It’s important. And expensive.
LANSING, Ill. (February 2, 2023) – Many Lansing Journal readers still prefer getting their news from a printed newspaper. They miss the print edition we used to deliver every month, a schedule we were forced to abandon during the pandemic.
We still produce a print edition whenever possible, though doing so is increasingly difficult.
Because of the difficulties, expense, and time involved in being in print, we now save our print editions for special occasions. For example, last June we published a “Summer in Lansing” newspaper that celebrated a return to pre-pandemic near-normalcy for local events, local businesses, and our parks and trails. People enjoyed receiving that information in a format they could page through and hang onto throughout the summer.
This spring is election season in Lansing. That’s another valid occasion for being in print.
Being in print is important
Especially during election season it’s important for the local newspaper to be in print. A printed newspaper allows readers to receive a wide spread of candidate information in a way that makes it easy to compare options, take notes, and reference their choices at the polls.
In our little town, voters will have a voice in at least eight races:
- Village Board
- Three School Boards (Districts 215, 171, and 158)
- Library Board
- Park Board
- One of two Township Boards (Bloom or Thornton)
- South Suburban College Board
The people we choose for these positions will have opportunities to make strategic budget decisions, to enforce ordinances consistently, to develop beneficial programs, and to cast vision for the long-term health of our community. The Lansing Journal provides candidate information so Lansing residents can make informed voting decisions.
Our March 2023 print issue will reach every home in Lansing, including new move-ins who might not know when Election Day is, or how to register, or who the candidates are, or where their polling place is. It’s important for those residents to be informed and connected too, and print is the best way to reach them.
Being in print is expensive
One of the reasons we aren’t in print as often as we used to be is that it’s much more expensive than being online. Paper costs money. Ink costs money. Delivery costs money.
In addition to the “hard costs” of being in print, there are costs that are more difficult to quantify. Writing and editing as many as 24 articles, designing more than 20 ads, shooting and sizing dozens of photographs, laying out 24 pages in accordance with printer specifications. That’s a huge investment of time, and it’s hard to put a price on it. But we can’t overlook it because that careful investment makes The Lansing Journal a newspaper readers look forward to receiving.
Our advertising partners helped cover some of the additional costs of being in print, and we are grateful for their partnership.
But we need your help too.
We need your help
As you anticipate the real, printed copy of The Lansing Journal you’ll receive in March, will you help cover the additional expenses involved?
Sometime in the next 10 days, will you make a special gift to The Lansing Journal, specifically to help cover the costs of being in print?
Even better, would you consider signing up as a monthly supporter? You see, our monthly supporters help ensure that we can faithfully publish local news online every day. That’s our real work. Being in print is a bonus.
Click the button below, and after selecting the amount you want to give, please consider leaving the “Monthly” box checked:
Looking forward to being in print
In spite of the extra hours and extra expenses, we are really excited to bring you a printed newspaper in March. We are excited to fill it with local news and deliver it directly to your home.
The next few weeks will be even busier than usual as we work with the writing team, design ads, confirm delivery dates, and prepare files that meet the printing specs correctly — all while continuing to publish news online every day.
Please let me know if you have any questions about this March print issue. And thank you for being part of a community that supports community news!
P.S. Here are some basic details about this March print issue:
- It will be delivered to every home in Lansing.
- We will also mail a copy to supporters who live out of town.
- It will arrive in Lansing homes during the week of March 13. (It might take us a few more days to get the out-of-town copies mailed.)
- It’s a 24-page issue that will include local business, school, church, and election news as well as candidate bios for the local races.
- There will be no political ads in this issue, only unbiased reporting.
And here’s that form again if you’d like to support the work we are doing to keep our community informed and connected:
[give_form id=”71993″]
