Last week we changed the way we deliver our news content, in print and online, to the readers of The Easton Courier, The Redding Pilot and The Weston Forum.
Readers of The Easton Courier, The Redding Pilot and The Weston Forum will continue receive their newspapers every week, as they always have, in mailboxes and on newsstands.
The changes involved consolidation of several facets of our operations in those markets, including editorial, production, printing, mailing of newspapers, and distribution of content to the web and our social media platforms.
Our goal with these changes is to continue to serve these vibrant communities with original, high-quality community journalism. In order to do so we have to manage costs.
The ills facing the newspaper industry are well documented, and the HAN Network’s newspapers, including this newspaper, are not immune.
Simply stated, the old model of community newspapering was one in which display advertising accounted for 90% of revenue and 10% was generated in paid subscriptions. That model’s metamorphosis began in earnest in 2000. The new reality is a precipitous commoditization and redistribution of advertising dollars online, along with the trend in readership that has become accustomed to consuming content online for free.
Despite considerable data that support the notion that small, community newspapers and their websites provide the most effective platforms for local marketers in terms of existing and new customer recognition and trust, virtually all of those dollars gravitate to Google and Facebook, where their impact is lost in a din of global marketers.
We respect that some readers have varied concerns and strong opinions about our new process in print and our consolidated news site (aspetuck.news). We are confident that, in time, these readers will see all of this as a positive change that sustains local news in their town.