Let the good times roll

We launched our new look of the Navajo Times last Thursday and most of you like it. Judging from the comments that our staff and I have received over the past week, about 95 percent of our readers and advertisers had positive comments and reviews about the new design and layout.

That’s good to hear and know. Now, our redesign efforts are not totally over just yet. In fact, the redesign is still an on-going project. We acknowledge that we made a few errors and omissions last week but that’s part of the whole redesign process. When you’re dealing with new technology and computer programs, you are bound to make a few mistakes and that happened.

So, this week’s issue will have a few more subtle changes and additions and less errors. Now, there were some people who were not happy with the new design and they complained that the new typeface we used was harder to read. Plus, the layout of the articles and sections had changed so they were confused. They liked things the way they used to be and recommended going back to the old layout and design.

One gentleman who called me obviously had a few stiff drinks before he dialed my number, and he basically told me that he did not like anything we did with our redesign.

“It’s awful! I don’t like it! I can’t read it. It’s hard to see and I can’t understand it,” he shouted over the phone. “Go back to the old way, that was better. How come you people in Window Rock always mess things up? Go back to the old way, it’s better!”

We appreciate all of your comments and we take them seriously. It is our goal to make the Navajo Times a better newspaper for you and so your input is important to us.

At this year’s Navajo Nation Fair, the Navajo Times will host a booth at Nakai Hall and we will be conducting a survey to see who our readers are, where they live and work, and what they like and don’t like about our newspaper. So please visit our booth while you attend the tribal fair and let us know your thoughts and suggestions.

There are also some other changes that are being made at the Navajo Times and that is in our personnel lineup. Two of our reporters, Shondiin Silversmith and Alastair Bitsoi, have left the Navajo Times to pursue their higher education. Both of these talented reporters are going back to graduate school to earn their master’s degrees in the media/communications fields.

Shondiin will be attending Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. She did a wonderful job at the Times with her colorful feature stories and photographs in our Entertainment-Community-Education sections. Shondiin started with us as a college intern and moved right into full-time employment after graduating from the University of New Mexico School of Journalism. She also did daily radio news reports and posted videos on our website and Facebook page.

Shondiin earned several awards for her articles from the Native American Journalists Association and the Arizona Newspapers Association. We wish Shondiin the best of luck and success at Northeastern University and we hope she returns to the Times after she completes her Masters program.

Alastair Bitsoi has been an award-winning reporter for the last four years and a valuable member of our news reporting team. He did a great job of covering Navajo politics, the tribal council, elections, environmental issues and even sports. On Sept. 26 in Phoenix, Alastair will receive an individual award from ANA for “Best Sustained Coverage or Series,” of the Assayi Lake Fire. He will also be honored by ANA as a part of the Navajo Times editorial staff’s “Reporting and News Writing Excellence,” award.

A 2007 graduate of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., Alastair will now be attending grad school at New York University in New York City. His official last day on the job was last Wednesday, after he made deadline. We’re excited for Alastair because we know that he will put forth much energy and effort while attending NYU just like he did in our newsroom.

So, with the departures of Shondiin and Alastair, the Navajo Times is now looking for two reporters to join our award-winning news staff. We’ve recently advertised these two job vacancies along with a photographer’s position and an Information Systems Technician position.

We are also now looking for a part-time Copy Editor. This position requires someone with excellent reading and editing skills, good communication abilities and can work under deadline pressure. The workday schedule is generally Monday through Wednesday.

The Navajo Times is also happy to announce the addition of two talented members to our staff. The first is Arnie Sarracino who is the director of our Human Resources Department. Arnie is from the local area and she brings valuable experience, education and knowledge to our company.

The second person is Courtney Notah, who is a Graphic Designer in our Advertising Department. A 2015 graduate of Northern Arizona University, Courtney also started with the Navajo Times as a college intern where early on she displayed her amazing talent as a graphic designer.

The Navajo Times is fortunate and proud to have Arnie and Courtney as part of our company team. They will help us tremendously in their respective job positions as they both bring forth new ideas and strategies to our daily responsibilities and future plans.

We will hire the best persons possible to work with and help our Navajo Times team. If you are interested in applying, please visit our website for more information at: www.navajotimes.com. Or, you can telephone our Human Resources Director Arnie Sarracino, at 928-871-1130.

Exciting achievements and positive changes are happening at the Navajo Times and we’re happy to share them with you – our many readers and loyal advertisers. We value your opinions, suggestions and recommendations so please send them to us. We are proud of our accomplishments, like our new newspaper design, and we want you to be proud, too.

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