Embracing change, honouring tradition

As we mark 81 years of serving the CFB Esquimalt community, it’s a fitting time to reflect on the journey of our Base newspaper and the transformations we’ve weathered and embraced. The media landscape is once again shifting beneath our feet, and we find ourselves at a familiar crossroads of change and opportunity.

This August, we’re transitioning to a bi-weekly print schedule, a move that might seem like a step back. However, this change is part of a broader strategy to better serve our readers in the digital age. We’re developing a new website that will become a communications vehicle between the military and the civilian community we serve. We will also enhance our social media presence and explore new ways to engage our military members and their families.

It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time we’ve faced such a pivotal moment. Three decades ago, in 1993, the Lookout reflected on the advent of fax machines and cellular phones – technologies that seemed revolutionary at the time. As then-Sub-Lieutenant Conor McKee wrote in his editorial comment from April 1993, “The consumption of news seems faster. People prefer bite size morsels of information. Television has served to reduce people’s attention span”. Today, we face a similar challenge with the ubiquity of smartphones and social media. Yet, here we stand, still committed to our mission of informing and connecting our community.