Nothing is more important to us than being hyper-local. Everything we do falls back to that approach. We also want input from the community to help guide that news coverage.
Since BarrieToday was launched in October 2015, we have grown from having only one staff member to now having a newsroom of five. We have told the stories of your neighbours, our front-line workers, local heroes and burgeoning businesses. We have chronicled both the good and the bad, from poverty, homelessness, affordable housing and the opioid epidemic, to fundraisers, community events and sundry success stories.
This growth could not have happened without our loyal readers.
But we want to do more.
BarrieToday plans to strike an advisory board including people from many sectors of the city to help us in our pursuit to be the best we can be and strengthen our role in the community.
The advisory board would be an informal body of citizens that our editorial team can use as a sounding board to help us make our coverage more relevant and inclusive to all parts of the community.
We are looking for six to 10 people from different segments of the community and from varied professional and personal backgrounds to provide new perspectives and people who represent a range of voices and diversity, including age, income, occupation, ethnicity, ability, and gender. This does not include special-interest groups and political organizations.
Some of the areas we would like to draw from include the non-profit sector, well-known public figures, visible minorities, people from the news industry or with a journalism background, the business world, law enforcement, the youth sector, as well as health care and education. And we want people with strong opinions.
You don’t need to be a member of an established organization, but you do need to be willing to share your opinions and engage respectfully with a diverse group of people focused on creating connections, forming partnerships, building bridges and exploring solutions.
The advisory board's mandate would be to provide unbiased insights and ideas from a third-party point of view. In short, we want to help build better relationships with people and groups whose information needs are not being met.
You’ll have the opportunity to write opinion pieces, collaborate on a series of articles and, potentially, a “town hall” event, as well as helping to ensure BarrieToday is covering the issues crucial to community progress.
We want to hear more voices about what we are doing right as well as highlighting areas where we could do better. Journalism is a craft and that means always learning and consistently wanting to improve.
We’re asking you to commit to attending three or four meetings in a one-year term — current public health guidelines will determine the format, but we’re hoping to host the first meeting outdoors in August.
Those interested in applying can email me at [email protected] by Thursday, July 1 highlighting your background and reasons for wanting to join the board.
We look forward to hearing from you. We are here to listen!
Raymond Bowe is the community editor at BarrieToday.
