The changing face of the Frontiersman

Frontiersman editorial board

The Frontiersman is now well into its new role as a thrice-weekly newspaper. There were some growing pains, and we still have a kink, or two, to work out, but we're even more proud of the newspapers we print each week. We're very proud, and pleased to be a part of the Mat-Su community.

In newspapers, change -- by definition -- brings with it some new looks and some new content. Some of those changes have caught some of our readers by surprise, and some of the changes have left a few readers unhappy. Because we've added a third edition each week, and because our goal is to bring daily service to the Valley, we felt it was time to add some national commentary and features to our content. We've done that by way of including feature and sports material that we think will be interesting to many readers. We've also included some national columnists and political cartoons to our Opinion section.

Some readers have contacted us with a concern that we have added this new material at the expense of local news. In fact, we are now covering more local news than ever. The majority of articles in the Frontiersman are still community-related, and our commitment is to always focus our greatest efforts on local news and issues. Each Sunday issue of the Frontiersman now features an extensive "enterprise" article that takes an in-depth look at an issue near and dear to Valley hearts.

The extra issue also affords us more space for other local stories that wouldn't have found their way on to our pages were we still publishing only twice each week. While growth has resulted in the addition of some national material, it has also resulted in many more local stories, and that was the real reason we made the move.

It's also important to mention that the extra edition means more space for local submissions, and we encourage readers to take part in the communication process. We are always looking for submissions for the religion and opinion pages, and we welcome readers to take part in their newspaper in other ways. It's true that local voices will always be better than distant ones, and we hope our readers will take pen in hand -- or sit down at the keyboard -- and knock some of those national writers off the page.

There is always room for growth and improvement. We encourage input and participation from the community. We strongly believe that the Frontiersman is a community newspaper, and that it can only achieve its potential when our staff and our readers work together. We encourage phone calls and letters that let us know when we're getting it right, and when we're not. We believe that the news we provide is an important service to our community, and we're always open to ideas that will help us improve that service.

The Frontiersman also has a readers' advisory board made up of people from around the community. The board meets quarterly with our editorial staff to help us understand how people in the community are receiving our articles, and where we can improve our efforts. If you are interested in participating on our readers' advisory board please call 352-2268 or send an e-mail to editor@frontiersman.com for more information.