As with any type of business, Leader Publications continuously looks for ways to better serve its customers.  We are excited about the new year.

In 2014, we spent a lot of time talking to readers about what they thought was missing in our newspapers. We talked with other publishers, editors and reporters from newspapers all across the country, researched other publications and work shopped our newspapers with other editors to gain feedback on our content and presentation.

In 2015, we plan to make a few changes that we know will give readers an improved reading experience and provide more local news about your friends and neighbors.

Effective Jan. 5, sports pages will move from the back pages to the inside of our papers. Pages will no longer jump from the back to the inside, so readers won’t have to read their papers backwards.

To fill the vacant back page, we will implement what we are referring to as “section backs.” Monday through Thursday our editorial staff will create one page newspaper “sections” like you would see in larger metropolitan newspapers, filled with local content that fits each category. These sections will help to satisfy some strengthen our local content and provide readers a number of weekly beats to look forward to.

Monday, business news will fill the back page. Stories could include spotlights on local businesses, efforts to improve business districts, news from the Chamber of commerce, promotion biographies and more.

Tuesday, readers will get news about the schools in their area. Community editors will be working even more closely than before with the leaders at local school districts to inform parents what their children are doing in school and all community members what their tax dollars are being spent on.

The Giving page, which has been running in Thursday’s publications for the last two years or so, will move to the back page on Wednesdays. We will continue to feature outstanding volunteers and community service efforts.

Thursdays readers will get a weekend outlook on our entertainment pages. Previews for upcoming events, a community calendar, spotlights on local celebrities and more will be included.

But, we need your help.

So much happens in our communities that we love to share with our readers, and we want to know about these things. If you know of an upcoming event that deserves coverage, please let us know. If you attended an event and didn’t see any of our reporters, but took pictures yourself, please feel free to submit your photos. We’d love to run them. And if you know of a person, group or business doing something worthy of recognition, tell us about them. My email and phone number are listed below. I’d love to hear from you.

As always, we welcome any feedback or suggestions.

Thank you for another year of reading. I look forward to another year of sharing the stories of our great communities.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.