Our newsroom is nearing the end of the time of the year when we spend weeks mapping out plans for the year ahead, and we have some intriguing ideas for 2023. One involves our weekday news discussion podcast, Today in Ohio. The podcast is a half-hour conversation with me, Content Director Laura Johnston, Public Interest and Advocacy Editor Leila Atassi and Lisa Garvin, a member of our Editorial Board. (On Wednesdays, City Hall reporter Courtney Astolfi replaces Leila.) We’ve heard from listeners that one aspect they enjoy is feeling like they are part of a conversation. In 2023, we think we might have a way to more formally bring them into the conversation. Our plan is to create a free texting account, where anyone can send text messages to us and where any of us can respond. If you subscribed, for example, and found something one of us said to be way off the mark, you could quickly message us to let us know why. Or if you had a different perspective that might take the conversation in a new direction, you could get it to us easily. Then, when we record the next episode, we could bring your thoughts into the conversation, anonymously if you prefer. Some listeners already do this. They subscribe to a different text channel, one in which I send a message each morning about something the newsroom has in the works or questions we seek to answer. (You can sign up for free at joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.) Some subscribers to my text messages are also podcast listeners, so I regularly get messages about something we said on Today in Ohio. By creating a separate text service for Today in Ohio, though, your texts would go to all of us, not just me. We’re still working out the details – partly because we are surveying listeners about their ideas -- but look for an announcement early in the new year. Another new initiative for 2023 will be a newsletter devoted to police blotters. This would not be a crime newsletter. The last thing we want to do is depress you with a newsletter filled with murders and mayhem. Rather, this would be a five-day-a-week newsletter containing items from the blotters that publish in our network of weekly Sun newspapers. The blotters are the most popular items in the Suns, and they regularly get strong readership online. Blotter items don’t contain names or specific addresses. They simply list the reasons suburban police were called. Some items are humorous. Some are strange. Overall, people read them to get an idea of what incidents are reported to police in their hometowns or those nearby. If you don’t subscribe to the Sun newspapers, catching all the blotters can be chancy. We publish dozens each week. We think a blotter newsletter might find a big audience interested in hyperlocal news. We’ll start publishing it in early January, but you can sign up anytime at cleveland.com/newsletters. Another idea we are noodling is a companion podcast to Capitol Letter, our weekday newsletter devoted to all things politics and the Ohio Statehouse. (cleveland.com/newsletters) The newsletter is a must-read for politics watchers and people involved in governing and politics. In breezy fashion, it lists all the news about what our elected officials are doing, no matter which newsroom reported it, with links to the original stories. If you read it, you are immediately caught up. The people who put together the newsletter – our Columbus reporting team – are the experts on politics and the Statehouse, and we think newsletter readers might enjoy a weekly discussion by the team on the biggest stories they cover. They know a lot more than they report, and hearing their thoughts would provide more perspective on the news. We’re in the early days of discussing this idea, so it likely will evolve, but I suspect our conversations will lead to something concrete. Who knows? Maybe we’ll create yet another texting channel where Capitol Letter readers -- and listeners -- can engage directly with our expert team. As always, we’re interested in hearing your thoughts about anything we’re planning or already doing. Drop me a line anytime at cquinn@cleveland.com Thanks for reading. | 