Allen Talk Neighborhood Forums: Allen American Newspaper

Ok -I think I better jump in here and address the issues I can. I'm Nicole Bywater, the current editor of the Allen American and I've visited here in the past, but this is my first post.
Thanks to Denise and Tiffany for sending me the links to this thread so I could be in the loop.

We do welcome all kinds of input at the paper - from letters to the editor, to story ideas, to submitted stories and photos, compliments - and even criticism. I invite anyone to e-mail, give me a call at 972-727-3352, ext. 103, or just stop by our office at 705 N. Greenville Ave.

But to address some of the issues raised previously -
I am the only writer speicifically assigned to Allen. Our parent company, Star Community Newspapers owns 14 Dallas area papers including the Plano Star Courier (a daily), and the McKinney Messenger, and the Frisco Enterprise (both weeklies). My managing editor, Derek Price, works in the Plano main office, where he oversees the Plano, Allen and McKinney papers.

While I try to include as much Allen-specific news in the paper as possible, we do share content with the other company newspapers. If I do include a story from Plano, it's because I believe there is an Allen connection, or interest to Allen readers. For example, there are often stories about Collin County Community College, which I believe to be important even if you don't attend there, because it's supported by your tax dollars. I do strive to cover as much Allen news as possible, because that's where my focus is and I know that's what you guys are looking for.

Our paper comes out twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. I do believe it is a good value at 50 cents a copy, and an even better deal for subscribers. At $30 a year, each issue works out to be about 28 cents.

We do have a lot of turnover in staff, which I understand is frustrating to readers. I have been the editor here for about five months, having transferred from our company's Lewisville paper where I spent a year. I moved to Allen shortly before coming to the paper and am trying to become as familiar as I can with the city.

But enough about me, let's talk about content. Schools are a big part of this paper. I publish the school photos that I receive. You see the same ones over and over because these are the only schools that send me photos. With 16 schools in Allen ISD, I can't take the time on a weekly basis to request all of them send me photos. But besides schools, I do cover city council meetings, business news, Arts of Collin County meetings, feature/human interest, and crime. Police reports are published on Sundays, and
are compiled from the reports that APD submits to us. Allen History is published on Thursdays and our club calendar is on Sundays. I don't cover sports - that's done by Brian Porter, our sports editor who works in Plano, covering both Plano and Allen. I constantly send Brian things I hear about for sports, and Brian and I talk often.

The take home message - is still "If I don't hear about something, how can I do something about it?" If there's something you want to see more of (or less of) or a column you want, or an event that's going on - please tell me.

I hope this didn't ramble too much and also helps explain a little more about myself and how things work around here. I will continue to be active on this board, look forward to dialogue about the paper and anything else in the city.


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