I’ve subscribed to the Free Lance-Star since moving to Fredericksburg in 1983. The paper’s coverage of local news is excellent and informative.
I have financial records back to 2004, when the annual subscription for home delivery was $156.
As the internet has grown and advertisers to the paper have dropped, the annual subscription rate has increased to $741.
At its peak, the daily print run was over 50,000 copies. As of October 1, 2021, printers only produced 18,000 papers daily. In that same report, there were 2000 online subscribers.
I was on vacation for nine days in April and had delivery issues on six other days in the past year. They informed me that I still had online access when calling to receive credit, so they no longer gave me credits. On the same call, I asked the rate for receiving the paper online. That amount is $99.95 per year.
I like reading in a paper format as my eye will pick up headlines quicker. Also, more customers going to online versions will reduce the number of papers a carrier delivers, reducing the carrier’s income and eventually eliminating home delivery.
However, this is a no-brainer, $99.50 versus $741. I’ll have to adapt to reading on my iPad. The e-edition is in a .pdf format. So, it is an image of the printed version.
I hope the Free Lance-Star continues to be around as long as I am. I appreciate their coverage of the local running scene and sports.