Updating the newspaper

“Without change there is no innovation, creativity or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable”. – William Pollard.

Change is coming to the Caledon Citizen newspaper.

I understand people may not be happy with the way the paper has changed. I'm not happy when Facebook or Instagram change their layout or when the Caledon Centre changes their hours for the holidays.

However, without change, things become stagnant, lackluster and bland.

I've been in this role as editor of the Citizen for a short time now and there's a lot of changes I want to implement. Now don't fret. I don't want to do this to cause a nuisance but rather I want to change the way the paper is presented to modernize the way it looks to enhance your reading experience.

For too long I believe the Citizen needed a face lift. Published pictures weren't the best quality and stories were short, uninformative and dry. I want to make this a prestigious paper in Caledon with stories catering to all kinds of residents, worth your time. I want it to have a variety of hard news, arts, sports, entertainment and feel good news stories like any great broadsheet newspaper would have.

You may have noticed some of those changes. Pictures on the front are now higher quality, an index was incorporated at the bottom of the front page, stories are longer, in depth and feature a variety of sources, the column section is now clean and concise and the headers on each page have a similar font. These are just some of the small changes with many more to come. Of course, I couldn't have done this without the staff in the office here who understand why I want to make these changes.

This however does not mean everything is changing. I want to make my improvements while respecting the history of the paper. I believe the Citizen can combine everything that my predecessors have included while incorporating fresh and new elements to make it an illustrious.

When I introduce myself to new faces I town, I hear wonderful anecdotes of those before me. This makes me think about how wonderful they must have been as a person and journalist while appreciating the hard work they've done as I look through the archives. All they've done will never go under appreciated.

However, I want to put my mark on this paper while writing stories you care about. I thank those before me for the work that they have done but I believe it's time the public deserves a newspaper that doesn't look mediocre. I want readers to be scratching their head with aw or shock when they read a story that impacts them either directly or indirectly. The public needs to know what's happening in their town and I want to ensure they have those stories told with as much information as needed with both sides heard.

I want to make the a worthwhile newspaper that you want to pick up. I believe it's possible. I hope you do too so bare with me as I try to improve it's design.