Click on the play arrow above to hear New Haven Independent reporter, editor, and publisher talk about the power of the press at a youth action conference last week. The video was shot by Activist Gary Holder-Winfield.

Kudos to Brian Lockhart of the Stamford Advocate for following through with his Freedom of Information request and getting the information on the alleged hacking of U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman's campaign web site the day of the 2006 Democratic Primary against challenger Ned Lamont.

Click here to continue reading about how the FBI determined that www.joe2006.com was never hacked as Lieberman and his campaign crew alleged.

Click here to read her press release about the state of the media at the Capitol.

Greg Hladky, the New Haven Register's last surviving full-time Capitol reporter, normally starts the day checking the list of press conferences and hearings to cover. Tuesday he got a message to call his editor first.

Hladky did -- and found out that after 28 years, he won't be filing any more stories datelined Hartford for New Haven's daily newspaper readers.

Hladky lost his job in what appears to be the last budget-cutting move by the Register, which like many daily newspapers is shedding reporters and editors the way snakes shed skin.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report.

HAMDEN, Conn. -- Connecticut's attorney general and the top Massachusetts official pushing a plan for three new casinos in the Bay State will highlight a free-public symposium next week on casino gambling organized by the New England News Forum and Quinnipiac University.

Two films will also be shown.

Just this week, the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a study saying Massachusetts could reap millions of dollars and thousands of jobs under his proposal being bitterly contested by key legislators. Most of the economic benefits would come at the expense of Connecticut's existing two existing betting resorts, the study suggested.

"The Big Gamble: The Costs, Benefits and Coverage of Casinos," an open-to-the-public symposium on Tues., March 11, at Quinnipiac's law school in Hamden, Conn., will feature public officials, journalists, researchers and a top industry executive. In two hours of moderated discussion beginning at 7 p.m., they'll assess the impact and reporting of casino gambling in the region. Click here to register for the event.

HAMDEN- Public officials, journalists, researchers and a top industry executive will assess the impact and reporting of casino gambling on New England -- the experience in Connecticut and the promise in Massachusetts -- during a free, public symposium next month hosted by Quinnipiac University and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.

"The Big Gamble: The Costs, Benefits and Coverage of Casinos," is being co-presented by the New England News Forum at the University of Massachusetts and the School of Communications at Quinnipiac with support from the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. The event will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11 in the Mancheski Executive Seminar Room at the Lender School of Business Center, and will be preceded by a reception and movie screening on the campus.

Click here to read about the experts on the panel and register for the event.

Most people think of liberal bloggers as a bunch of 20-somethings living in their mother's basement and communicating by carrier pigeon because they think their phones are tapped, Tim Tagaris, Internet director for Ned Lamont and Chris Dodd, said. "It's Americans with computers," Tagaris said Thursday during a panel discussion on "Campaigning on the Web" at the University of Connecticut Law School.

He said research shows most bloggers are college educated and opinion leaders in social circles. Melissa Ryan of Act Blue, formerly a blogger with CTLocalPolitics.net, said bloggers are ordinary citizens who love politics. She said it's a misconception that bloggers are only active in a virtual world. In reality bloggers are campaign volunteers, members of their local Democratic Town Committees, and fundraisers, she said.

Dana Neves, the news director of WFSB-TV, wants to remove the station's call letters from a promotional video in which Duby McDowell portrays herself as the station's political analyst when she's actually a hired public relations agent paid to ask questions about her clients' work.

Neves reported as much to two Branford residents who had complained about a video airing on public access television featuring McDowell, a former WFSB reporter turned p.r. agent and occasional on-air "analyst."

McDowell produced the 30-minute promotional video, called "New England Estates v. the Town of Branford", for the law firm of Shipman & Goodman. It features Tim Hollister and Jim Bergenn, partners at the firm, talking about the whopping $12.4 million jury they won against the town for taking 77 acres of land on Tabor Drive by eminent domain.

Click here to continue reading Marcia's follow-up report.

TV journalist turned hired-gun Duby McDowell "reports" about her client.

McDowell, who covered state politics for WFSB TV-Channel 3 for years before starting her own PR firm, portrays herself as an WFSB representative in a televised video she put together for one of the state's most prominent law firms, Shipman & Goodwin.

The 30-minute video is called "New England Estates v. the Town of Branford."

Click here to continue reading Marcia's story.

Known online as CGG, which is Caffeinated Geek Girl for short, Melissa Ryan is leaving the Nutmeg State for a job with Act Blue in Massachusetts.

For those unfamiliar with the blogosphere, Ryan is probably the most prolific liberal blogger on CTLocalPolitics.net. She also blogs on MyLeftNutmeg and MyDD.

Keep reading to find out what her friends and enemies had to say about Ryan's blogging.