At the beginning of the year, we announced that we will stop printing and distributing the Monday edition of the Press Herald beginning March 2. That day is almost here. Instead of delivering the Monday Press Herald to your newspaper tube or doorstep, we will deliver it to your inbox.
If you’re not familiar with the Press Herald ePaper, I encourage you to spend some time getting acquainted. It is an exact replica of the printed paper, with some added features. Every home delivery subscription comes with full access to the ePaper (and unlimited articles on our website), but you first need to create a username and password. Visit pressherald.com/connect and follow the easy steps to connect your home delivery account for online access, or call us at 791-6000 for help. If you need hands-on support, please join us this Friday, Feb. 28, at 295 Gannett Drive in South Portland from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., when our staff will be available to walk you through the process.
Once your account is connected, you can access the ePaper – on Monday or any other day – from either the prominent link on the homepage of PressHerald.com or from the email that arrives in your inbox each day by 4 a.m. (we deliver it on time no matter the weather).
Ceasing print publication on Mondays wasn’t an easy decision. If you’re reading this column in print right now, you’re most likely a seven-day home delivery customer. We know you love reading the paper in print, sharing sections and spreading it out on the kitchen table over breakfast. We love that experience too. We also know that our loyal home delivery subscribers are the people who most deeply appreciate the power and importance of our journalism.
Already this year, we’ve produced important stories with impact, including Randy Billings’s watchdog story on authorities’ refusal to disclose how they may be spying on their citizens, Eric Russell’s investigation into the state’s mishandling of a case of suspected medical child abuse, and Penelope Overton’s report revealing how Maine’s rollout of cannabis regulations is costing Maine millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. The digital-only-Monday strategy preserves that kind of journalism by preserving jobs. The savings in newsprint and delivery costs allows to maintain our current staffing level, and offsets declines in advertising and increased costs in other aspects of our business.
Still, we realize one thing is not easy to do in the ePaper – and that’s the puzzles. So in addition to publishing the crossword, sudoku and other puzzles in the ePaper, we will also publish the Monday puzzles a day early, on the back page of the comics in the Maine Sunday Telegram, starting next weekend. You’ll find Monday’s TV grid, horoscope and bridge column there as well. We’re also moving the Close to Home features, which have appeared on Mondays for years, to the Tuesday Press Herald starting next week.
At this time, we have no intention to further reduce our print output on other days of the week, and we are working urgently to bring new ideas to our advertising customers and enroll more digital subscribers. Our success attracting digital-only subscribers, many of whom are out of state, has enabled us to grow our year-over-year paid subscribers. Yes, our audience is larger than it was this time last year. That’s not something we’ve been able to tout for many years. It’s an encouraging sign for the Press Herald and our journalism.
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