Readers may have noticed some changes recently in The Minto Express.
Photos are larger, headlines are bolder. We’re trying to include more local sports coverage and customized editorials in your hometown newspaper, among other things.
This is done in part through contributions from our readers. We’re grateful to citizens like Bonnie Whitehead, who send us stories and photos from Minto events.
As much as we would like to be, staff can’t always be everywhere at once. These submissions help a great deal in our effort to be your thorough, local news source.
Citizen journalists, as these contributors are often called, are not a new concept. News outlets of all sorts have been utilizing submissions from the public in some medium or another for years.
This is a community newspaper after all, and should reflect what’s important to Minto residents.
We’re introducing another interesting change. Starting in August, The Minto Express will feature a monthly photo page called Focus on Minto. This page will consist exclusively of photos by you, the readers.
We encourage photographers of all ages and skill levels to get snapping photos of the Town of Minto – anything from people to animals to nature to events, whatever strikes you – and submit them to the newspaper for consideration for publication.
Submissions should include the photographer’s name, where he or she is from, and a few sentences describing the photograph.
Then, The Express will compile them into a one-page Focus on Minto feature for our entire readership to enjoy. It isn’t a contest, there is no entry fee and there’s no time limit. As long as the snapshots keep coming in and readers keep enjoying them, the Express will continue to offer this unique spotlight on the Town of Minto.
We know there’s plenty to see and do in Minto, and plenty of snap-happy residents to capture it. Focus on Minto will offer readers a chance to view it all through the lens of fellow residents.
We have more new ideas in the works. We’re looking forward to seeing them take shape on the pages in future issues of The Minto Express.
Keep reading to find out.
We hope you’re enjoying what you’re seeing.
Letters to the editor, Focus on Minto submissions or contributed stories and photos can be sent to sburrows@metroland.com or dropped off at our office, located at 171 William St., Palmerston.
- S.B.

“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.”
 - Jerry Seinfeld