In a first-of-its-kind agreement for Westfair Communications Inc., publisher of the Fairfield County Business Journal, the White Plains-based company has entered into a news-sharing agreement with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
Hearst”™s properties include regional dailies the Connecticut Post based in Bridgeport, The News-Times based in Danbury, The Advocate in Stamford and Greenwich Time, plus five local weeklies.
“This is a great opportunity to better serve our readers with more news and more information about the economy of our region,” said Executive Editor Barbara T. Roessner, who oversees editorial content for Hearst Connecticut”™s news operations. “Business coverage is essential to our communities.”
Under the terms of the agreement, bylined articles from the Fairfield County Business Journal, Westchester County Business Journal and WAG magazine will now reach Hearst”™s 500,000 Connecticut readers.
In turn, articles written by Hearst staffers will be featured in Westfair publications.
The Westfair Communications group also includes HVBiz, a section of the Westchester County Business Journal dedicated to businesses and events in the Hudson Valley counties of Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Dutchess. Westfair publications reach a cumulative 150,000 regional readers.
Said Dee DelBello, publisher of Westfair Communications, “Our two organizations will complement each other perfectly. The Hearst name is synonymous with great journalism and we are rightly proud of our own publications for their long history of bringing the most comprehensive local business news to devoted readers. For Hearst to reach our readership and for our products to reach their readers makes sound journalistic sense and, more importantly, it gives readers more complete business news.”
The Fairfield County Business Journal and its sister Westchester County Business Journal are 50 years old. They were founded by former Westchester resident David Moore, a grandson of New York publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and John Smith, a former Wall Street Journal editor.
Westfair also sponsors seminars, expos, conferences, roundtable discussions and debates, and the popular Fairfield County 40 Under 40 event, which recently drew a record crowd to The Palace theater in downtown Stamford.
Hearst dates to the 19th century when William Randolph Hearst founded it. Today the company owns 15 dailies and 34 weeklies nationally.