We at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution remain dedicated to the “Balanced Views” format we began several years ago. We want to share with our readers some changes being made in concert with other Cox Media Group newspapers starting Friday. Our lineup remains firmly balanced among liberal and conservative Opinion columnists, but some of the faces and their days of appearance will change. On the left-leaning side of the aisle, Gail Collins and Nicholas Kristof will replace Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman. In the conservative ranks, Ross Douthat will replace Ramesh Ponnuru. Local AJC columnists Jay Bookman and Kyle Wingfield will continue to appear the same days of the week as they do now.

Here’s the new lineup: