A Note From The Editor
Before the summer vacation season for many readers begins in earnest this weekend, we thought it would be useful to brief you on developments at the Monitor.
On Wednesday, June 24, we launched "Homefront," our fifth new section in the daily edition of the paper. The others are "Work & Money" (Monday), "Learning" (Tuesday), "Ideas" (Thursday), and "Arts & Leisure" (Friday). The sections focus our editorial resources on areas where readers tell us we can make the greatest contribution to their lives. Reader response to the new sections has been extremely supportive.
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For the moment, subscribers to our weekly World Edition receive a paper based on the Wednesday dated US edition. Thus, the World Edition (available only outside the US) now contains the new "Homefront" section that covers a subject close to the heart of the newspaper's Founder, Mary Baker Eddy.
By year's end, we plan to offer a new weekly international edition that will give readers a timely and comprehensive report on the previous week. It will include selected stories from the daily edition circulated in the US as well as special material prepared for the international edition.
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This summer we will put finishing touches on a redesign of the paper that will be unveiled in early September. The Monitor's new look will not be a radical departure from the current design but will include a variety of subtle changes to the front page and to the newspaper's interior. The goal of our redesign effort is to make the Monitor less cluttered, friendlier, and more useful to you.
To increase our usefulness, the redesigned Monitor also will include several new editorial features. More about those later.
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As those of you know who recently have visited the Monitor's site on the Internet (www.csmonitor.com), the e-Monitor has been redesigned to more closely resemble the paper.
When you call up the e-Monitor on a Web browser and click on "The Paper," you are greeted by a scaled-down replica of the Monitor's front page. It is complete with stories, headlines, and photos as they appear in that day's paper. With a simple series of clicks, you can see each page of the paper, read the full text of any story, respond to the writer by e-mail, tap into the archives, learn about related topics, or join a discussion group.
The e-Monitor's new look lets online readers see how stories appear in the paper and use the paper to navigate through the online version. Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal's technology columnist, last week told readers of his online column that "the Monitor's approach is groundbreaking."
As we mark the Monitor's 90th anniversary this year, we expect to break additional new ground in serving those who subscribe to our paper and visit our Web site.
David T. Cook,
Editor
