“The times they are a-changin’,” as a certain Bob Dylan once declared.
Regular readers of this page will no doubt be aware that our editor of some 16 years or so, Eve Edmonds, has taken a year off to mentor the next generation of journalists at university.
We, of course, wish her all the best in her new teaching career and I’m sure you’ll still see plenty of her cycling around her Steveston neighbourhood.
But with that, there inevitably will be changes coming to the Richmond News, some so small that you might not even notice and some more notable ones, that we absolutely hope you will.
Firstly, I’ve been given the privilege of taking over the helm as acting editor in Eve’s absence and I will be backed up by my very experienced colleague, Maria Rantanen, who will assume the new role as acting assistant editor.
We have behind us a very diverse and talented and multi-lingual newsroom in Valerie Leung and Vikki Hui, whose focus is on the education/arts and court beats, respectively.
And we have recently welcomed back Daisy Xiong, who delved into the world of public relations for a few years, before being drawn back to the News. Daisy will be honing in on the business and real estate beats.
Maria and I are both very excited about our new roles and have already made a few changes behind the scenes to better serve our thousands of readers, both in print and online at Richmond-News.com.
As well as our new managerial roles, we will both still be reporting — myself on breaking news and Maria in her customary role, keeping a close eye on city council — so please keep those hot tips coming in.
Neighbourhood reporting in the works
Of the changes that you’re going to notice in the coming weeks, the design of the pages in front of you are going to be tweaked and streamlined, so we can deliver more of the community news that you look for.
We also have plans to assign every reporter, including myself, a neighbourhood beat in Richmond, so we can get an even better understanding of what’s important on your street, avenue or cul-de-sac.
So please, feel free to connect with us at [email protected] to share your ideas of what you would like to see in the Richmond News, whether that be here in print, or online, where we produce local content, pretty much on a 24/7 basis.
In the works are plans to give you more localized content, including what’s going in the business community and more human interest stories, stories about you and your neighbours and the people that make your neighbourhood what it is.
Also looking forward to the future of the Richmond News is our publisher, Alvin Chow.
“I’m very excited about the newsroom editorial arrangement with Alan’s 15-plus years’ experience at the News and Maria’s ongoing city hall and community coverage,” he said.
“The plan to have more local and neighbourhood coverage means you can access online stories 24/7 anywhere.”
As Eve said in her parting column last week, the Richmond News couldn’t be what it is without the dedication and passion of its reporters.
But it absolutely cannot function without being connected to the community and without the daily assistance of you, the reader, and we aim to honour that in the best way possible over the coming weeks and months.
Connect with the team at:
Alan Campbell:
Maria Rantanen:
Valerie Leung:
Vikki Hui:
Daisy Xiong:
We’re ready and waiting to hear from you, Richmond.
