Read all about it: WAtoday enters a new era

Today is an exciting day in the evolution of WAtoday.

When we launched in 2008 under the Fairfax Media banner, known for publishing The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, the announcement focused on the high-quality and independent journalism to be produced in Perth by a new team of local journalists.

It was the state’s first digital-only newspaper and WAtoday reporters, including myself, focused on breaking news and writing exclusives about Western Australia and its people, backed by the national and international resources of Fairfax.

It was a breath of fresh air for the WA media landscape, with people of note such as Dr Fiona Stanley signing on to write exclusively for the site.

Now, after 16 years of publishing award-winning local news alongside stories from the nation’s best journalists at our sister newspapers, we’ve arrived at another milestone.

Last night, our team of Perth-based journalists gathered with WA’s political leaders, business chiefs and representatives of organisations vital to the running of our state to announce a new era for WAtoday.

We are sharpening our focus on hyper-local stories: stories that are bright, intelligent and useful. We will bring West Australians more reports that connect them to each other and tell them what they need to know that day.

We will produce more tales to inspire, educate and champion those doing wonderful things to help others.

And we will aim to help the people of Perth and WA to better know and understand – and above all be proud of – their exceptional city and state.

Our new WA news live blog, delivered with the assistance of our Nine News Perth colleagues, will bring you breaking news as it happens in a fresh and interactive way.

We are launching three new series telling the stories of Perth’s people, often in their own words, with our new Lunch with Jesinta Burton series set to be a highlight.

We are excited to deliver stories readers can trust, written without bias or agenda, and look forward to bringing you the news you deserve, inspired by our new tagline: News you need to know, today.

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