Setting a new standard: we've made the Western Standard into a fearless and respected newsmagazine. It's time we dressed the part.

WELCOME TO THE NEW LOOK OF THE Western Standard! We've got all the same great editorial content you've come to expect from us, with a gorgeous new design.

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It's been more than a year since we freshened up our layout, and I think we're really taking things up a notch. We still look and feel like a news and opinion magazine, but with a visual flair that better reflects our editorial originality, and we're sure is going to boost newsstand sales. I'm confident our raft of new advertisers--including BMW, whose hot two-page ad you might have noticed in the last issue--will like it, too.

A big decision in the redesign was what to do with our signature red nameplate--the red box with the words Western Standard in it. As the foundation of the old look, including our use of the red throughout, it had to evolve to expand the design possibilities. The new cover design and wordmark are fresher-looking, offering more flexibility graphically. And we think they make a more dynamic statement of what we're all about.

We're still the Western Standard, but we've decided to emphasize the word "standard" more. As I've written before, while our heart and roots are in the west, we are increasingly popular across the country, including in Ontario, which is now our second-largest base of subscribers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. By emphasizing the "standard" part of our name, we hope even more Ontarians will pick up our magazine, unrestrained by a false first impression that the magazine is only for Westerners. After all, our editorial values--which include smaller government, entrepreneurialism, freedom, vigilance in the war on terror, and other conservative and liberty-oriented ideas--are not just for Albertans.

I will probably always refer to the magazine as the Western Standard, but increasingly I hear the nickname The Standard. I like that for a number of reasons. It is true, for one--we are increasingly the standard for what journalism should be. Remember that, earlier this year, we were the only magazine that had the courage, and respect for our readers, to reprint the Danish cartoons of Mohammed that were the purported cause of riots overseas. We set the standard for journalistic independence, for freedom of the press and responsible journalism, while the self-proclaimed newspapers and magazines of record hid under their desks.

Our political reporting also increasingly sets a national standard, too. Our recent cover story, "The Truth about Tommy," unearthed startling historical facts about Tommy Douglas, by digging into his shocking university thesis. We challenged the political sainthood bestowed upon him by the CBC and others. We set a new standard for scrutiny of big-government heroes, who have so far escaped much inspection.

I believe we set a high standard in all of our news reports, especially by tackling prickly subjects the rest of the media would rather ignore. I'm proud, for example, to have Salim Mansur as a regular essayist, a Muslim-Canadian professor who routinely makes the case against Islamic fascism. Other media simply prefer to avert their eyes to the facts he reports. Again, we're setting the standard.

Emphasizing the word "standard" is not just a proud statement about what we do, it is also a challenge to the alleged normalcy of the rest of the press. We refuse to call ourselves the Conservative Standard, or anything like that. That would imply that we are somehow off-centre, and that the leftist CBC or Toronto Star are unbiased and centrist. No; while our columnists are certainly spicy, our news stories are very fair and balanced, much more so than the so-called mainstream media.

I write all this because I want to assure our proud western readers that the emphasis of the word "standard" is not only for sound business reasons; it is in keeping with the core editorial values with which this magazine was founded. We are still the Western Standard, and our editorial direction remains unchanged. Now it's just easier for all Canadians to try us out.

This is the 61st issue we've published, and I know we'll publish many hundreds more. This redesign is a strong statement of how our magazine has, over the course of the last two and a half years, earned a solid reputation amongst our readers, advertisers and the rest of the media, as a strong, interesting and reputable magazine that punches above its weight--and continues to grow.

With your help, we're setting a higher standard. Thanks for your enthusiastic support.