As BarrieToday continues to grow, we are also always looking for ways to stay better connected to our community.
And that means you, the reader.
One way we have been doing that is through our community advisory board, which was formed last year.
Now, we are hoping to add new members to the board, which provides a forum for people from a wide variety of backgrounds to discuss news coverage and provide ideas about how we can do better. Journalism is a craft, so we are always striving to improve.
Since BarrieToday was launched in October 2015, we have grown from having only one staff member to now having several reporters in the city covering a wide variety of beats, such as crime, city hall and what's happening down the street from you. This is in addition to freelance reporters and photographers, as well as other talented journalists from around the region at our sister sites in Orillia, Innisfil, Bradford, Collingwood, and Midland.
We have chronicled both the good and the bad, day and night, in an effort to bring you the most comprehensive reporting possible in our growing city. From poverty to health and sports to community events, if it happens in Barrie it's important to us.
But in the hectic nature of today's increasingly busy world, we can always do better, and we know that.
And that is where our community advisory board comes in. The advisory board is an informal group of citizens that our editorial team has used as a sounding board to help us make our coverage more relevant and inclusive to all parts of the community.
But it's also a work in progress as we try to make it as all-encompassing as possible to reflect our city. Everyone has a voice and they are all important.
Anyone interested in applying for a volunteer position on the board can contact me directly at [email protected].
Board members could come 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 are trying 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, the youth sector, as well as health care and education.
And we want people with strong opinions who follow local news closely.
You don’t need to be a member of an established organization, but you do need to be willing to speak up 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.
If you or someone you know would be interested in joining the dialogue, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Raymond Bowe is the editor at BarrieToday.
