This issue of The NCAA News — Volume 44, No. 26 — is the final one you will see in this format.
Beginning in January, the News will become a daily online product. Our printed communication will be a new quarterly magazine, to be known as Champion. Both products will be revealed at the NCAA Convention in Nashville next month.

We all know that the News is about more than just its format. At one time or another, it has been black and white, printed on glossy paper, and presented on an 9.5- by 13.5-inch page. Through all of the changes, it has moved on down the years, as recognizable to users as a familiar song with different arrangements.

This change, though, is about more than format. This is a completely different method of delivery.
I know that some among you will disagree with this new way of doing business. Many of you are loyal to paper periodicals or others are uncomfortable with the Internet. I respect both of those positions and regard it as a positive sign that you care enough to be upset. In some ways, I am one of you. I have been associated with The NCAA News for more than 21 years, and I doubt if anybody has more affection for this publication than I do.

However, I am convinced that this change is needed.

The national office staff is keenly aware of how much paper we send to the membership every month. Whether it’s in the form of letters, memoranda, reports or publications, the national office generates an enormous amount of hard-copy communication. Of all that paper, surely the most comes from the 600 or so pages of the News that we deliver each year to about 20,000 individuals at NCAA member institutions and conference offices. Put another way, that’s 12 million 10- by 15-inch pages each year.

In the new model, we will continue to provide a printed product — Champion magazine — but it will use only about one-third as much paper as does the tabloid version of the News. At the same time, we hope to increase the utility of the pages that we do print through enhanced design and organization.

Meanwhile, we will deliver information that helps with the day-to-day administration of college athletics through the online News, which will become the centerpiece of the front page of NCAA Online (www.NCAA.org). Readers will be able to receive that content through daily e-mails. That e-mail product will be known as NCAA News Direct, and readers may sign up for it now by visiting www.NCAA.org and clicking on the News Direct icon in the upper left-hand corner.

Money saved through lower printing and mailing expenses will be used to develop new media products that will help the membership and the public better understand the Association’s purpose and policies.

All of the changes are faithful to the NCAA strategic plan, which includes these relevant objectives:
“Increase the timeliness, clarity, conciseness and effectiveness of membership communication.”
“Increase use of technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of Association processes.”
“Increase the public’s confidence in the Association as a whole.”

While I have great confidence in this approach, I have even greater confidence in the Association’s membership. Those among you who have ideas about how we can improve our communications should contact me at the national office, either by phone or e-mail (dpickle@ncaa.org). I would enjoy hearing from you.

In the meantime, please know that it is our privilege to serve you each day.

David Pickle is editor-in-chief of The NCAA News.