I missed it.
I intended to point it out when I reached the 100th entry in the News Café newsletter, but that occurred on March 15. It was only by chance that the 100th post was the one introducing the Real Cops section as a supplement to the regular newsletter.
When launching the News Café as 2020 was coming to a close, I had hoped to reach 1,000 subscribers by June 1. It is true that we had a record 1,264 readers for our most popular post, on Jan. 26, but that included those who were referred to the newsletter by others. The actual subscriber list was much smaller at that time, and most of those were free subscriptions.
Don’t get me wrong: We welcome free subscriptions. What every writer wants to see is readership, and the more readers the better. It’s just that we also feel our efforts are worth something, and we hope our readers think so, too. That’s why we’ve made it easy to purchase a full subscription by paying just $5 a month.
I’ve never been much good at marketing, doing much better at interviewing, researching, writing, editing, photography, and videography. When I owned The Telegram and tried to sell ads for the newspaper, I could make a great presentation, but was lousy at closing the deal. But then, that’s what sales representatives are for.
So, in trying to entice more people to take out a paid subscription to the News Café, I tried limiting the number of public posts, making more of them available only to paid subscribers. It seems I was premature: Readership plunged on the days when only subscribers could read the newsletter.
As a result, this week, we reopened more of the posts to free subscribers, and readership shot back up. Going forward, only one edition each week will be limited to paid subscribers, and that will be one that, like today’s, is more of a free-form, musing type of newsletter — harkening back to the columns I have done in the past: My Two Cents, Views From The Cliff, and Quest. I still hope readers will decide that what we’re doing merits financial support, but that will not be a requirement for sitting down with us to discuss the news of the day.
What was that edition that brought such great readership in January? Here are the topics:
Who Can Vote?
Last year’s temporary changes to absentee voting in New Hampshire would become permanent under Senate Bill 47, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester). The Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee heard overwhelming support for the bill during testimony on Monday, but the deputy Secretary of State, David Scanlan, warned that allowing “no-excuse” voting could undermine confidence in the election process.
Getting Back To ‘Normal’
The pandemic is far from over, but people are finding ways to get back to some form of “normal.” The Minot-Sleeper Library in Bristol has just announced a limited reopening on February 8. Individuals and members of their household will be able to make 30-minute appointments to browse and check out items, and one-hour appointments to use the library’s public computers. In some cases, such as for educational purposes, it will be possible to book computer workstations for up to four hours.
Delay Does Not Mean The End
News that the Biden Administration has delayed implementation of President Trump’s December rule aimed at making life-saving medications cheaper for patients does not translate to a victory for Big Pharma over patients. Trump’s action to counter price gouging by pharmaceutical companies was to have taken effect on January 22, but the Health and Human Services Administration has delayed the implementation date to March 22 in order to make sure the savings actually would reach the consumers it is intended to help.
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day. An effort by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the work does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. The project instead relies on direct monetary support from donors and subscribers.
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