We’ve made some long-overdue changes to our website that will both allow us to share more online content with our readers, as well broaden the scope of our coverage to regional news.
We’re pleased to make these changes, but there are still some improvements to be made.
One of the benefits of belonging to a network of newspapers is gaining access to relevant news outside our regular boundaries to nearby towns and regions like Prince Rupert and the Hwy. 16 corridor. We rarely access this content for the newspaper unless it is relevant and specific to Haida Gwaii.
But this changes with the unlimited space available on the web. We trust you’ll find haidagwaiiobserver.com a convenient portal to regional, provincial national and even international news (via Canadian Press).
Rest assured, while the new website reflects a broader scope of news coverage, the team at the Haida Gwaii Observer is committed to writing stories only about Haida Gwaii and Haida Gwaiians. As handy as it may be to offer expanded coverage, the purpose of a community newspaper is to focus on the community that supports it. Pure and simple.
Which leads us to the further improvements we need to make on this new website.
As you visit, you’ll likely find provincial news items running ahead of local stories. This is not our preference, but a poor choice in the site’s original design. This will be corrected in the new year to ensure access to local news always takes precedence.
We ask for and appreciate your patience. In the meantime, if you would like to access Observer content without sifting through off-island news, click on the link labeled e-Edition in the upper right corner of the homepage. This will take you to an online version of the paper that is an exact copy of the print edition, easy to turn through page by page.
On the main website you’ll also find a Coming Events section that allows readers to easily submit event details directly to the site—we will transfer them to the paper edition as well.
Classified ads and regular advertising will also come available in the very near future.
The website is just one of several improvements we’re making to your paper. In the new year, we’re happy to let you know we’ll have new columnists and a dedicated reporter for the northern end of Haida Gwaii.
The concentration of news coverage in the south has been an issue for many, many years. We’re sure you’ll like the change.
