National Newspaper Week, observed today through Saturday, provides an excellent opportunity for us to thank you, our readers.
You share your ideas and opinions with us, you invite us to record your activities and events, and you allow us to document your achievements and aspirations.
Today marks a special day for the Jefferson City News Tribune; it is our 150th anniversary.
Our readers have been an integral part of our history, which you helped us to document by contributing to two books - "Reflections," stories and photographs documenting the Flood of "93, and "Jefferson City 150: 150 years of Jefferson City Through the Eyes of the News Tribune and its Readers."
In connection with our anniversary, many of our readers joined us for a celebration this summer at our printing facility on Schotthill Woods Drive. And the Jefferson City Council is scheduled on Monday to proclaim the day as News Tribune Day.
As we celebrate our anniversary and newspaper week, however, our focus remains on our future.
And with your continued participation, the prospects are both encouraging and exciting.
Among recent initiatives, we:
• Engage with readers on social media through Facebook, Twitter and a range of apps.
• Host a monthly "Coffee with the Editor." Managing Editor Gary Castor frequently is joined by President Terri Leifeste and other staff members to answer questions and gather reader input in casual settings at various community venues.
• Invite readers to suggest questions and share experiences. Reporters recently have solicited input on the north Jefferson City river walk, Adrian's Island development and Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall experiences.
The newspaper industry has faced questions about its future, particularly since the advent of social media.
We see social media as an opportunity for expansion, not a threat of extinction.
Working together, we envision a bright future of providing information you, our readers, need and want.