CR taking positive view of change

It’s a time of change.
That’s true not just because of the switch at managing editor. There are already a couple of new faces in The Commercial Review’s newsroom, and a third will join us in early August.
Change can be scary, but it can also be good. That’s the way we we’re looking at it.
We’re excited about the young journalists we’ve hired and the job they’re going to do covering the events and personalities in Jay County and the surrounding areas.
With our many changes in personnel and responsibilities, there will also be changes to the content we provide.
We’d like to grow our local coverage on our weekly business and church pages. In addition to the regular roundups of business news and church events, our goal will be to get more in-depth local stories on those pages on a regular basis.
Sometimes those stories may be as simple as a short profile about a pastor or someone getting a promotion at a local business. Sometimes there will be more in depth stories about business trends or church-related topics.
So, make sure to keep us up to date on your special events, employee promotions, new businesses or other news.
We’d also like to give our Saturday “Leisure Times” section — i.e. the TV Guide — more of a local flair. If there is a play or a concert or any other arts/entertainment event on the horizon, make sure we’re aware of it. We may want to interview the lead actor, the band or the artist.
We will also be introducing a weekly agriculture page on Friday. This is something area farmers have been asking about for a while, and we’re happy to oblige.
These are just some of the changes we have in store. Some changes will happen this week. Others may be more gradual. But our hope is for all of them to take what we already feel is one of the best small newspapers in Indiana and make it even better.
There is always room to improve. And in addition to the changes discussed above, we’d also like to enlist your help in pursuit of that goal.
If there’s something you’d like to see us do more of, or less of, please let us know.
And especially let us know if you have an idea for a story.
There have been times when we’ve been asked why we didn’t have a story about a certain topic. All too often the answer is simple: Because we didn’t know. (Or because we were contacted about the event after it happened instead of before.)
If we don’t know about something, we can’t write about it.
Two favorite stories from the past year — Lindsey Wellman’s effort to walk on to the Ball State University women’s basketball team and Joellen White becoming the first woman to bowl a 300 game at The Brown Bowl — came from reader tips.
We never would have known about those stories if not for readers Kari Hemmelgarn and Janet Bantz. Thank you both.
If you want to contact us, we’re easy to find. You can email us at [email protected], call us at (260) 726-8141, send us traditional mail at P.O. Box 1049, Portland, IN, 47371, or stop in and see us at our 309 W. Main Street office in Portland.
We likely won’t be able to use every idea we get, but we promise to give them all strong consideration.
The final request we’ll make today is that you continue to be the supportive community you have always been. Read the paper, look at the pictures, ‘like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and, most importantly, say hi when you see us at community events, government meetings and athletic games, meets and matches.
We feel lucky to have such a loyal group of readers, and we look forward to continuing to serve you. —R.C.[[In-content Ad]]