For more than 60 years, the Blue Mountains Gazette has been a part of the lives of Blue Mountains residents.
We have proudly been a voice for the community, keeping you informed and fighting for the issues that concern you.
But like any other community in the global village, the Blue Mountains has an insatiable need to be in the now. It's one of the reasons our Facebook page, with more than 25,000 likes, is so popular. It's why we have to constantly adapt even if our initial reaction to change might be to resist it.
Which brings us to the change you would have noticed last week.
The premise for the change is to be at the forefront of local news provision, upping the volume of daily, live and online content and stepping out of our traditional weekly mindset.
But to make that happen, something had to give - and the time spent tied to a desk, labouring over the look of the print product, was the logical starting point.
Our new system, with greater automated layout, will free our dedicated editorial team to tell more stories as they happen rather than wait for a weekly paper to hit your front lawns.
And the people delivering that content are just like you - Blue Mountains residents who care passionately about our community. Our small editorial team has a century of combined journalistic experience. They either grew up in the Mountains or now proudly call it home. I started at the Gazette 20 years ago as a young graduate who had never even visited the Three Sisters on a day trip and now can't imagine living anywhere else but the Mountains. We all want to see the Gazette continue to tell your local stories, fight for your community and preserve your distinct "Mountains" way of life.
So I would urge you to ride the wave of change with us even if that means letting go of the "look" of a paper you have understandably grown familiar with - for all its distinctiveness and quirks (or perhaps because of them!). Because at the end of the day the Gazette's distinctiveness isn't really about the size or type of font. It's about what these elements allow us to share - the stories, campaigns, letter writers, artists, sportspeople and community groups of the Mountains.
And that will never change.
Editor, Damien Madigan
