This year has changed all of us. We’ve covered the effects of the pandemic on communities, families, businesses and our City as a whole. We’ve seen light at the end of the tunnel.
That’s not to say that our City hasn’t suffered through this pandemic. The local businesses we know and love have been hit hard by closures, forcing them to adapt to changing circumstances. Our Long Beach families have struggled through online learning. Residents have lost jobs, lost family members and, at times, lost hope for a return to normalcy.
We at the Signal Tribune have not been immune to the effects of the pandemic. We’ve been working from home, doing interviews by Zoom and by phone call. We’ve perfected the art of the socially-distanced photograph. We’ve sent more emails than we can count. We’ve looked forward to seeing each other’s smiling faces through a screen.
But the new year brings hope. With vaccines approved and being distributed, we’re optimistic for the future. Our community has shown astounding resiliency. We’ve seen individuals step up to make a change, to help those less fortunate, to march for equity and to put their own health on the line for the sake of others. With community strength like this, the future seems bright.
That future brings with it transformations for the Signal Tribune. This week, we launched a completely redesigned website that will modernize the way that we tell stories and deliver them to you. It’s just one way that we’re staying resilient and adapting for the future of our paper.
We’ve updated our masthead to reflect this change, which will mark a new beginning for the Signal Tribune, just as the new year marks a new beginning for the City of Signal Hill and the City of Long Beach.
Though the future still remains uncertain, we’ll be right by your side through it all.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your support this year. Though journalists are taught to refrain from cliches at all costs, we truly couldn’t have done this without you. Our readers in Signal Hill and Long Beach are the lifeblood of our paper. Your stories and your feedback are what keep us going through these tough times. A community newspaper can’t survive without a community, and it’s our absolute pleasure to serve such amazing cities.
From our Signal Tribune family to yours, we wish you a happy new year.
