A message from Rayanne Bennett, Associate Publisher of The Monitor
In the 65 years that the Diocese of Trenton has published The Monitor newspaper, there have been many variations and adaptations to accommodate the prevailing needs of the day. Later decades have seen such changes as moving from all black and white to color, and from weekly to bi-weekly in order to continue our mission of keeping our community informed of local, national and international Catholic-based news.
In the interest of engaging and inspiring our readers, we have undertaken numerous redesigns, produced special publications and continued to pursue high-quality content and images that have captured some breathtaking and historic moments in the life of this Church.
Be Part of the Launch of the New Monitor!
In recent years we have taken pride that The Monitor is “everywhere you are” – in print, online and on mobile. We have worked to develop a news resource that tells the stories of our parishes, our people and our faith. That will continue to be the mission of this next chapter.
It is in the spirit of maintaining a fresh, relevant and accessible format through which to deliver our Catholic journalistic work that I am announcing what is likely to be the most significant change to date for The Monitor. This coming fall, the diocesan newspaper will move to a new publishing and distribution model, which will be built on the three basic formats:
• The Monitor newspaper will transition to a magazine, which will be published monthly, with two additional issues (one in June and one in July for GRADUATION and RELIGIOUS ANNIVERSARIES respectively). THE MONITOR MAGAZINE will carry in-depth and theme-oriented content, with the primary focus on our parishes, our schools and our people.
• An Expanded Digital Presence via a REDESIGNED website, TrentonMonitor.com, along with Facebook and Twitter. The plan calls for a robust posting schedule of real-time news and feature coverage to keep our readers up-to-date and informed.
• Weekly or frequent sharing of Monitor news, in brief, through parish bulletins, websites and social media.
With the launch of this magazine, and the expanded digital content, we have a format to offer the members of our community that is more in keeping with the way they now consume news. While we have long enjoyed the work of publishing a newspaper, we admittedly look forward to having a platform that will afford a higher level of print quality and innovative design for the fine work of our writers and photographers.
A key component of the new model is the inclusion of Spanish-language news in both the monthly magazine, and the website. This will allow us to be more inclusive and to report on the vibrant and active spiritual life of our Spanish-speaking communities.
The last newspaper version of The Monitor will publish Sept. 5, and the first issue of THE MONITOR MAGAZINE will print in the first week of October. A parish launch is planned for the first weekend of October, when we will introduce the new publication and invite parishioners to subscribe.
The new website launch is scheduled for later this summer. Watch for more details to come.