As you have probably noticed, The Pioneer has redesigned its look. One of the best parts of having an entirely student-run newspaper is that every semester new students, with new talents and visions join our staff. With each of these additions comes the possibility of improving and adapting all aspects of The Pioneer according to the ideas that everyone brings to the table.

Among the new students who joined The Pioneer this spring was Production Manager Maggie Appleton, ’13, who spearheaded the re-design of the paper. Maggie based the new look off of newspaper designs honored by the Society for News Design (SND) within the past five years. Through simplifying the layout of the paper, Maggie sought to improve the readability of The Pioneer while upholding the professional standards of the industry.

Another change you may have noticed is the re-design of our website, whitmanpioneer.com. This update, which came out of the particular skill set of another staff member, Webmaster Rebecca Fish, ’11, is the product of nearly six months of work. Rebecca designed the website with the goal of improving visitors’ experience by making content easier to find and by streamlining visitors’ abilities to comment on stories and provide feedback to The Pioneer. The website will continue to improve over the course of the semester so check back frequently to see the latest features.

Although most of our attention is directed to the weekly print edition, this spring we’re making the leap to producing web-specific content such as reviews, columns and additional news stories.

Lastly, the Feature section has returned to the paper as a result of the talents and creativity of our two new Feature editors, Cara Lowry and Patricia Vanderbilt, ’12. Feature will provide readers with an in-depth investigation of a particular issue, theme or pressing event through multiple perspectives.

We are always on the lookout for feedback from our readers in order to improve the quality of our print and online editions. We encourage everyone to write in to The Pioneer about the content you would like to see in the paper as well as about your thoughts on the changes we have made this semester.

– Molly Smith & Derek Thurber, Editors-in-Chief