FROM THE PUBLISHER On September 24 the Quill staff will launch a version of the newspaper on the Internet. It doesn’t look like a newspaper but will have most if not all of the content in our print edition and electronic facsimile edition, and new, and more, news and features. We are excited and are sure subscribers, and non-subscribers, will be too. The new edition will be on a web site which will be fully accessible by subscribers to the print version or a new subscription category for full electronic access without the print edition. Some content will appear on the web site’s home page for everyone to see but a great deal of the content will be for subscribers only through what we call a password-protected “pay portal.” A special feature of the new format is that non-subscribers can gain access beyond the pay portal to read eight articles in a 30-day period. Those readers’ free looks will be metered. After they have used all of their eight free reads during the 30-day period they will be asked to subscribe. If they don’t, the next 30-day free period will begin. Non-subscribers will not be able to read beyond their free articles because access is governed by what we call a “pay portal.” Only paid subscribers will be able to pass through the portal to other articles. The “pay portal” model is used from the smallest weekly papers to the largest dailies. The web site is an expensive venture. There is not only the cost of developing it but recurring monthly fees we must pay the developer for using some of its services. We anticipate extra staff will be needed. The site has been in development for several months. We will have a new rate schedule based on our costs and expected revenue. Rates for the paper edition will remain the same and subscribers will be able to access the website free until their renewal date. Because we will save delivery expenses and newsprint costs we are able to offer subscribers to the full electronic access category only an attractive low rate. Subscribers to the print edition will be asked to pay a reasonable extra fee for access to the web site edition after their renewal date. One feature of the new web edition is not found on most web site editions of other newspapers. We have contracted with the Associated Press to provide continually updated Missouri and Arkansas news. Articles will be updated as needed and new articles will top the list as they are produced. Other new and expanded features can be added because we will not have the space limitations of our paper edition. Because all of this is as new to us as it will be to our readers we are providing a two-week period during which everyone will have access to the entire site. We will be working out bugs. During that period there will be little advertising. We will not solicit advertising until we are fully comfortable with the site--its possibilities and limitations. This week we will introduce the web site and provide a look at its form and content, and how to access the site and navigate through it. Elsewhere in this edition of The Quill is a look at what the web site home page will look like. We look upon our new edition as an adventure. We hope you will join us. flm
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:53:44 +0000
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