These days, any difference you spot in a newspaper’s pages can be scary. We know. Like many of you, we’ve been tracking recent losses in Chicago’s daily newspapers.
So we worry that when you see a change in Forest Park Review starting with this week’s issue, you’ll worry that our newspaper, too, might end up giving you less and less.
That’s not the case. The change you’ll spot today is a small difference in presentation, not a wholesale loss of content. It’s one in a series of steps we’re taking to bring you more, not less, in the same space we have to fill every week.
We no longer will have one long feature in the middle of the paper under the label of HomeTown. Instead, throughout the paper, we’ll mix in features of varying lengths along with news stories of varying lengths.
On weeks when we have more news to update you on, such as this week for example, this change will afford us the space to give you all details relevant to those reports. And on weeks when a particular feature sings, this change will afford us the opportunity to bring it to you in color, starting on the front page.
For a few weeks now, you’ve been seeing subtler tweaks that we hope will make for better reading of the Review:
In an italic paragraph at the end of every column, we’re telling you about the folks doing the writing: Jackie Schulz was a schoolteacher. Bob Sullivan was in the Air Force during the Korean War. Stephanie Kuehnert wrote I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Ballads of Suburbia. And John Rice still gets a thrill smelling Red Hots and strolling through cemeteries.
In expanded calendar listings, we’ve started to bring you more neighborhood options for live music, classes, reunion notices and volunteering opportunities. And we’re working nonstop on getting you more.
In the last month, we’ve hired a new calendar editor: Kaylie Muriello, a Forest Parker, in fact. Send Kaylie details about events your group or business is planning and she’ll make sure we get the word out. You can e-mail Kaylie at kmuriello@wjinc.com or call her at 613-3316.
As always, holler out to Josh Adams, our Review editor, as you need to. You can e-mail Josh at jadams@wjinc.com or call him at 613-3325.
I’m a good listener, too. If you’ve got a concern you need to bring to my attention, e-mail helenk@wjinc.com or ring 613-6307.
Thank you for reading the Review.
