Today is my first day as a blogger for the new Ann Arbor News, AnnArbor.com. I am honored, and excited to accept this responsibility. The Ann Arbor News as we knew it closed last month, and was replaced with the new online edition. They will continue to have a paper news delivery twice a week, on Thursday, and Sunday.
There have been lots of reactions in our community about this change. The Ann Arbor News had been in existence for over 100 years when it closed. As a senior advocate, my first reaction was to think about the loss of the paper for hundreds of seniors who relied on the paper on a daily basis. It not only was their connection to the community, and it's happening's, but a daily activity.
I am sure newspapers all over this country will eventually follow the change from newspaper to news websites.
In most changes there are always pros and cons, but I would like to mention the pros in this new way of providing news. The work it took to produce the newspaper was enormous, and time consuming, as well as expensive. Imagine the ink bill alone? When the newspaper came out in the afternoon, it could only include what had been written and newsworthy to the point of print, and all subsequent news had to be included the next day. Web based news can be posted immediately, with significantly less work, and less cost. Everyone is going green, and the amount of paper and waste produced has almost been eliminated. Ann Arbor has always been known to be an environmentally conscious town, and this new way of providing the news follows right along with what Ann Arbor values. Content in the online version is limitless. They are now able to include sections that were not feasible to a paper edition, such as the section I will be writing for, Passions and Pursuits. AnnArbor.com has decided to utilize local experts on a variety of topics to provide content on a regular basis. This wouldn't have been possible with the paper version of the news. Ann Arbor is full of educated and talented people to choose from, and I am honored to have been chosen to share my expertise in senior care and advocacy.
I have thought for awhile that we needed a section related to senior issues. There are over 50,000 senior residents in Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities who could benefit from information, education and resources. Seniors are the fastest growing population on the web, and the adult children facing issues with their aging parents often look to the web for information and resources.
The change to AnnArbor.com will take some getting used to. I still want to call it a newspaper, and I am not really sure what to call it, because it literally is the Ann Arbor News. We will no longer have old news papers to pack our belongings for a move, a season of storage, or to start a fire in the fireplace, so we will have to look for new packing materials, and kindling. We won't be able to cut out articles we want to save, instead we'll have to file them in a folder on our computers, or print them. As I get used to the changes I can tell you I am excited at the decreased amount of paper coming into my household that can end up in stacks!
The new way of delivering news has a whole new world of possibilities, and that is very exciting! I am thrilled to be able to help seniors and their families in our community on a larger scale than those I meet through my agency, Visiting Angels.
I am open to comments, questions and suggestions related to senior issues and my future blogs. If there is something you would like to learn about, get information and resources on, please send me an email at visitingangelswc@comcast.net, and I will personally send you a response.
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