Valley Journal sports coverage evolves
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
The Valley Journal is adapting its sports coverage beginning this fall, both out of necessity and a desire to try something new.
What you may have already noticed, and will continue to see, is a freshly designed sports section featuring score boxes, highlights from coaches and a featured photo of the week. This streamlined coverage is replacing our previous approach of reporting on every local sports team, every week. We’ve met with area high school athletic directors and will work closely with them and our coaches to get event highlights published weekly. We’ve asked coaches to submit this information to us no later than Sunday for the same week’s newspaper. Because we appreciate how busy coaches are, we’ve simplified the process for submitting results. Our final deadline for publication is Sunday by 5 p.m., as our newspaper is sent to print Monday.
Sometimes, change can be hard. But it’s not only necessary, it’s usually well worth the effort. The current recession has brought with it closures of businesses on both a local and national scale and required significant cutbacks in others. We are lucky. We have not closed. Nor have we had to significantly cut our staff. But like most businesses, we do have to adjust. Part of our adjusting has been to refigure how we handle sports coverage in the newspaper.
You’ll still see us at your local sporting events and while our print coverage of sports will be more limited, our photography will not. We plan to use our new website to showcase all the great photos we take, not just the ones that make it to print. Now you’ll be able to view more photos than ever before. We are excited to bring our readers video clips of local sports events, too. While travel to away games is no longer possible, we always welcome and encourage photo submissions from sports enthusiasts.
We understand that our avid sports fans may find it disappointing when they no longer see weekly stories for every team, every school, each and every week. We do plan, however, to write a feature story about each of our local high school teams once during their season.
We encourage you to frequent our newly improved website to read stories, view photo galleries and share your insight.
Remember, we’re mobile friendly. So pull up a chair and surf on a computer or look us up on your phone if you’re on the go.
We thank you for your loyalty and understanding as we, your homegrown newspaper, evolve our process and coverage of local sporting events.
