One week and five hours ago, I was standing in a grimy booth in Sun Park watching rolls of blank newsprint thunder through the presses, turning into a colorful burst of discussion and information and entertainment. As I flipped through copy after copy, cool off the presses, I knew tens of thousands of people in and around Baltimore would soon be introduced to b, either on paper or on bthesite.com.

(If you should ever find yourself in a similar situation, you may find your heart frozen in a position two inches higher and tighter in your chest than it ought to be. You may also find yourself overwhelmed with feelings of pride, exhilaration and body-crumpling exhaustion. I highly recommend it.)

I’m happy to report that the first meetings between Baltimore and b have been very good ones. The “samplers” — the people we’ve enlisted to hand out b — have found readers to be taken with b. (The feeling is mutual.) The comments they’re getting: “I love the humor throughout the b.” “I enjoyed the Pop section.” “You have a great Web site.” “I enjoy the interesting articles you put in your paper.” “I will be reading b every day.” There’s been praise for our sports pages. We’ve received multiple requests for a daily horoscope. One sampler got asked out on a date. (We can’t take total responsibility for that; she’s pretty hot in her own right. But, judging from the other comments, I’m sure b didn’t hurt.)

It’s been a disconnect between the vox populi and some of the crankier voices on bthesite. For some folks, it seems as if being in the Baltimore Sun Media Group is akin to being the Antichrist. Or, in our case, the Antichrist’s younger, more obnoxious cousin (the Scrappy to their Scooby?). One astute reader pointed out that a story about the sudden spotlight on call girls did not alert vulnerable young women to the revelation that prostitution is dangerous. Really, we were going to get to that, right after we reported that bear-taunting may be bad for you and smuggling heroin inside your body carries risk. (I’m kidding. Don’t be so sensitive!)

At any rate, all of these reader comments — whether expressing wry amusement or self-righteous indignation, enthusiastic curiosity or thin-skinned resentment — are more than welcome as part of our effort to engage young adults in conversation. We value honesty and candor, whether the discussion is about b, or local politics, or movies, or neighborhoods, or the environment, or relationships, or the presidential race, or … whatever.

To promote that conversation, we’re working on a few things: Now that we’re getting the hang of putting a paper out five days a week, the b staff will be blogging more frequently. I’m also encouraging Jordan and Matt to get in the fray and respond to your questions/insights/rotten tomatoes/ideological screeds about the cover stories. (Though our day starts a little later than yours is likely to, so pardon any tardiness in the responses.) We want you to be able to comment directly on photos and videos; I think that might be in the works sometime next month.

In print, we are looking to make the horoscope daily and to make the cover story packages richer. We’ll also be adding and subtracting features in response to what you like and dislike. What we are this week is not the same thing we’ll be in a month, or six months. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think — about b, or whatever else is on your mind.

Cheers,
Anne

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