We wrote last week about how subscriptions from readers like you keep the Town Crier in business. For the past 75 years, local advertisers and subscribers have supported an independent newsroom providing coverage for Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View.
This month the Town Crier is asking readers on our website to support our news coverage directly. If you’re already a subscriber, you’re doing that – thank you, and our aim is for you to read easily and without interruption.
We’re turning on a paywall tool that will ask current print and online subscribers to log in to continue reading. People who don’t subscribe will be able to read a few stories each month, but we’re going to ask them to support us if they want to read more. Subscribers pay $5 a month, and in doing so they keep locally owned, independent news in business.
You can set up your subscriber account now by visiting losaltosonline.com/login, where we will connect your new account to your current subscription. If you are already registered and want to make sure we can associate your subscription with your account, you can visit losaltosonline.com/profile to review your information and update your name and street address as printed on your newspaper (you don’t need to use all caps – we fixed that part).
We’re a legacy print newspaper, so our subscriber information has until now been organized around your street address, entered in all capital letters due to archaic software, and organized by the routes postal carriers walk – you can imagine why this has not led to a totally smooth digital transition. Your patience is warming the hearts of our very appreciative and tiny circulation department. This is a big week for them.
We need you feedback, suggestions and bug reports for insight into how to make our stories easier to find, share and enjoy. As you encounter the paywall and learn to log in, let us know what works and what could be improved. Reach out to online editor Eliza Ridgeway at [email protected] with technical suggestions. Email subscription questions or problems to co-publisher and circulation manager Howard Bischoff at [email protected] or call our offices at (650) 948 9000 – we’ll troubleshoot with you by phone.
The Town Crier’s online news has to be convenient and accessible to read but also sustainable to produce. Local residents sometimes assume we’re publicly funded (nope) or that online advertising can, on its own, support original, public-service-oriented news reporting (not in 2021). Can we make enough revenue from subscriptions and advertising to support a full, independent local newsroom? The answer is yes, if we keep producing important, relevant stories and the residents of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View rally to support us directly as subscribers.
– The Town Crier Team
