It seems like an appropriate time to take a few moments to talk about some of the changes we’ve had here at the Courier News over the past few weeks, and then some.
Perhaps the most notable, at least recently, has been our new look. The redesign debuted April 14, and has generally been received very well.
We’d been wanting to launch a redesign for a few years. Like any product, newspapers get a little stale if they don’t change their look every now and then. You see the same thing in everything from cars to telephones to fast-food restaurants — if you don’t modernize, you’re going to start losing customers. And newspapers are no different.
There’s two parts of the redesign that I’m most excited about. One is our new community events listing, which appears daily on Page 3. Back with the old look, we’d run three to five “briefs” down the side of Page 1 each day. Our new approach allows us to list nearly 20 events each day. And now, they’re in chronological order, which I think provides a better context for people who are trying to find out what’s going on. The Courier News has always been the premier place to go to find out what’s happening around town, and I think we’re now doing a better job of doing this.
The second new component I really like is our new stock market modules, which appear daily on Page 7. This is something we have access to via our membership in The Associated Press. Our market modules provide and in-depth glance at what is happening in the world of money, with special emphasis on stocks of local interest. The modules are customized by AP for our readers. In these days of uncertain economic fortunes, I think this is vital information to provide for the community.
And, of course, as many readers have noticed, the paper is a little narrower these days. This is something that is becoming the industry standard. Paper costs more money these days, and newspapers are looking to cut costs by buying narrower rolls. Many papers have already made the switch; those who haven’t will likely soon. Personally, I like the narrower paper. It’s easier to hold and more reader-friendly. Besides that, here at the Courier News, we’ve expanded the number of pages in our base paper from 14 to 16 pages, so there’s more or less a net gain in the amount of news in each edition.
But the changes around here go beyond the redesign. Most recently, the Courier News has entered the world of online social networking via a Facebook site. The plan for now is to use Facebook as a way to connect with our readers. We’ll post occasional news about the paper, and promote a few upcoming projects. If you’re on Facebook, we’d love to have you on board as a fan.
And your truly is now experimenting with a Twitter account. I’m not too sure what to think of this service, but if you’re on Twitter, I’d love to have you as a follower. We’ll have to see where this one leads us.
One change that is now months old that has not been real popular has been our decision to drop the Monday edition. And let me say that I empathize with those who are disappointed. A wise person once told me that a daily newspaper is like a friend, who comes to visit you in your home every afternoon. So naturally, when your friend stops visiting every Monday, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed. But the Courier News has not been immune to the financial difficulties that have affected everyone from the local steel mills to the Main Street merchants, and difficult decisions sometimes have to be made. Honestly, the Monday paper was never a strong edition, in terms of advertising or news content; and though it might not be obvious, I am confident that our remaining daily editions are now stronger with the added attention we are able to give them.
One of our goals here at the Courier News is to one day publish the perfect paper. We haven’t done it yet, but we try every day. We have a small, but devoted and hard-working staff that is striving every day to meet our readers' information and advertising needs. Maybe we’ll get that perfect paper someday.
Until then, I’d love to hear from you. Check us out on Facebook, head to Twitter and follow @andy_weld, or visit my blog at thefasttalker.blogspot.com. For that matter, a good old letter to the editor is also still welcome any day.
I thank you for reading this column, and for reading the Courier News.
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