Publishing a daily newspaper is our bread and butter here at the Tribune-Star. But there are occasions and circumstances when special sections — products that go above and beyond what we normally deliver — allow us to focus more intensely on important areas of interest to our legions of readers.
The staffs in each of our departments — news, advertising, circulation and production — have been hard at work this summer preparing for a series of special sections that we hope readers will find enjoyable and enlightening this summer and fall.
The first, a 24-page tabloid section devoted to previewing the new Wabash Valley high school football season, was included in last Friday’s newspaper. Prep sports are a big part of what we do to serve readers in the Valley’s hometowns, and football is a perennial centerpiece for our coverage.
Our staff of sports writers, photographers and page editors did their usual top-notch job of getting you ready for the new high school season. But they get no chance to catch their breath. Next week, they will complete their next special section, one devoted to previewing the upcoming Indiana State University football season.
It’s been a while since we’ve used a special section to preview college football, but with ISU’s program on the upswing, and on the heels of a winning 2010 season, the time was right to give this topic more expansive pre-season coverage.
Sports Editor Todd Golden, our beat writer for ISU football, has been leading the charge on the tabloid special section, which will be inserted into the regular newspaper on Friday, Sept. 2, the day before the Sycamores open the 2011 season at Penn State.
Sports staffers will get a break after that as they immerse themselves in covering the fall sports seasons. But the news staff will pick up the baton with three special sections — a 9/11 commemorative section, the annual Community Update edition, and a section devoted to the 2011 municipal elections.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had such a profound impact on America and the world that the day they happened is now seen as an iconic historical moment, similar to Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing.
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 will be the second Sunday in September, and to observe this special day, we are completing several feature projects that will help explain what that day meant to America and how much it has changed the way we live, travel and view global events.
One of those projects will be a broadsheet special section containing local, state and national stories about 9/11 and its 10th anniversary. The section will be inserted into the Saturday, Sept. 10, newspaper.
We chose that day to deliver the section to readers so they will have more time that weekend to read and reflect on this landmark in time, and to make sure the section does not get lost in the usual heavy load of Sunday newspaper inserts.
Two weeks later, we will publish the third annual Community Update, a collaboration of our news and advertising departments to highlight community progress during the past year. The broadsheet section will be inserted into the newspaper on Saturday, Sept. 24.
The final special section devoted to municipal elections in Terre Haute and surrounding Indiana communities is scheduled for publication on Saturday, Oct. 22, a little more than two weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
It will be a busy time in the life of your newspaper, and we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor. As always, we appreciate your comments, questions and feedback.
Max Jones can be reached at (812) 231-4336, or by email at max.jones@tribstar.com.
Max Jones
MAX JONES: Something special — courtesy of your newspaper
- Max Jones
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
It happened again this past January when all those “looking at the year ahead” stories started popping up on Internet “news” websites and broadcast “news” programs. Under a provocative headline reading something like “Five industries/businesses doomed to tank in the coming year,” there it was, a prediction based on an unsubstantiated “expert” analysis that the newspaper industry will continue in 2013 to suffer its slide into oblivion.
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MAX JONES: Call it religion if you want, it’s still bigotry
The tiny grocery store my grandfather operated in the 1950s and ’60s was often a gathering spot for the colorful cast of neighborhood characters that populated my hometown. I liked hanging out there with my brothers or cousins because it was good entertainment and we all enjoyed the way our granddad interacted with the locals.
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MAX JONES: Social media can actually serve a useful purpose
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MAX JONES: There are simple ways to get your letter published
As an old year turns into a new year, I am inclined to look back and assess the newspaper’s performance on behalf of readers the past 12 months. When I do, the volume and quality of reader letters we publish always amazes me.
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MAX JONES: Newspapers have story to tell about bright future
Rarely does a week go by when someone doesn’t call, write or stop me on the street to express how much they value their local newspaper and appreciate what it means to the community. Usually they like to tell me that it’s the print edition they find most satisfying, but many acknowledge they also use the online edition to keep an eye on things as well.
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Max Jones: Dances for CHANCES — great fun for worthy cause
Many years ago — too many to ponder at the moment — I joined a community theater troupe in Sullivan and had the opportunity to perform in several Broadway musicals. In one instance, I was fortunate to have the lead role portraying George M. Cohan in the musical “George M!”
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MAX JONES: News dynamics sometimes test an editor’s principles
It has been a long-standing policy at the Tribune-Star not to publish the names of crime victims
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MAX JONES: Got a question for Lugar-Mourdock debate? Submit it
Hoosier voters, especially those who choose a Republican ballot for the May 8 primary election, face a difficult decision this spring. Longtime U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar faces a spirited re-election challenge from state Treasurer Richard Mourdock for the GOP Senate nomination. The winner advances to a general election showdown in the fall with the presumed Democrat nominee, Rep. Joe Donnelly, and any third-party or independent candidates who qualify to run.
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MAX JONES: The sun never sets on Indiana’s time-zone debate
When Mitch Daniels aggressively pushed for Indiana to adopt daylight-saving time in his first term as governor, I admit I was not enthusiastic. The state, I figured, had found a way to handle its awkward time-zone geography by merely maintaining the time status quo while states around it changed their clocks twice a year. We peacefully coexisted with that strategy for a couple of decades.
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MAX JONES: It is amazing what an energized downtown can do
For those of us who’ve watched the inspired growth and development of downtown Indianapolis through the years, it’s hard to understand sometimes the amazement some express at what’s been created.
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MAX JONES: More changes and challenges, but we’re getting there
As a newspaper lands on your porch each day, or you grab it from a local vendor, the complex manufacturing process that goes into producing it is probably the furthest thing from your mind.
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MAX JONES: Arranging the pieces so it all makes sense
Putting together a newspaper, with its diverse mix of content, is sort of like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. You just have to keep mixing, matching and playing with the pieces until things begin to look right.
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MAX JONES: Community newspapers too valuable to go away
These days, rarely a week goes by without someone — a co-worker, a friend, a professional associate, an acquaintance, etc. — asking for my thoughts about the future of the newspaper industry.
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MAX JONES: Angry emotion yet to rear its head in mayoral race
October has arrived. Five weeks remain before Election Day, and a staple ingredient seems to be missing from Terre Haute’s mayoral campaign season.
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MAX JONES: Join us as we walk in the shadows of 9/11
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 has sparked renewed interest toward a haunting time in modern history. With all that’s happened the past 10 years related to the terrorist attacks of 2001, it still seems like only yesterday that we all were watching those terrible images of commercial airliners flying into buildings, towers collapsing and grief-stricken people all across America — and the world — mourning the victims.
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MAX JONES: 9/11 ‘moments’ still vivid 10 years later
With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, Americans are recalling in vivid detail where they were when they first learned of the terrorist attacks.
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MAX JONES: Something special — courtesy of your newspaper
Publishing a daily newspaper is our bread and butter here at the Tribune-Star.
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MAX JONES: Ernie Pyle never ceases bringing pride to Indiana
Once again, Ernie Pyle has made me proud to be a journalist.
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MAX JONES: What do you know about that founding Declaration?
Of all the national holidays Americans celebrate, July 4th — Independence Day — sports the most essential link to the country’s shared history and ideals.
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MAX JONES: Ready, action! Video lets us tell even better stories
Those of you who make the Tribune-Star’s online edition part of your reading routine — and there are approximately 40,000 of you each week who do so — have been treated recently to an enhanced feature on our website.
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MAX JONES: Vigo County played active role in Civil War history
When the Tribune-Star set out to find a way to commemorate Vigo County’s unique role in Civil War history on the 150th anniversary of its beginning, I was concerned it might be difficult to find much information on the subject locally.
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MAX JONES: Local seminar to shed light on access
Transparency in public information is an important principle for the proper functioning of government at all levels. Vigilance is key in ensuring that public records and meetings remain open and accessible to citizens of our communities.
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MAX JONES: Readers benefit from new resource
The Tribune-Star’s primary mission is to report news and tell stories that are relevant to our large community of readers, helping them be better informed and more engaged citizens.
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MAX JONES: Farewell to Stephanie, for a while
The Tribune-Star and its legions of readers throughout the Wabash Valley were extremely fortunate six years ago to welcome back a native daughter.
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MAX JONES: Friends ready for next big step at Pyle historic site
The campaign to preserve the legacy of World War II journalist Ernie Pyle in his hometown of Dana passed a milestone last week. Indiana’s Natural Resources Commission voted to end the state’s involvement in the Pyle historic site and turn it over to the Friends of Ernie Pyle organization.
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Max Jones: Taking the pulse of community progress
Terre Haute and Vigo County have been in a period of vibrant change in recent years.
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MAX JONES: Printed newspaper will be here for years to come
Whenever I speak to groups or individuals around the community about the state of the newspaper industry, I often get confused looks when I say that newspaper readership is growing rapidly and has never been higher.
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
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