This week marks the final time that you must wait a full seven days for the next issue of the North State Journal. Starting Wednesday, Feb. 8, the North State Journal will publish two issues each week Wednesdays and Sundays. We are excited to bring you more premium content created by our talented journalists in a new midweek issue. In addition to statewide news, opinion, and sports, you will see a new nimbleness in our features section that moves beyond Sundays’ “The Good Life” theme. “Savor & Style” on Wednesdays will connect you to the food, families, fashion, and trends in our state. We also hope that you are enjoying the new business section that began Jan. 29. Business will have its own section on Sundays, but you can expect to see business stories in the Wednesday issue as well.
The North State Journal is nearing the completion of a full year of publication, and we have learned much about operating a statewide newsroom, printing a high-quality publication, and selecting stories that elevate the conversation in our remarkable state. As we make the transition from a weekly newspaper, you will notice subtle shifts in our story selection, analysis, and pace.
Our Sunday issue will no longer serve as a digest of the week’s top stories. Wednesday will bring you analysis of events from the weekend and the first days of the week, while Sunday will bring you the latter half of the week and give you a guide to the week ahead. In Sports, Wednesday will provide the opportunity to consider the true impact of your team’s victories, defeats, and strategy. Our “beyond the box score” strategy still means emphasizing analysis over scores the only sane way to cover sports in print in 2017.
This first year has been exciting, and we look forward to more growth in our publication in 2017. We continue to develop new content areas and make our digital presence more robust. As we grow and improve, we will keep you informed of changes that we hope make the North State Journal better each week and more valuable to the entire state of North Carolina.
Neal Robbins, from Asheboro, is publisher of the North State Journal.
