And so it begins. On Jan. 28, you can hold the first print edition of the new and improved Federal Way Mirror.

It seems everyone is having an inaugural event these days, so why not join the fray?

For an industry that has been practically stagnant in its first 100 years or so, newspapers have made up for it in the past 10 years. We’re kind of like the 5-foot-10-inch point guard on the basketball team who blossoms into the 6-foot-9 power forward. Changes come rapidly. Sometimes awkwardly, but almost always for the better.

These changes are no more apparent than in your local community newspaper. We will continue our news reporting on important city events, road construction issues, tax levies, new businesses opening and closing. You will also see compelling human interest stories, important prep sports and a bounce pass or two thrown by our editorial team and by columnists such as Walter Backstrom, Mr. “No Excuses.”

We haven’t stopped there. You will see a multitude of feature articles, monthly sections on being green, how to live healthier, becoming a better parent, a more robust business page and, in the very short future, an arts and entertainment section. Most importantly, this will all be done by Federal Way and for Federal Way.

So why all the change, why all the fuss, why does my Mirror look different? The short answer is that it was needed. The paper needed a new look. What you are holding is that new look. It is shorter, fatter and easier to read. The stories are more concise, and quicker to the point.

Financially, it had to look different. As most of you are keenly aware, some of our brethren in arms are having a tough go of it. We refuse to play in that game. To bring you the community news that you want, we have to make money. Plain and simple. We are not a non-profit organization. We have a healthy business model with low overhead that allows us to charge less and be more profitable than our bigger counterparts.

But, at the end of the day, we are still a newspaper that is expensive to produce and deliver. Reducing our footprint size saves us money on one of our biggest expenses — newsprint.

Newsprint is a commodity item like hogs, cows, sheep and corn or the fuel you put in your tank. It increases or decreases (mostly increases) based on good old supply and demand. This smaller footprint, definitive font size, common headings and left-side justification gives us back valuable newsprint real estate without sacrificing the content or total page count that you are accustomed to.

We evolve for the same reasons as why the calculator got smaller, the computer got faster and cars became more fuel efficient. Just ask the dodo bird if you think evolving isn’t a normal course of events.

Having just put 10 years of community journalism under our belt, we welcome you to the next decade of your Federal Way Mirror. As always, we value your input. Tell us what you think. Positive or negative, we will print it. That’s what good community journalism does.

For Federal Way, by Federal Way. We are here for you.