It has been a few months since the Herald reduced its print frequency. The feedback has been mixed.
Some readers, in fact, value that they have more time to read the paper or other periodicals before a new print edition shows up. Others appreciate the Weekend Edition arriving on a Saturday so they can devote Sunday to the entire New York Times, which is quite an undertaking. Others, of course, have felt a deep loss of a mainstay of their morning routine. As we explained initially, the changes were necessary to move where the industry has been heading for over a decade and to ensure the future of the printed product. To say it has been an adjustment is an understatement, but hopefully, some readers have begun to explore new daily content online.
Our over-50 crowd, recognizably the majority of our print subscribers, some of whom do not own a computer or want more screen time, have been hit the hardest by the change. But what if there was no local news at all? That is a hard reality communities across the country have faced as some papers have gone from daily to weekly, or folded altogether. The digital realm is on the rise.
To put things in perspective, it is helpful to know the various ways in which people consume news. At 57 percent, television, via a combination of local, cable and network news, dominates how people take in their news. Digital news websites or social networking sites provide news for 38 percent. Radio provides news for 25 percent, and newspapers come in last, at 20 percent.
The Pew Research Center’s “State of the News Media,” released last week, reported that overall newspaper circulation, for print and digital combined, continues to decline and fell 8 percent between 2015 and 2016. Ask a younger person if he or she subscribes or has considered subscribing to a newspaper, and you have your answer. Many do not and, increasingly, readers of all ages are moving to online.
It is obvious that newspapers depend upon readers and advertisers to sustain them. Local newspapers even more. We want the paper to reflect the variety of readers’ points of view and depend upon you to write a letter to the editor, inquire about submitting an Op-Ed and use the Herald to inform other readers about important issues or the good work of an individual, organization or business that we may have missed.
The editorial board is serious about reflecting various points of view in our pages and welcomes contributions year-round. In early April, we met with members of the executive committee of the La Plata County Republicans to hear about the party’s concerns regarding issues in the community they would like to see better represented. Last month, we met with members of the Freedom of the Press committee of the Durango Chapter of Indivisible. They asked how they could best support the paper.
A one-word answer sufficed: “Subscribe!” And let us hear from you.
