In case you haven't noticed, your local newspaper isn't merely weekly reading material anymore.

The Jordan Independent's Web site, www.jordannews.com, offers stories, blogs, forums, event listings, and much more. Much of the Web site is updated on a daily basis, including weekends and overnight. Throughout each week, the JI staff is gathering material for the print edition of the newspaper. Reporters don't always start work at 9 a.m. and end the day at 5 p.m., and they avoid the stress of leaving all of their work until the last moment.

With new media, every minute is a deadline.

Your local newspaper is committed to being the fastest news source for information about the city of Jordan and Sand Creek, Spring Lake, St. Lawrence, and Helena townships. The JI staff won't sacrifice completeness or accuracy for quickness, though. And, I'll be honest, a thoughtful story can take a week to pan out.

It's great to read the Thursday paper, in which you will read the JI's most complete and accurate stories to date. I would highly encourage you to delve into the local news on which the JI covers each week, but I would also say that you ought not to stop there.

Read the Web site.

Here are some reasons why you should:

- Space in the print edition is limited. Advertising dictates the size of the paper -- if there are no sponsors, there is no paper. The JI staff has much more room for news online, and -- aside from staff time -- it's an inexpensive medium.

- News changes. Sometimes it changes between the time that the JI staff finishes the paper on Wednesday afternoons and the time the paper gets to the public on Thursdays. A Web site can be updated to reflect the most recent changes.

- Anyone can write on the Web. It's fun to give your opinion on a topic. The newspaper's Web site is all about local discussion. Go ahead and register for free, log in, and post a blog, forum, comment, or event. Tell everyone what you know, and read the opinions of your neighbors.

If you don't have a computer, stop by the local library and use one.

Now, I know what some of you are going to say: "I don't have time to check back every day or more than once a day. Isn't there an easier way?"

Well, you'll be glad to know that the simple answer is yes.

The complicated answer is this: Yes, there is another tool for those of you who want to use it -- the e-mail edition.

Each week, I publish a short newsletter of sorts, detailing a few of the most recent stories published on the Web site for your local newspaper. The e-mail edition gives you a snippet of news and leads you back to the Web site if you want to read more.

You should sign up for the e-mail edition for these reasons:

- It's free and easy. Almost 200 people have signed up for the JI's e-mail edition. (You may
do so at http://www.jordannews.com/sign-up-email-edition.)

- Sometimes the e-mail edition brings you the news first. There are weeks when the e-mail edition comes out on Wednesdays, before the print edition hits newsstands. You could be one of the first to know some piece of important news about which everyone will soon be talking.

- When the Web site changes, you ought to know. The e-mail edition is one way to receive updates on news stories that you've been following. There are other subscriptions throughout the site that you might choose to make, alerting you to what's the latest on Jordan.

So, you see, new media is about options. The JI is trying to stay on top of technology -- at least make some strides toward staying up to date -- so that you can receive local news the way you want to read it.

If you don't like reading the Web site, don't. If you prefer to receive news via e-mail, do. If you want to stick to the print edition or abandon it completely, be my guest.

Giving and receiving information is your local newspaper's forte. That communication can be done in a myriad of ways. We have only touched the tip of the iceberg. There's a whole mountain below that tip, just waiting to be discovered.

More to come. More to come.