Digital subscriptions coming to Frontiersman.com

WASILLA — Beginning Sept. 17, users of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman website will notice a change. Not to the website itself, but rather to how readers access information at Frontiersman.com.

Digital subscriptions will be introduced next month to help provide the resources needed to accommodate the growing number of readers who access frontiersman.com using mobile devices like tablet computers and smartphones. Offering free access has helped build the website’s readership over the last 10 years into one of the most visited in the Mat-Su Borough with more than 4 million page views in the past 12 months. But the realities of business are driving change, said Frontiersman Publisher Mark Kelsey.

“While the newspaper industry’s initial response to the Internet was to offer their content free online, we recognize that this is an unsustainable business model,” Kelsey said. “Like any other business, what we produce has value. This move to digital subscriptions recognizes that value. It will help us meet the rising cost of continuing to provide the quality local news that readers have come to expect.”

Since 1947, the Frontiersman has earned its place in the community by delivering local news that cannot be found elsewhere. Whether it’s through stories about local sports and businesses, public safety, interesting neighbors or where to go and what to do, no other media outlet can match the Frontiersman’s reliable, consistent presence in the Mat-Su Valley, Kelsey said.

“We want to continue sharing the unique flavors of the Mat-Su Valley with our readers by protecting what we’ve built and ensuring we have the resources to continue to grow and serve our community for the next 65 years and beyond,” he said.

So on the newspaper’s 65th anniversary — Sept. 17 — digital subscriptions will open a new chapter in the Frontiersman’s story as a local business. This new approach, often referred to as a “metered pay wall,” allows for different options based on a person’s level of news consumption.

Our new system will have little effect on the thousands of occasional visitors to the frontiersman.com or to subscribers to the print edition, who will continue to have free access to the website for the duration of their subscription. But frequent, dedicated readers will notice restrictions on the website that put some content off limits to nonsubscribers.

All visitors to frontiersman.com will be allowed to view five articles per month for free. To read more content than that will require a subscription, which will start at $4.95 per month for unlimited access, including archived content from past editions. A yearlong subscription will cost $45.

There will continue to be a significant number of free features on the website. All visitors to frontiersman.com will have full access to the home page, plus some breaking news events. Reader polls, classified and retail advertising, public notices, special sections and the online calendar of events will be accessible to all.

The Frontiersman is offering a special home delivery rate of $39 for a year for new or existing subscribers prior to the launch of the website’s metered paywall. These print subscriptions will come with free access to frontiersman.com for their duration.

“We want to make this transition as easy and affordable as possible,” Kelsey said. “We appreciate the tremendous support for the Frontiersman in this community, and we look forward to continuing our role as the Valley’s go-to source for local news.”

For more information, contact Publisher Mark Kelsey at mark.kelsey@frontiersman.com or by phone at (907) 352-2250.