JIM KEVLIN

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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Friends,
It’s a paradox. The world is swimming in the richest ocean of media options in the history of humankind, yet daily newspapers – or so you read in those self-same dailies almost daily – are drowning.
Emphasis on daily. Because weekly newspapers are growing and thriving. You may be interested in knowing that, overall, community weeklies like The Freeman’s Journal saw their penetration rate nationwide rise from 81 to 83 percent in the latest National Newspaper Association survey.
The Freeman’s Journal penetration in Cooperstown is an astonishing 110 percent – we sell 991 newspapers weekly in a village of 902 homes; indeed, everybody in Cooperstown DOES read The Freeman’s Journal. Overall, we’re selling 2,500 weekly, up 38 percent in two years.
(Meanwhile, daily-newspaper penetration generally continues slouching toward 50 percent, and below.)
You read that the Web is a threat to newspapers. Actually not. It’s only a threat to the 30-percent profit margins chain dailies have been required to generate for the past quarter-century.


These thoughts are brought to mind by the latest incarnation of The Freeman’s Journal Web site, www.thefreemansjournal.com – it’s our friend, not the enemy. If you haven’t visited for a while, make a point to do so.
While The Freeman’s Journal is a supremely effective weekly clearinghouse for local news, ideas and advertising, Cooperstown – lacking a radio station or a daily newspaper – is at a disadvantage in that it has only limited ways to communicate within the community between editions.
The new approach reflected in www.thefreemansjournal.com is designed to fill this need and – given that 90 percent of local homes have access to the Internet; and everybody has it through the Village Library of Cooperstown – should be able to do so.
The architect of this new approach is webmaster Michael Popek of Oneonta, a very bright guy who otherwise is a partner with his dad in the bookstore and antique barn that bears the family name.
In newspaper parlance, www.thefreemansjournal.com can “take the top” off stories that occur between publication dates, be it Jill Ghaleb’s swearing in as county judge, a fatal ATV crash in New Lisbon, or rising gas prices at local pumps.
The new home page was particularly useful on Hall of Fame Game Day, when the weather situation was changing minute to minute. We ran the early forecast, heralded sun breaking through, covered the parade and, finally, recorded the game’s cancellation.
That evening, the Rashkow family’s home was struck by lightning on Greenough Road, near Toddsville, and we were able to post the details the next day: The news when you want to know it.
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Going forward, our goal is to expand the concept to create a virtual meetingplace, marketplace, agora, quilting bee – what have you – to ensure the community – your community, our community – can talk to itself with ease, efficiency and effectiveness.
Keep going back to see how things are evolving. And, please, e-mail me – jkevlin@thefreemansjournal.com – with the guidance and suggestions I know you’ll have.

Labels: Columns