I have a million questions for you

Can we talk?

My email address is matt.derienzo@hearstmediact.com, and my phone number is 203-8422556.

I started work on Monday as vice president of news and digital content for Hearst Connecticut Media Group, which means I’m responsible for what you read day-to-day in this newspaper and a bunch of others across the state. And I have so many questions for you.

⏩ What brought you to this article?

⏩ What role does local news coverage play in your life?

⏩ In what ways is it serving you well? In what ways is it failing you?

⏩ Do you feel represented?

⏩ Have you ever interacted with the journalists and editors here, and what was that like?

⏩ What problems do you think local journalism could solve for you or this community?

⏩ What keeps you from engaging more with your community?

⏩ What questions do you have about your neighborhood, your town, our state, that you wish someone could answer?

⏩ What questions do you have about how local news coverage is assigned, gathered, written and edited?

Your answers to these questions should drive how we cover the news and how we interact with you. (And I have more ... email or call me!)

We want to be part of a community of people, including you, who are pursuing common interests and opportunities and confronting problems and obstacles that affect our lives, our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods.

We can ferret out the information and context that the community needs to pursue those goals. We can help facilitate some of the conversations around them. But we need your insight, and we need you to hold us accountable.

What information, what context, is missing from the dialogue that shapes public policy and quality of life in Connecticut? How can we work together to fill those gaps?

Let’s talk.

Your answers to these questions should drive how we cover the news and how we interact with you.

Matt DeRienzo is vice president of news and digital content at Hearst Connecticut Media.