ANDERSON, Ind. —
If I were to offer you a free trial period for a service that provides at-your-fingertips access to all sorts of local information — news, weather, features, sports, etc. — you would welcome the offer and take advantage of it.
Now, what if I were to tell you the free trial period would be 20 years? Essentially, that’s what readers of theheraldbulletin.com have gotten, a 20-year pass to our website with no financial obligation.
Today, that free trial period finally comes to a close. Seeking to better finance the resources needed to gather, summarize and present the news to you, The Herald Bulletin has begun requiring paid subscriptions to get unlimited access to our website.
In another sense, the trial period is actually continuing. You can still get a limited number of page views, 10 per month, free. Also, you can visit the home page and any of our landing pages as often as you want without paying a fee.
For those who want access beyond what’s free, the cost of an online subscription, also referred to as a digital subscription, is low. If you’re a print subscriber, you can get the digital subscription for just $1.95 a month or $19.95 a year. Those who don’t subscribe to the print edition of The Herald Bulletin will be asked to pay more for a digital subscription, $5.95 a month or $59.95 a year.
Some folks are upset about having to pay for website access. They’ve become accustomed to using websites, including newspaper sites, for free. Therefore, the attitude has developed that such sites should be free.
But most newspaper companies have come to recognize that advertising revenue alone cannot support the resources needed to populate and maintain online news sites. As with the print edition, a mix of funding from ads and from subscriptions is needed to finance the effort.
Some Indiana newspapers now have websites that demand payment for any access. Others charge for you to read articles more than 30 days old. (On our site, you can still access the archives for free, as long as you don’t exceed 10 page views in a month.)
Most of our readers will understand the economic reality that is motivating newspapers to require digital subscriptions. Those who value the immediacy of news reporting on the website, the convenience of access from their home and office and the added content — photo galleries, videos, news updates, reader discussions, etc. — will want to subscribe.
To do so, click on “Digital Subscriptions” in the subscriptions box in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
You’ll notice next Sunday that The Herald Bulletin has redesigned its weekly TV section. The new section, Click, will feature celebrity news and TV listings. With its broadsheet format and eye-catching design, Click is a much different product than the one it replaces, TV Week, but it still provides the TV listings you count on.
We think you’ll like it, and we’d appreciate your feedback.
Editor Scott Underwood’s column appears Mondays. Contact him at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com or 640-4845.
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Scott Underwood: 20-year free website trial ends today
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