Editor's note: This post was updated on Friday morning, Sept. 22, to correct the date of the Akron visit, which had been listed incorrectly on the HuffPost website. All Akron events take place on Oct. 2.

These are challenging times for most media organizations, even big, digitally focused ones like HuffPost (formerly The Huffington Post), which is going on a 25-city tour that includes a stop in Akron and aims to promote a redefined mission for the website.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the tour, which kicked off last week in St. Louis and will make its way to Akron on Monday, Oct. 2.

From the story:

Since taking over in January as editor-in-chief, (Lydia) Polgreen has tried to push the progressive-leaning news outlet out of its comfort zone and zero in on stories that might resonate as much with factory workers as with hipster city folk. The goal of the tour is to find out what people across the country care about and to incorporate more of that into coverage at HuffPost, as the site is now rebranded.

"Too often you have the media say this is what's important, this is what matters, but we want to hear what you think. We want to give you the mic," she said, before inviting civic leaders onstage to discuss issues of concern in St. Louis, like policing and race relations.

The effort comes at a pivotal time for HuffPost, which is trying to reignite growth and forge an identity separate from that of its founder, Arianna Huffington, whose persona and interests largely permeated the site until her departure a year ago.

Indeed, since 2014, HuffPost has seen its monthly number of unique visitors slide from more than 100 million per month to about 80 million, the story notes. (Big drop, but still: I'm jealous.)

Polgreen "came up with the idea for the six-week bus tour to determine what readers between the coasts are interested in," The Journal says. But the trip "has become an issue of discontent among some staffers who bristled at its reported $1 million price tag when it was announced shortly after a sizable newsroom layoff. HuffPost's Washington, D.C., bureau bore a heavy brunt of the layoffs, including the site's only Pulitzer Prize winner."

The full schedule of the trip is here. The Akron visit starts on Oct. 2, with a stop from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day at Cascade Plaza, where HuffPost encourages guests to "stop by, tell us what's on your mind, and grab some swag. We look forward to seeing you!"

At 6 p.m. on Oct. 2, at the Akron Art Museum, it will host a forum titled "Building a New Vision for Downtown Akron." Panelists include Jason Segedy, planning director for the city of Akron; Kyle Kutuchief, the Knight Foundation's Akron program director; and Marco Sommerville, Akron's deputy mayor for intergovernmental affairs.