It's a new Scope for Innisfil
Comment
by Chris Simon

So we've made a few changes.

About a month ago, the staff at The Scope met to discuss plans for the redesign of our newspaper. We all agreed on the need for a fresh look, something that would be more reader friendly and spark some excitement within the community.

We wanted something that would celebrate some important milestones in this newspaper's history. Our circulation reaches over 38,000 people each week, our website consistently earns about 100,000 hits per month, and this year will mark the 40th anniversary of The Scope.

There couldn't be a better time to recognize the accomplishments of the past, while pushing this newspaper forward. As we bounced ideas during that meeting, we began to see a new vision for the newspaper.

Some of the changes are pretty noticeable. We've replaced the Business and Real Estate, Health and Lifestyle and Out and About Innisfil pages with a new section called Innisfil Life. Here, you'll find features, business profiles, arts and entertainment news and specialty columns. We hope this will make some of the fun and lighthearted aspects of this town easy to find.

We've also specifically designed a news section for The Scope. News will now generally be allocated to the first few pages of our publication.

We've also added a weekly section for our community news columnists. Each week, readers will be able to consistently turn to a section in the newspaper, to find Thornton, Churchill and other community columns.

The front page of the newspaper also has a unique new look.

But some of the changes are more subtle. We've shifted around our newspaper page layout, in an attempt to make The Scope easier to read.

Our design team has studied the look of several different newspapers from across the country, something that has helped inspire this new product.

But we're not done yet. Over the next few weeks, we'll be introducing columns from several prominent political leaders in this area, including mayor Brian Jackson and warden Tony Guergis. Jackson will also participate in a monthly reader e-mail question and answer column. Simcoe-York Publishing reporter Wendy Soloduik will also be writing a health column, beginning within the next few weeks. We've got a few other things planned as well.

Ultimately, we want to make this newspaper as successful as possible. This redesign, along with a professional and balanced approach to news writing, will help us fulfill that goal. It will give you, the reader, plenty of community news, events and features to enjoy.

I sincerely believe a successful newspaper is built with a combination of hard hitting and accurate news coverage, community events and unique columns and opinions. We're getting there, and I believe that is what will make The Scope a standout community newspaper for a long time.

These changes have all been made to encourage Innisfil residents to read this newspaper from front to back page.

If you have any feedback on the new design, e-mail thescope@rogers.com or call 1-888-559- 2287.

Without further delay, we hope you like the new look Scope, Innisfil's Community Newspaper.