Our focus here at The Salem News is, well, the news.
Six days a week, we fill the paper with as many stories as we can, covering everything from pension reform, toll hikes and police stings to new bands, outstanding student-athletes and tireless volunteers.
An average paper, as a matter of fact, has more than three dozen stories, not counting editorials, columns, letters and smaller news briefs.
News may be our main mission, but it's not all we do. We also try to bring our readers closer together by showing them all there is to do here on the North Shore.
Take a look at our calendar. Folks looking for something to do today can choose from the Family Festival in Danvers, the "Solar Fest" in Beverly and a chicken barbecue in Hamilton (remember, we control the calendar, not the weather).
For a long time, however, our calendars got short shrift as we packed the city and town pages in our front section with as much news as we could fit. If it came down to choosing between another news story or a calendar item, we chose news. It could be frustrating for readers looking for something to do and organizations trying to get the word out about an event.
So we have made some changes. On Page 5 of today's paper you'll find a new, expanded calendar combining events from all our cities and towns.
Where in the past we were only able to fit one or two calendar items on a town page (if we had room to run calendar at all), now we can let you know about events two or three days in advance. And by combining all of our communities into one calendar, you'll get a chance to see what's going on one town over without having to thumb through the entire paper.
The new calendar will run every day on our record page, near the obituaries and the police notes.
Stay tuned this summer as we continue to experiment with an online calendar that would allow readers to visit salemnews.com, find out what's happening across the North Shore and print out a map with directions to the event. The programs we are looking at would also allow organizers of nonprofit events to add to the online calendar themselves.
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Who says newspapers are dying?
Our seminar, "How to get your news in the paper," is as popular as ever. Next month's session — our fifth of the year — is already fully booked. And our newest offering, "How to take great photos," filled up just hours after we announced it.
Rather than turn people away, however, we've decided to extend the series and offer each program monthly through the end of the year.
In "How to get your news in the paper," readers will learn how to write effective press releases, pitch stories to reporters and editors, and work with the newspaper staff. The photography session is aimed at beginning and intermediate amateur photographers who want to learn how to take better candid pictures and shoot under different conditions — outside in the snow or on the water, or at sporting events, cookouts and dance recitals.
For more information or to register for an upcoming seminar, e-mail Robyn Day at rday@salemnews.com.
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David Olson is editor of The Salem News. E-mail him at dolson@salemnews.com.
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