Journal Register Co.
I told Dave that I thought what’s happening to JRC is somewhat unique, in that the company has been in deep trouble for a very long time — the economic free fall lately certainly didn’t help.
I then pointed out the success The News-Times has been having online, in terms of our always-increasing number of page views and unique visitors.
I probably came across as a used car salesman, but, despite the layoffs, lower than dirt morale and general OH MY GOD THIS IS THE APOCALYPSE attitude at most newspapers, it’s actually an exciting time to be in local news, thanks to the Internet.
Anyway, the real thrill was finally getting a chance to see the WLAD studios.
I grew up over in Somers, N.Y., so I’ve been aware of the station since I was a kid. My older brother Mike, who lives in Danbury, is a radio/local news geek, so I can’t wait to tell him about my trip inside.
The station really is a slice of Danbury history. The studio, which is on the fourth floor of Ives Manor on Main Street, is a trip — complete with at least one 8-track (I think it was Fleetwood Mac) and a super-cool photo of Classie Freddie Blassie.
At one time you could smoke inside the studio, which, judging from the yellow-stained ceilings, was something that happened a lot at WLAD over the years.
Here’s a late 80s WLAD-related video I stumbled across on YouTube.
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