Journal News introduces new Sunday section

Providing a way for citizens to be heard and challenging conventional wisdom with alternative perspectives on local issues are some of the most important jobs for a news organization.

Even in times of transformation, some fashion of this exchange must not only survive but, in fact, move to the forefront of our role in the community.

Building this stronger forum is a top priority for The Journal News and lohud.com in 2015. So we're ready to unveil the first phase of this key initiative to generate more thoughtful and robust dialogue in the Lower Hudson Valley.

On Sunday, The Journal News will introduce Exchange, a new interactive section in the print edition. Each week, Exchange will feature four to six pages of thoughtful editorial content ranging from longer perspective pieces to smaller bits of opinion on topics important to our community. The pages will include a mix of staff-written work and columns by community contributors. We'll pull the best engagement from lohud.com each week and we'll publish original work for the Sunday audience. You'll find more faces and more voices, and a better mix of opinion from throughout the region. We'll keep discourse civil but we'll strive for passionate debate.

As part of this new initiative, we have formed two new boards, which will drive our editorial agenda. The Editorial Board, which will be introduced in Exchange this Sunday, will decide the newspaper's stand on various issues, focusing for 2015 on four key topics of high relevance to our area. This board includes staff editors and three community members. Individually, they will bring their ideas, experiences, observations and backgrounds to the table. As a group they will interview public figures and local decision makers and will form editorial positions.

A second group, our Board of Contributors, will be introduced on April 19. It comprises more than a dozen community writers from various backgrounds. Their work will be featured on a blog on lohud.com and, some of it, in the Sunday Exchange pages. All members of the community still are encouraged to contribute letters to the editor or opinion columns for consideration in print or on lohud.com.

In the coming weeks we'll introduce other phases of this initiative, including digital advancements and events tied to critical community issues. In order to add a stronger voice in Sunday Exchange, daily on lohud.com and in events throughout the community, we will discontinue weekday Opinion pages in The Journal News. We will routinely publish letters, columns editorials, and our voice will be stronger, on lohud.com.

Today's Exchange:

Meet the Editorial Board

Editorial Board agenda: Four priorities for 2015

Editorial: Heroin and help: Learn more, save lives

Point-Counterpoint: Opting Out

Phil Reisman: The man who could have saved Lincoln

#lohud reacts: Commuters skeptical of Metro-North safety messages

On the street: What's to be done about the potholes?

Community View: Oversight is key for East Ramapo

Letter of the Week: Saluting WWII veterans

Letters: Red light cameras make us safe