KENT – Kent News, Inc., has announced the return of The Kent Good Times Dispatch (GTD). The first limited edition will be live online at www.kentgtd.org Oct. 12 and will mark the return of veteran newswoman and the last editor of the original GTD, Kathryn Boughton.
The Board of Directors of Kent News, Inc. hired Boughton to be the part-time editor for the next generation of The Kent Good Times Dispatch.
Boughton was the managing editor of the GTD from 2001 until 2009 when it was closed by then-owner the Journal Register Company, ending its 52-year run as Kent’s beloved local news source.
Boughton has a long history in local journalism, having gotten her first job out of college at the Lakeville Journal.
“I knew within a week that I had come home,” Boughton said. “It was a world of ideas and I loved it…. I am passionate about local journalism.”
“I believe that what I write can illuminate difficult issues facing towns and facilitate grassroots efforts to improve our communities,” Boughton continued.
“I am thrilled that the GTD is returning and look forward to being a part of this effort to restore local journalism to the town, an endeavor I consider to be essential to a healthy society,” she said.
Kent News, Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation established in 2022 to bring local news back to Kent, a small town in northwest Connecticut by reviving its local newspaper The Kent Good Times Dispatch.
The GTD was founded by John and Jane Greene in 1952, having its beginnings as a Boy Scout project and growing into a staple (the original paper was actually stapled together) of the Kent community.
“Our success, in having begun with four people who thought we should start a newspaper, to being able to publish our first edition of the GTD, at least in a limited basis, for now, is due to the wonderful support we have received from the Kent community,” said Karen Chase, president of Kent News, Inc., publishers of the Kent Good Times Dispatch.
“We have relied on private donations and several small grants for the initial funding of this project and we are proud to be able to make ‘2023 the Year of the GTD.’”
As a public service and using a small grant, Kent News, Inc., will sponsor a
moderated debate between the three first selectman candidates Oct. 13 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Kent Town Hall.
KNI is also publishing a voters guide for Kent’s Nov. 7 municipal election.
For information, visit www.kentgtd.org.
