It took us 4,000 posts, 1.6 million visitors, thousands of creative (and sometimes cranky) comments and a handful of journalism awards to get here: We’ve launched a new site with the new name. So, why the change… and why the Minnesota Independent?

Consider it part of our evolution. When we launched as Minnesota Monitor in the summer of 2006, we were a band of bloggers who trained in the ethical reporting of breaking news, and our site reflected that aim.

Our mission remains the same, but our model has become more of a hybrid. As newspapers are forced to reconsider their business model — and, some would argue, their editorial model as well — we’re combining the immediacy and rich-media storytelling the Internet offers with the fact-based approach of traditional journalism.

Our new site gives us more leeway to pursue that kind of reporting and to involve our readers in the process: MNIndy has an enhanced platform for audio and video, social-media tools for getting the word out and commenting that allows readers to have their say on our site as well as all the others in the Center for Independent Media network, all with one username.

The new name serves to emphasize our mission of independent thinking and to emphasize the distinction between what we’re about and the ways of corporate, profit-driven media. It also celebrates our place in the Center for Independent Media network, a six-site family that cooperates on newsgathering. We’re aggregating news from these sites in the sidebar on the left.

And what of the Minnesota Monitor? In homage to where we began, we’ve named MNIndy’s blog The Monitor. Check back throughout the day for the kind of always-changing news fix you’ve come to expect.