In the interest of better communications, please read this
I spent several days traveling and away from the blog.
I want to update you on some things.
In response to reader requests, I have changed the subject line in emails sent to everyone on my mailing list to reflect the topic of the day and not just the name of this blog.
It appears, however, that this change is in some cases directing my missives out of regular inboxes and into other categories, namely “promotions.” This has happened to some readers using gmail. Please check your spam folder to see if my emails have landed there.
I hope to get this straightened out, but it may require some added tinkering. Reporting from Alaska has about 40,000 visits each month, most of which are in response to emails alerting readers to new content.
To make this more effective, please let me know if you do not appear to be getting my emails and have signed up. If in doubt, please enter an email address at the bottom of this page if you want to hear from me.
These emails go out on any day when I have a new post, which is usually about five times a week. There are long stretches when I write every day, but if I don’t write something new, you won’t get an email.
Write to me at dermotmcole@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. Please let me know if the email from my blog has disappeared.
Make sure that you include the “m” between my first and last name on the email address.
If you leave out my middle initial, which stands for Matthew, the email will go to a patient man in Scotland named Dermot Cole. My Glasgow doppelganger is an HR consultant who has forwarded me many an email from Alaska for decades. I think the novelty of getting unexpected mail from Alaska has long since worn off, however.
I hope to visit Scotland some day and will look him up and give him a gift.
As always, thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to write me at dermotmcole@gmail.com
One of the things that caught my attention Monday was the announcement from Fairbanksan Ryan Binkley, owner of the Anchorage Daily News, that the newspaper is cutting back to twice-a-week publication of a physical newspaper. The Daily News will continue to publish stories and commentary every day on its website as it has for many years.
I think this reduction is an economic necessity.
Print readership is declining because the readers of printed newspapers are a dying breed. Print advertising has nearly vanished and if the Anchorage Daily News and other newspapers have a future, it will be online, not in a printed form that is delivered by hand.
“Today, print readership makes up just 7% of our total audience across our platforms. We have to focus our efforts on where most of our readers are,” Binkley wrote.
The Daily News has about 19,000 digital-only subscribers, Binkley said.
With this cutback, the only daily newspapers left in the state with daily print editions will be in Sitka, Ketchikan and Fairbanks. Fairbanks is the only one printing six days a week. Most newspapers will eventually reach a point where electronic delivery is the preferred option.
The important thing is that the Anchorage Daily News is the finest news organization in Alaska. Its employees perform a vital service and there is no reliable substitute. We need the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska, published online seven days a week and in print form two days a week.