When I was growing up, we had a family tradition where children who had anxiously awaited Christmas Day for weeks could open one present on Christmas Eve.
The joy of opening that first present was exquisite.
The News Tribune and its readers are able to experience that same joy this holiday season in that we have updated our mobile app. It is now available for unwrapping at your phone's or tablet's app store.
Our old phone app, which was terribly outdated, has been shelved, and we have launched this new tool for your use.
For seven-day subscribers, the app gives readers the digital version of the newspaper, as well as the latest news on our website. The new app offers readers the ability to read the complete stories on their smartphone or tablet, as well as see the incredible photos and videos taken by our staff.
As I mentioned in a previous column, snow- and ice-packed roads often create a challenging environment for delivery of the News Tribune every morning. As we approach those snowy, icy days ahead of us, just think how easy it will be to grab your phone or tablet and check out the news without having to search through the snow for that day's edition.
The app also is updated throughout the day, so you'll get the latest news, as well as text-message notifications that will tell you when there is breaking news you may want to read.
To access the new app, download a new version of the Jefferson City News Tribune app from your app store. It should be version 5.6.
If you don't have your digital News Tribune subscription set up (it's free for seven-day subscribers), you can do it simply by calling 573-636-3131 or going to subscribe.wehco.com/nt/newstribune/landing.
Gaining access to that account is as simple as clicking on the "sign in" button at newstribune.com. On the next screen, click "Activate Your Digital Access Now" if you are a seven-day subscriber. If you're not a subscriber and wish to become one, you can do that on the same screen.
Activating or subscribing to the News Tribune opens up a world of information to you. Our website is a metered website, in that we allow non-subscribers three free article views a month, then encourage them to subscribe so they can gain full access to our stories and photographs.
We believe quality journalism is vital to the health of a community, but it also requires an investment of the community. That investment is used to pay the journalists who work diligently to keep the community informed and engaged.
There are times when we produce stories concerning immediate public safety issues. Perhaps it's road closings, police activities such as manhunts or Amber Alerts, natural disasters and the available resources to help those most affected. For these sort of stories, our policy is to give access to all subscribers and non-subscribers in an effort to ensure accurate, timely information is in the hands of the entire community.
We are driven by a mission to be the source of information to engage, entertain and inspire the community and do appreciate the investment our subscribers have made in our work and in the community. We also welcome feedback and suggestions on how to more effectively pursue that mission. You can provide that feedback by emailing me at [email protected] or calling 573-761-0255.
Reader Advisory Board
As promised in a previous column, we have added two new members to our Reader Advisory Board.
For a year and a half, the News Tribune has hosted monthly Reader Advisory Board meetings, where members of the community and News Tribune staffers discuss issues and challenges facing our community.
The Reader Advisory Board is comprised of members of our Editorial Board, who are staff members of Central Missouri Newspapers and whose names appear daily on the Opinion page, as well as five members of the community.
The community members represent a variety of life experiences and positions within the community. They serve a one-year term on the board; their compensation for attending the meeting on the first Wednesday of the month is lunch and the opportunity to share their views on today's topics, as well as respond to others' views.
From these meetings, we have formed editorial stances made on our Opinion page, generated news story ideas on the themes of the topics, as well as offered Reader Advisory Board members the opportunity to write columns on topics of interest to them.
At the beginning of November, I mentioned in a similar column we had two vacancies on the board, and I asked community members to email me if they were interested in joining the board.
We were blessed to receive many applications; choosing two board members from all the great candidates was incredibly difficult.
But we are pleased to announce Jenny Smith and Diane Spieker have joined the board. We held our first meeting Wednesday, and it was a great first meeting. Jenny and Diane will be serving one-year on the board; members Mel Kallal, Ashley Jones-Kaufman and Jessica Green will be leaving the board in six months. At that time, we will be looking for new members of the board.
More details on the board will likely come in the future.
Gary Castor is the managing editor of the Jefferson City News Tribune. His email address is [email protected].