A monthly freesheet serving some of the UK’s most remote areas is set to go digital only in the hope of attracting more advertisers.
Island News & Advertiser, based on Benbecula, in the Outer Hebrides, is to make the move three-and-a-half years after it was founded by journalist Susy Macaulay.
Susy, who has run the newspaper on her own for the entirety of its 38 edition history, says the decision has been taken due to “a whole mosaic of factors”.
The newspaper had a print run of 10,000 at its peak and is read across the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands, as well as by islanders now living in mainland settlements such as Glasgow and Inverness.
However the August 2015 edition of the paper, pictured above, will be the last to be printed, to focus on increasing digital revenues for the business.
The News & Advertiser’s website is set to be upgraded as part of the move.
However Susy admitted some of her readers had found the decision hard to take, describing some reacting with “grief-stricken faces”.
She told HTFP: “I might as well have told them someone had died.
“I’m thinking of still running print specials at Christmas and in the summer, but it depends on advertisers.”
The print edition has been produced almost entirely by Susy, who has 34 years experience in journalism including at DC Thomson in Dundee and at BBC Scotland, with her only help coming from Grimbsy-based designer Tim Mason.
Susy added she was “confident” the digital-only move would work, with the publication adopting more of a magazine style with local news features.
She said: “I really feel that I’m not alone in this, I think all print products are feeling the pinch.
“Digital revenues have now tipped the balance against print increasingly.
“When I talk to businesses about advertising online they’re much more up for it.
“I feel that businesses are missing a trick because lots of our readers are from a certain demographic who don’t use the internet much at all and I feel very much that I’m letting them down, but the big picture for print is so complicated and so difficult.”
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Way to go, Susy! The Gosport Globe (www.gosportglobe.uk) brings out its 31st edition on Friday, still in traditional tabloid format. Some things can take a little longer to establish than anticipated but overall progress is encouraging. I’m certain you’ll do well in the new format. Best wishes for continued success with the Island News & Advertiser.
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Thanks Robin. Print is fun, so creative and I love it but by heck is it expensive. All power to you guys at the Gosport Globe!
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Very best of luck, Susy. Norfolk,in many senses, is very like your territory! ie rather behind the times. I’ve been producing a bi-monthly magazine here and the web world has only just begun to register with local businesses. I would caution against abandoning print totally. Local newspapers here are relying on the vast proportion of their revenue from print despite big efforts to move onto digital platforms. Have you thought about A5 format. The numbers might look better…
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What a shame for all those elderly readers who no doubt love the title. I think a smaller, magazine-type format would probably work for a monthly title like that. There’s so many of them springing up now, often poorly edited unfortunately but attracting advertisers nevertheless. Someone with Susy’s experience should be able to produce a wonderful magazine but, obviously, it depends on someone giving her financial backing in the early stages.
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A brave move indeed.
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It does seem a shame for all those readers who love to have something to read. Ivor and Onlooker might be right – perhaps changing the format would help.
I am producing a monthly A5 magazine on quality paper in Derbyshire, which has a lot of small towns spread over a wide geographical area, and business is booming.
The first few months were tough until advertisers caught on to the quality of the editorial and the enthusiasm of the readers but since then revenues have continue to grow. Into my third year now and wishing I had done it years ago.
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