After trying to buck trend, newspaper founded with Ralph Nader’s help succumbs to financial woes

By DAVE COLLINS
Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A small Connecticut newspaper founded earlier this year with Ralph Nader’s help has succumbed to financial problems and will be shutting down. An oversight board voted Monday to close the Winsted Citizen, a broadsheet that served Nader’s hometown and surrounding area in the state’s northwest hills. The consumer activist and four-time presidential candidate had hoped to buck the national trend of media closures and downsizing as the Citizen began publishing in February. The paper’s editor and publisher, Andy Thibault, announced the closure in a memo to staff, saying the paper couldn’t overcome an untenable deficit even as it increased ad revenue and circulation.