By Richard Girard
Eagle Times Publisher
CLAREMONT, N.H. — As has been shared on this page in the recent past, the Eagle Times is doing more to cover local sports and feature people who are having an impact on local athletics. In response to this expanded focus on local, our writers and photographers have definitely upped their game and we’re confident you’ve seen the results.
As an organization, we demonstrated our commitment to this course was real in hiring Christopher LaClair as sports editor, to replace Christopher Shaban who, though retired as sports editor, will cover sports for the paper. LaClair is well known and well connected in our region’s sports scene and that is evident in the work that’s now being done.
To expand our coverage of local athletes, we’ve created the Eagle’s Nest. It’s designed to start providing information this newspaper hasn’t provided in a long, long time; namely stats on individual athletes. In making this announcement, we believe it is important to let you know what this is and what it isn’t. It’s also important to share that it’s not an original idea. We’re not too proud to say we’ve copied it from other sports publications published in New Hampshire, though we’ve adapted it to suit our circumstances.
In short, we will, on a weekly basis, publish the stats of all participating athletes. To be a participating athlete, the Eagle Times must receive the small sum of $29.99 per athlete, per season. It could come from the athlete, their parent(s), family, friends or any number of other means. The monies collected are intended to cover the costs of providing the perks that come with being in the Eagle’s Nest. It’s not a “money maker.” Honestly, at $29.99, we don’t believe we’re barring entry to any athlete who may want to be showcased
It is important to note that, while membership in the Eagle’s Nest guarantee’s publication of an athlete’s stats and mentions of their performance in podcasts that we’re planning to expand our coverage of local sports, it will NOT preclude coverage of other athletes, NOR will it determine or otherwise affect our game coverage in anyway. Our effort to provide some extra attention to area school athletes will, in no way, affect our coverage of any sport, game or event.
As we’ve shared often during the past several months, media has not only changed, it is changing continuously. As we intensify our local focus and expand local coverage, we must think differently about how we do things if we are to keep the lights on and the presses running. Most of the changes we’ve made have proven overwhelmingly popular and we’re seeing that in a now rising number of subscriptions and newsstand sales which have accompanied the near daily emails, calls and office visits from folks who are thrilled “to have our Eagle Times back!”
We believe that, with LaClair’s leadership and high ethical standards, this will prove to be another successful initiative that produces more unique local content for our community. As always, we’ll be attentive to your feedback and watchful to ensure this new initiative’s success.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.