Soooo, notice anything different about today’s paper?

We have found a new printer: Webco Leduc. It is a company that has come highly recommended and its people have bent over backwards to convince us they will do a good job for you, the readers.

In particular, the outside four pages and centre four pages will be printed on Hi Brite Paper. It is heavier and whiter for a much cleaner look.

With Webco Leduc’s new presses, we can offer more consistent results. I can now implement new changes with graphics that require more detailed work, such as those mini-photos on the front cover’s index. And our graphic designers and photographers will now be able to make adjustments to contrast levels and colour balance for even better results.

Our old printers had flashes of brilliance and are nice people, but we were pushing its system too far with the number of colour pages and the detailed advertisements.

It should be noted that this paper will print out just fine if our computers send the print job with the proper filters that can be read by Webco Leduc’s computers. I am glad that computers never, ever have glitches (ahem) because the results could be monstrous.

With our new printers up and running, I felt it was time for my annual report to let you, the readers, know what improvements have been made and to check our direction.

This past year has offered some intriguing new tools to help me find these new ideas. The first tool is my publisher’s decision to hire DataPath Systems to conduct readership surveys.

Then there is the new and improved website, old.www.whatsupyukon.com, that has a counter telling me which columns are being read.

More than half of our columns have spent at least some time in the Top 3 positions, so I know we already have a good mix. But I knew that I needed to add some sophistication. To replace Anthony Trombetta’s humour column (sadly, he has left the territory to build his career … a necessary step and we wish him all the best) I asked fellow-comedian George Maratos to contribute Yukonisms.

For the summer, I took on two new columnists: Denise L. Norman, who writes Adventure on Two Wheels; and Bruce Ross, Tie One On.

You would think that a motorcycling column and fly-tying column are not sophisticated, but look at the demographic more closely and you will see that these two areas of interest are favoured by many professionals.

And, recently, I found a jewel in Jerome Stueart. He is contributing a book review on those books written by Yukoners or about the Yukon.

He is also writing Chosen City, a column that asks Yukoners why they moved here. What does this territory mean to them? How has the Yukon made them better people?

In the visual arts, Nicole Bauberger needed help covering this dynamic field. So, I was thrilled to meet Tara McCarthy who has been turning in excellent, excellent work. And she has been helping cover the performing arts, too.

Until the next time I report to you, please know that whether it is by e-mail, phone call or a chat on the street, we are listening.


Correction

A photo caption on Page 21 of the July 18 issue included the incorrect spelling of Bram Komaromi. We apologize to Bram and his excellent band, Plaid.


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