$s for words

EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

If it were humanly possible, Windspeaker staff would cover every newsworthy event in all northern communities, including cultural celebrations, baseball games and important regional Indian and Metis council meetings. Information is power and it's Windspeaker's purpose to keep its audience informed of all newsworthy happenings in and around Alberta, and outside the province.

But, we don't have a staff of 50 putting out the paper each week. And, our audience is spread out over hundreds of miles in communities which are sometimes extremely isolated. We can't be everywhere whenever something newsworthy happens.

But, that's where you ? the reader, come in. If you're willing to provide us with reports of community happenings in your area, we will pay for it.

Perhaps you're the secretary of the Peace River Friendship Centre and would like to send us a story about the teen's judo club that's just started up. Or, you'd like to write about the 93-year old kookum in your community, then you'd make a great Windspeaker community correspondent. You won't be expected to cover controversial and hard-hitting issues. Instead, you'll be a "bearer of good news" ? telling the world about the positive things and special people who are making your community a better place to live.

We'd especially like to establish community correspondents in the following locations: High Level, Peace River, Slave Lake, Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray. This would help us to provide better coverage of our northern areas. However, even if you don't live in one of these areas, your contributions are still welcome.

In your community coverage, you should try to include as many people in your area as possible, i.e. don't concentrate only on those people you're close friends with. You should also have fairly good writing skills. The stories you send in should also be sent in soon after the event occurs.

We'll print as many community news articles as we can each week. However, if you submit an article, we can't always guarantee it will be printed.

And one more thing ? a picture is always worth a thousand words. If you happen to be handy with a camera, we'd also appreciate photos with your stories. Send photographs that are in focus, black and white, or colour, and make sure you identify who is in the picture and explain what's going on in it.

So, if you're a know-it-all when it comes to newsworthy and interesting events in your area, send in your stories soon.