When I took on the job of unbound editor-in-chief I did not give much thought to writing the editor's note. I read previous editor's notes and saw that each of my predecessors approached their editorial as journalists. Well, I am not a journalist. I am a news consumer. I am a news consumer who was fortunate -- or foolish -- enough to take on the job of editor-in-chief. Like most news consumers, I have been deeply affected by the work of journalists for most of my life. Unfortunately, I have often been frustrated by my lack of control over the range, depth and quality of information presented to me. What I find most exciting about online journalism, and the opportunity to serve as unbound's editor-in-chief, is the fact that online journalism gives me an unprecedented level of control over the information I consume. Let me illustrate with the example of two horrific events that occured before and after the advent of online journalism. In 1963, a horrific crime shocked our nation. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, then the thirty-fifth president of the United States was assassinated while driving in an open limousine motorcade in Dallas Texas. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City also made international news. Shortly after nine o'clock a homemade bomb destroyed the building killing 168 men, women, and children. The horrific crime shocked the residents of Oklahoma City and the nation. These facts are well-known and frequently recalled. Less discussed, however, is the difference between the Oklahoma City bombing and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in terms of available media coverage. The coverage of each event was exemplary for its time. In 1963, the public waited for news and healing in the morning papers and on radio and television news. In 1995, by contrast, the public had the added ability to: · view various media accounts of the bombing, · talk out shock and grief with others, · offer sympathy to grieving community members, · read various eyewitness accounts, · follow the subsequent trials of Terry Nicols and Timothy McVeigh, · discuss defense and prosecution strategies, · read material on terrorism in the world, · and find information on other acts of terrorism. What difference having access to similar information might have made to a grieving public during the Kennedy assassination aftermath is not predictable. Still it may have made the healing process begin sooner and perhaps completed the process for others. Reading and watching various media accounts of a single event broadens one's perceptions of the event. In hard news the telling of an event is distinctly different from the opinions or features experience of the same event. The news consumer who reads three accounts of the event would have a different and perhaps richer view of the event than the consumer who has seen or read one perspective. A broadened perspective ignites a hunger for more balanced coverage of events and a recognition that the flavor of an event changes with the storytelling method. A news consumer is not content with just the five W's of hard news A news consumer wants answers to questions like was it preventable? Is it likely to happen again? Is anything being done/begun to prevent re-occurrences? A news consumer wants the journalist to find out how things are going after the event. Societies charge the journalist with the task of being the eyes of the people. Idealistically the journalist ventures into an event to give an unbiased account of what happened. "Just the facts" was the mantra of many an ancient cub reporter. Today, the growing sophistication of audiences demands great versatility from the journalist. A news consumer requires the fullness portrayed in multiple genres and looks to today's journalist provide it. A medium that uses elements of both visual and print storytelling enhances the news consumer's perception of an event by delivering an account that balances the visual to accentuate the print and vice versa. The online environment is not limited to just print and still but can enrich the audience's experience with digitized audio and video too. The unbound story "The Golden Dollar: Learning From Mistakes To Keep Currency Current" is an example of how cyberjournalism offers a much deeper understanding of the impact of the new coin. Because unbound allows the reader to experience as much or as little of an event as he or she chooses, it is a news consumer's haven. The very things that satisfy the yearnings of a news consumer are the things that make unbound a place that does well with a news consumer editor-in-chief. Well, at least I think so. Let us know what you think.