New online model beginsFree Access

FROM THE PUBLISHERS

Jim and Lisa Rule

Jim and Lisa Rule

There’s no denying the appeal of a print newspaper, or the grand look of a glossy magazine spread—and who doesn’t still enjoy cuddling up with a good, page-turning mystery novel?

Print still has a place, and just as transportation didn’t come to an end when the horse and buggy died, neither will good journalism become extinct on the day that the final printing press stops. But let’s face it, millennials and post-millennials are hooked on their devices.

Question is, will the new generation still read the same, well-written and well-researched articles on-screen as they do in the paper? It’s important that we in the news industry make sure the transition from print to pixel takes the best elements of old-school journalism—strong research, writing and fact-checking—and play them forward.

Over the past four decades, the Acorn Newspapers—thanks to the support of our loyal advertisers—have remained a free print publication, and we continue to take enormous pride in offering our family of papers at no charge. You can’t fake real community journalism. Never have. Never will. But dogged reporting—whether in print or online—comes at a rising cost, and instead of simply throttling back our editorial coverage as other outlets have in recent years, we’ve decided to ask you, the reader, to buy in.

Beginning this week, The Acorn will incorporate a paywall on its website, meaning readers will only be able to consume a limited number of stories each month before they’re prompted to purchase a digital subscription. While our printed paper (yes, the one you’re holding right now) will remain free, the content we put online will not. It’s a big step, one we hope you’ll take with us.

For only $36 a year—$19.99 if you act now—you will get each week’s eNewspaper delivered to your device, and receive access to all past articles. These are stories about city leaders, school classrooms, taxpayer spending, Scouts, pets, churches and synagogues—the kind you’ve come to count on from The Acorn and that are simply not available through any other source. This has been our mission and it will never change.

In return for your investment, we pledge to continue providing the kind of trusted watchdog journalism that keeps our local representatives accountable and keeps you informed about how government is spending your hard-earned dollars.

We pledge to keep personal and political bias out of articles, to stay late at board meetings, to never forget to emphasize all the good that’s happening in our communities and to recognize those individuals who are responsible for it.

Thanks for your continued support in making The Acorn the community’s go-to news source. We invite you to go online to theacorn.com/subscribe and start your digital subscription today.