The nation is two days away from celebrating our independence.
And for us at the Daily Times, we will be celebrating this year in a very special way.
We are throwing off a lot of the old ways we have come to look at the way we gather – and deliver – the news.
The result will be a special edition we will print and publish online that we are referring to as our Ben Franklin Project.
It has two main ingredients. Fueled by a new corporate mission to embrace new ideas, shed many of the standard operating systems that have anchored us in the past, and opening up our news-gathering process, we will present a different kind of newspaper.
It is one that largely has been produced with free online applications.
More importantly, it is one that was largely inspired by our readers. We asked you what you thought were the most important stories in Delaware County, and what questions you wanted us to ask.
You did not let us down.
You told us you continue to struggle under the bane of almost every homeowner in the county, property taxes. The result was a weeklong series that will kick off Sunday and examine the problem, as well as what our readers believe should be done about it.
You asked us to showcase some of the people who are attacking the key problems in the region. We responded with a look at the First Suburbs Group, which is putting the issues confronting inner-ring suburbs, such as infrastructure, housing and education, under the microscope.
In sports, we are taking a look at something many readers asked us: Just why is it that the county lacks a central recreation facility.
For years we have reported stories we believe are important to our readers. We have no intention of abandoning that mission.
But we have every intention of using the technology available to us to throw open the windows of our journalistic mission, to let readers become an integral part of the process.
We want you to let us know when you think an issue is going under the radar. We will ask you to tell us what questions you think we should be asking. And we will ask you to supplement our coverage with your own photos and videos.
Sometimes it’s as easy as picking up the phone.
Earlier this week I got a phone call from a reader in Clifton Heights.
She wanted to tell me about something very special they were doing in the borough for this year’s July 4th celebration.
The result was a fabulous story and video on a group of veterans from Georgia who are bringing a replica train to town to take part in their parade.
Here’s our call to you: Don’t let the parade pass you by. Join us in our mission. Tell us what you think needs to be covered in Delaware County.
We are determined to flourish in a new era of journalism. And it all starts Sunday.
We hope Ben Franklin would be proud.
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