What Do You Want? The Times Still Asking

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the following question in this column: Do you want more? Do you want less? Or do you want less AND more?

Still sounds like a trick question — but it’s not. I was (and still am) asking about The Times, a newspaper that has been serving Noblesville and Hamilton County since 1904.

A lot of you – literally hundreds – responded. I very much appreciate you taking the time to do so – and I really appreciate all the nice comments. I expected a few grumpy ones and was more than a little surprised there was nairy a one! I was also more than a little surprised when a lot of you said you would like one edition a week with more content.

So before we go much further, I’d like to ask again. If you already let me know your thoughts, no need to respond again. But if you have not and want to share – I’d appreciate it!

Why? Well, like we said last time, our paper tends to pay pretty close attention to you. When you tell us you like something, we listen. When you tell us you don’t like something, we listen. One bright person suggested combining Monday, Wednesday and Friday into one edition and make it really worth the time to sit down and read.

So we’re asking – is that what you want?

What would it look like? Pretty much whatever you want. It could be on any day – although Wednesday is our biggest day right now. But if you wanted it on a Saturday, that is certainly doable. You know us at Noblesville’s favorite weekly – we aim to please.

We certainly have a lot of fans for different features and standards in The Times. On Wednesdays, Paula Dunn and Branna Shores are big with readers. Our Boomer Bits on Fridays gets a lot of reads – as does all the behind-the-scenes stuff at Purdue from long-time insider Ken Thompson. The various topics from By The Numbers on Mondays draw a crowd.  And of course, that doesn’t even mention Mark Hall’s Time Sheet or the Feeding Team, government news, Hamilton Heights, the furry friends from the animal shelter, Westfield, Fishers, Carmel, Sheridan . . .

If it was all jam-packed into one issue, well, it might take a bit of time to get through.

On the other hand, having The Times piping hot and in your email inbox at 4 a.m. three days a week is pretty appealing, too.

Friends, how about this? You have probably been worrying over what to get me for Christmas. Well, let me make that easy. All I want – and really, really want – is if you would ever so kindly take a second and let me know your thoughts on this topic. Keep The Times the way it is now, or come out once a week with a really beefed up edition.

I’d truly appreciate your feedback. Email me, won’t you please. I’m at ttimmons@thetimes24-7.com.

Many thanks! Again!

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically in The Times. Timmons is the chief executive officer of Sagamore News Media, the company that owns The Noblesville Times. He is also a proud Noblesville High School graduate and can be contacted at ttimmons@thetimes24-7.com.