Ridin' the Rapids - Sept. 15

“So, how’s it going?” is a question that’s been put to me a few times lately. Luckily I’ve been able to answer “Surprisingly well.”

The Q & A’s, of course, had to deal with the decision to switch from primarily a hard copy printed newspaper to one that subscribers receive over the Internet. The conversion rate is now just above 90%.

A few years ago that result would probably not have been possible, judging by the rough times some of the big daily newspapers endured. Two factors seemed to have come into play for River Reflections. One was that by providing content that is highly focused on a specific geographic area readers wanted to keep that connection flowing. Another was timing. More and more people these days were already getting information via phones, tablets, or computers and saw the option as something similar to what they were already doing.

On the production side, digital production is of course less expensive to produce. I can now use color much more effectively in both ads and photos without having to pay a printer to produce three more plates per page.

Adding pages is simplified as well. In the newsprint process, going from 8 to 9 pages wasn’t an option. Those upgrades not only had to be an even number but came in multiples of 4 - like from 8 to 12 pages or from 12 to 16.

However, there still are a number of readers for whom the above didn’t make sense. That’s why there still is a print edition for sale on newsstands. If you know someone who fits that description please let them know they haven’t been abandoned.