Pulling back the curtain

So often as reporters we get to see things that I think the readers of our paper should be able to see, but there has never really been a good way to provide it to you. I’m talking about audits, court records, meeting minutes … things we often use in our reporting, but you never get to see in their entirety unless you take the time to go to city hall or court or wherever and get them yourself. You have to rely on our summary of these things to know what they say.

No longer.

We are working hard to make our Internet website a complimentary part of our newspaper — a way to expand on what you see in the copy you pay 50 cents for in the rack or get in the mail. For instance, there was much talk this past week about the Corbin Independent School District’s "Facilities Plan." It’s basically just a two-page roadmap showing what the district plans to do regarding its schools in the next five or 10 years. In the past, you would never get to see that document just by reading the story in the paper edition of The News Journal. But come to our website, and you can. Right there it is for you to inspect and draw your own conclusions.

I was adamant about doing things like this with the website that proceeded this one, and I am even more committed to providing extra content now. Stories you will only see on www.thenewsjournal.net, photo galleries that contain images of events we didn’t have the space to publish, court records, government records, everything you can imagine.

Be sure to pick up your copy of The News Journal every week. Then come to the website to see some extra info that we couldn’t put into the paper because we were so crammed with advertising. I’m excited about the possibilities.