Frontiersman offers new chapter to provide you with best coverage

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman will introduce digital subscriptions on Wednesday, February 6th to help provide the resources needed to accommodate the growing number of readers who access frontiersman.com.

Offering free access has helped build the website’s readership since it’s inception into the most visited news website in the Mat-Su Valley, with more than 3,112,881 page views in the past 12 months. But the realities of business are driving change.

The newspaper industry and quite frankly other types of publications, including online only content producers, have been moving toward the paid digital model. The realization that we are reaching more readers than we ever have in the past is proving that the rumors of our industry’s death is premature. What is true is that like most industries we are relying on consumers to buy our wares. Those consumers have more choices than ever before. In our case readers have choices on how they consume our content. The printed newspaper, computers, tablets or phone. This is a good thing.

No one covers the Mat-Su Valley like the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. Since the beginning it’s been our mission. Starting on that first night on September 17th, 1947 when Viola Daniels edited, published and delivered the first edition. As time went on, we grew as did most in our industry.

The newspaper industry in the beginning really didn’t know what to do with the internet. After all there was no way to predict that every home would have a personal computer let alone almost every person having a computer in their pocket. Admittedly so, the industry that delivered breaking news at everyone’s doorstep for decades not only missed the biggest story of our lifetimes but was extremely slow to react to the opportunity that it provided. We built websites and put our content there for free with an obnoxious amount of low-cost ads lined on each side of the home page flashing ‘Click Here’. Not a very user-friendly experience.

The times they are a changing and newspapers are getting with the times. Paid digital subscriptions are becoming the norm. The industry has allowed social media giants and search engine mega companies to take advantage of our hard work. Freely sharing our content to their end user with very little financial return to those who work tirelessly to bring you the most current and in-depth coverage of stories that make a difference in our daily lives.

With our app, we are cutting out the middleman by offering you direct access to our content. You no longer have to depend on an algorithm to determine what stories will scroll through your social media feed. You’ll have access to it all. If you want to have the full newspaper experience then open our e-edition and you can read the same edition that is delivered to homes throughout the Valley.

What has to change is the idea that the content we produce should be free to some because they choose to consume it in a different format than our loyal subscribers. For us whether it’s the latest news from the Mat-Su Borough or the big game between local high school rivalries we are covering it. There are feature stories, criminal trials, event coverage and much more. We’re there.

These efforts take resources to provide. The funny thing about reporters is they like to eat and pay their bills. They don’t work for free. When they write a story it’s my job as the publisher to leverage every opportunity to monetize their work so I can pay them and pay those at the Frontiersman who support them. Not to mention invest some of those resources back into the community.

For decades newspapers and other publications charged a subscription rate so that readers such as yourself can have good story content delivered to them. Hand delivered to your doorstep or in your mailbox. I’m not sure why as an industry we decided to compete against ourselves by placing that same content on a website and having an open-door policy that allowed everyone to consume what they desired for free. That would be the equivalent of Kroeger building a Fred Meyer store next to their current location, carrying the same merchandise and giving away that merchandise for free.

So, here’s the deal. When you visit Frontiersman.com you will be allowed to view five articles per month for free. That’s right free samples like at the Fred Meyer bakery. After that, a subscription will have an introductory offer of 99 cents per week. After the introductory offer for unlimited digital access, including the e-edition, app and archived content from past editions. Here’s where I insert that tired cliché that a digital subscription costs the same as a gourmet cup of coffee. The truth is coffee will eventually leave your body but being informed about your community stays with you everywhere you go.

We at the Frontiersman appreciate you the reader. We will always strive to bring you the most accurate and most important information concerning the Mat-Su Valley. Don’t let the social media and internet mega companies determine what news you should consume. Become a member, download our app and enjoy the unlimited access to our website. And if you have to give up a cup of coffee to fit us into your budget come by the office and I’ll make you a cup. Heck we can even have a conversation about current events in our community, after all it’s my favorite subject.

Thank you for reading the Frontiersman in whatever form you choose. We look forward to you becoming a member.