We’re back, and striving to be better than ever
It’s good to be back. As we’ve reported in The Signal over the past 10 days, your community newspaper is under new local ownership and editorial management.
Yes, it’s a big change — but we’re also very familiar with this community and its newspaper, and these changes represent a homecoming for us. We’re proud to bring The Signal under family ownership and we’re excited to experience that feeling of “family” with the community we love.
We’ve been humbled and honored by the positive community reaction to these changes at the helm of The Signal, and we’re making a solemn pledge to live up to your positive reactions in the days, months and years ahead, by making The Signal a valuable, integral and lasting part of the Santa Clarita Valley community.
How? We’ll elaborate as we go, but for starters, here are a few key core principles and beliefs that will steer our efforts at The Mighty Signal as we head into the newspaper’s 100th year: • Community First: You may have a love-hate relationship with your community newspaper. And you know what? That’s common. But even when you think we’ve misstepped, or if you think our editorial opinions are all wet, please know that we see it as our mission to put the best interests of the Santa Clarita Valley first, in all that we do. • Local, Local, Local: We will of course carry summaries of regional and national news, but when it comes to the allocation of our own newsroom resources, our No. 1 priority is local news and information. It’s also our No. 2 priority. And our No. 3 priority. You get the idea. • News Pages Are for News: Too much of today’s “news” in American media is actually social activism masquerading as news. Activism has its place. So does news. But they are not the same thing. There is no place for a writer’s personal opinion in news stories, and we consider it a solemn responsibility to ensure that our news coverage shoots straight. This does not mean we will shy away from tough stories. It simply means we will approach them, always, with fairness in mind. No witch hunts. • Opinion Pages Are for
Opinions: Our firm belief
in the sanctity of news does not, however, mean you will not find opinions in The Signal. This newspaper has a long tradition of an opendoor policy when it comes to our opinion sections, and here you will find the most diverse array of opinions, letters and commentaries that we can assemble. And, if you believe the opinion pages are leaning too far to the left, or too far to the right, or too far in any other direction, we encourage you to act: Send us a letter to the editor, or a guest commentary. So long as it meets basic standards for readability, taste and accuracy, we’ll publish it.
• Our Opinion Will Always
Be Labeled: As it always has, The Signal’s official stance on local issues will be labeled as an editorial from The Signal, just like this one is. We will not inject our personal views into the news coverage, but if you want to know what our opinions are, you can see them right here. We consider it to be a big part of our responsibility to provide leadership, to share what we believe will help our community continue to thrive. If you disagree with us, please, see the above note about letters to the editor. Healthy disagreement and discussion of issues is, to be honest, half the fun of newspapering. • Accuracy: We’re on a mission to be downright nitpicky about accuracy. We’re of course cognizant of the media’s reputation for playing fast and loose with facts, and we’re going to do our level best to push that reputation in the proper direction. Of course, we’re human. So are the journalists who produce the content for our newspaper and website. We’ll all make mistakes. When we do make mistakes, we will correct them. Accuracy remains the most important factor in a media outlet’s credibility, and this one is no exception.
Again, we thank everyone who has wished us well on this new adventure. It has truly been humbling to receive such a warm welcome. We’re committed to building upon those sentiments, and making you proud to call The Signal your community’s newspaper.
Here are a few key core principles and beliefs that will steer our efforts at The Mighty Signal as we head into the newspaper’s 100th year.