Many of our readers — particularly older readers — tell us they want to read a “real” ink-on-paper newspaper they can hold in their hands rather than an online version. Well, we have to tell you, the luxury of a continued ink-on-paper issue is costing the Town Crier an estimated more than $60,000 a year over producing just online versions. That’s more than 600 Town Crier regular Memberships, right there.
Actually, apart from an ink-on-paper version, Town Crier Members have three different ways to read the TC online with an ordinary computer, tablet or cellphone. One is a website-appearing version, but the other two both let you see each page of the TC exactly like it looks on paper: one which lets you flip the pages side to side, and another — my favorite — a PDF file that lets you easily and seamlessly scroll from page to page.
I’d like you all to try the PDF version. If you already have a TC Membership, you can try it right now. You receive an email from us — generally on Tuesday afternoons — telling you that the Town Crier is ready to be read online, no matter where you live. That’s a bonus feature of reading the Town Crier online — you get it a day early.
On this page is a photo of what a Town Crier front page looks like on your screen in PDF format. Looks just like a newsprint paper, doesn’t it? It blows up clear and sharp clicking on the “+” sign. Select the size you want once, and it reads virtually like a regular paper. To “turn” pages, you just swipe vertically or scroll down from the first page all the way to the last. Couldn’t be easier, and it couldn’t look and read more like a “real” newspaper.
Of course, “real” newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Idyllwild Town Crier are commonly read online these days. So, if you haven’t tried it lately, please give it a shot. It may turn out to be the difference between losing a real community newspaper and keeping a real newspaper serving our community online.
We’ve been trying to save the Town Crier for almost nine years now, and it’s getting harder and harder. So, please, please, give reading the TC online a try, and let us know what you think. Many thanks to you all.
