Dear Readers (and Listeners),
I’m writing this post in order to give an update on the significant (and positive) changes that we are making at Where Peter is.
The first significant change that we made last month was the redesign of our site. I re-designed the logo and masthead of the site and changed the fonts and colors, in order to give our website a more clean and professional look. There are a few kinks we still need to work out, but the feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive. Let us know if you have any feedback in the comments below.
Then we started Peter’s Field Hospital, our new podcast. We’re already 4 episodes in and the response has been very good so far. The plan is to post a regular episode once a week (typically on Tuesdays, although scheduling issues might push it to Wednesday on occasion), featuring the voices of regular contributors to the site. Additionally, we would like to produce episodes featuring guests on a regular basis. We had the first of these on Monday, when Catholic journalist and author Christopher Lamb joined us.
This has truly been a learn-as-we-go process. Before we started, I hardly knew anything about editing audio files, let alone launching a podcast and getting it distributed to the many podcast services out there. The quality of the sound itself has been a little glitchy, but we are working on improving it (upgrading equipment, etc). I am giving myself a crash course in sound editing with Adobe Audition as well, although some problems are unavoidable, such as connection glitches and background interruptions. I expect the quality and level of professionalism of the production will only improve in the weeks and months ahead.
Next, we launched our Patreon page. Providing our audience with great content isn’t cheap. For most of our first two years, we rarely made a formal appeal for donations, but we’ve reached the point where we need funding in order to continue to expand. If you believe in what we’re doing, and you think our voice is an important one in the Church today, please consider becoming one of our Patreon sponsors. Additionally, if you know of any organizations or foundations that might be interested in helping to sponsor our work in support of the Church and the Holy Father, please send me an email or contact us via our “Contact Us” page.
Within the past few days, we set up our YouTube Channel. Right now, we’re just “re-posting” our audio podcasts there with a still image. While we’ll continue to do this, the plan is to eventually add some video content as well. Still, it’s another way for us to get our content out there and to reach our audience.
Another relatively recent development is that we now have a Rome correspondent. Since February, Daniele Palmer has been living in Rome, and has credentials from the Vatican Press office. He was able to participate in the Querida Amazonia press conference, for example. Unfortunately the lockdown has slowed things down a bit for him, but look for more in the coming months.
Regarding the content on the WPI website itself, we’ve begun to re-categorize our posts according to type (news, commentary, reflection, book review, etc.). This has unfortunately resulted in all of our past posts receiving new “updated” dates, but we are looking to clean that up. Additionally, I plan to revamp and update our “Resources” page. This is something we’ve neglected in the past, but we believe it can greatly benefit people who are interested in specific topics or are looking for resources they can use to assist them with prayer or reflection.
On behalf of all the contributors for Where Peter Is, I would like to thank you for all the prayers and support you’ve offered us. We can’t do this without you. God bless you.
Mike
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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