If you’re reading this, chances are we have a few things in common. We love Durango and La Plata County. We love sports. And we love The Durango Herald.
Change has arrived with your first weekend edition. Your Sunday newspaper may be gone, but your Saturday sports coverage, along with the stories you’ve come to expect from the Herald’s sports desk for generations aren’t going anywhere. We’re daily online, and we’ll have our best work in your four print editions every week.
I’ve loved newspapers since I was a 4-year-old boy running out to the curb every morning to steal the sports section out of the paper before my parents could beat me to it. I’ve been addicted to sports media since I was in middle school, and would fall asleep listening to my favorite late-night radio hosts. The advent of Twitter in my early college years took my ability to follow sports to another level, and gave me access to sports stars and journalists around the globe.
Media has changed through the years. Some for the better, some for the worse. Luckily, in our small mountain community, change has been gradual and with the intentions of catering to every reader demographic.
Though the frequency of the print edition of the Herald is changing, a lot will stay the same. Sports reporter Joe Fries and I will continue to work the sidelines after games – scribbling notes, interviewing your favorite coaches and players and diligently working to get stories posted to our website as quickly as possible. You’ll see exciting photographs from competitions throughout the area, and there will be plenty to cut out of the newspaper for scrapbooks.
But there will be a few changes, too.
Expect more columns in the weekend edition. They’ll come from writers you’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years as well as our sports desk.
Outdoors stories are moving to the weekend edition. Along with trip reports and the columns you’ve come to expect, I hope to expand outdoors coverage. After all, that’s why so many of us love living here. And in that area, I ask for your help. Send me your best photo from your most recent hike or mountain bike ride, your best catch from our local lakes and rivers, that epic photo from your climbing or skiing trip or anything else you want to show off. The best submissions will make the weekend edition, and I may have a photo or two of my own to share with you.
A few regular story series’ will move. Look for Prep Spotlight features in sports every Wednesday during the school year instead of Tuesday. Next fall, watch for Skyhawk Spotlights on Fort Lewis College athletes.
The full-page scoreboard was the pride of every sports editor and reporter at the Herald. But, as we try to best manage our space and time, the scoreboard with all the national standings and transactions will take a back seat to our local athletes. However, I know how important the radio and television listings are, as well as the local schedule. Look for complete listings in the weekend edition that will guide your programming for the following week.
It’s a big change to digest for you and me both. But let’s have some fun with it. If there’s something you feel we missed, check out the website. If you can’t find it, shoot me an email and we will do our best to get word out to the masses.
Hope to see you at a game soon. As always, thanks for reading.
John Livingston is the sports and outdoors editor at The Durango Herald. He can be reached at jlivingston@durangoherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlivi2.
