Ellington

I just typed "04" in the date for this file and then corrected myself. It's that time of year again. After our week off for the holidays, we're back and ready to take on the world, even if we can't get the year right yet when writing a check or dating a file.

And, of course, it's time for self-reflection and resolutions in the New Year. If you happened to read my Road to Wellness columns in 2004, you know that I'm not much on discipline when it comes to avoiding certain comfort foods—the holidays have been no exception. It's time to put on the walking shoes, get back on that road and put down the sweets. (It doesn't help that, somehow, both chocolate and peanut butter fudge materialized in our office just this afternoon. When will it end?)

It's also a time of recovery from parties. I've been doing a lot of that.
But most of all, it's a time to get back in the office, straighten our messy desks, and get a sense of both what's right in front of us and what's on the horizon. I've been mulling both in the JFP offices since the year turned. Here's what I've decided.

Despite the fact that we're putting out our 81st issue this week, the Jackson Free Press seems to be getting younger.

I vividly remember the squeal from Donna's office a few weeks ago, before Christmas. "The interns are back!" she, well, squealed, as some of them piled into her doorway, all flush with the cold, coats and scarves flapping. It's nice to have Kit, Swetha, Jessica, Natalie and Drew—Donna calls them the "interns emeritus"—back in town from their assorted colleges, because they add great energy to the Jackson Free Press office when they're around—and to the pages of the book whenever they get their hands on a computer or a camera.

Along with assistant editor Casey Parks, graphic designer Jakob Clark and reporter Ayana Taylor, these young adults have worked with Donna over the past few weeks to roll out the first of many surprises we're planning for 2005—the new look to the Talk of Jackson section. You'll still find important city and state news, but we've improved the "user interface" of it to help you focus on what Jackson is really talking about—as well as to suggest some topics for further conversation. I think you'll find the new Talk is, more than anything else, a fun way to get local news.

Our Web and arts intern, Randy Perkins, has moved down to Hattiesburg to continue his pursuit of a degree. We'll miss him, but we thank him for all of the work he's put into the Web site and the help he gave us before he left in order to allow us our next surprise—JacksonFreePress.com version 3.0. As of right now, you can visit the site for a better experience when it comes to getting out and having fun in the Jackson Metro, including online access to our restaurant guide and a separate Events & Music interface for answering the age-old question "What should we do tonight?"

Even more diverting than all that, though, is the addition of forums on the site. If you've got something on your mind you want to share with fellow Jacksonians, you're free to come to the site, register as a member and begin your discussion—or join someone else's—on Jacksonfreepress.com. It'll take a little time to ramp up, but we're hoping it'll be a way to extend the interactivity of our current blogging approach—and Talk of Jackson section—to help continue the conversation online.

And that ain't it by a long shot. Keep your eyes peeled on the tabs at the top of the interface for more new features—they'll be available as quickly as we can add them.

More young blood on our team comes in the form of Brett Potter, who steps up this week in his official capacity as Legislative Intern, adding his reporting voice to our team that covers the Mississippi Legislature for the Jackson Free Press. Brett has written some wonderful feature stories in the past few months (remember the draft story?), but now he's getting college credit for his work—meaning we'll be working him hard this term. If you're a legislator, you can expect to see Brett and his tape recorder on a regular basis. If you don't know him, yet, trust me—he'll be the one asking the tough questions.

This week is also the first official week for Thabi Moyo's photo internship, thanks to the diversity grant she and the JFP won from our newspaper association. Thabi was one of two recipients of the internship award this semester in all of North America, and we're expecting more of the same from her that we're already getting—great talent, a wonderful attitude and an uncanny ability to get the really good photos. If you see Thabi headed your way over the next few months, don't forget to smile.

I also officially welcome Jen Barker to the team; she joined us several weeks ago as fashion editor, and has already styled several great spreads. Jen, a girl-about-town and fashion plate in her own right, is also a Millsaps student, a co-founder of The Collective and is on the Crossroads Special Projects committee with me, helping to create an audience for indie film in Jackson.

(These kids are making advertising director Stephen Barnette seem old. He turns 27 this week.)
Another reason it seems the Jackson Free Press is getting young is all of the young readers we are gathering in. According to a recent survey of our readers, over 70 percent of them are aged 18-44, with the majority of those readers either in college or college graduates. It's that dynamic, in part, that makes us proud to be party of the growth of a great "creative class" city—the young, educated population here that is focused on building a new, exciting Jackson for starting companies (or families), chasing dreams and exploring new ideas.

It's that readership that we'll continue to serve—the young and young-at-heart—who want to change the world and have fun doing it. There's a lot of work to do—we've got a city to build, a state to improve, and a country that continues to require youthful innovation in both ideas and deeds.

And, as an independent media outlet for Jackson, we'll continue our dead run to keep up with you on your journey.

Which means I'll definitely need to lay off the junk food. And start going to the Y.