A dollar only goes so far

A dollar doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. That much is evident when we put gas in our vehicles, buy groceries or dine out. Unfortunately, those same struggles impact the newspaper industry, as well.

Earlier this month, the Saratoga Sun increased the cost for a single copy to $1.50 after nearly 13 years at $1. It wasn’t an easy decision, and we’ve already heard some feedback. We don’t like increasing the price of our product any more than other local businesses. Yet, we also have costs of our own and, as long as we could, we absorbed them because we believe getting local news in the hands of readers is of great value to the community and to the success of democracy.

In our industry, we have rising costs across the board. This includes twice-annual postage increases, which make it more costly to send out newspapers to subscribers in our county and abroad. The cost of subscription barely covers the postal costs, not to mention the even bigger costs of producing the news, whether in print or online. For example, tariffs on aluminum coupled with inflation have more than doubled the cost of printing plates in the last decade. Newsprint has increased significantly just in the last year, as has the cost of ink. All of this is needed to deliver a print newspaper to our readers each week.

Thus, the push for more online and less in print. We disagree with that approach because people like their local news how they like it, not how bean counters want it to be. So, regardless of whether it is in print or online, one cost remains, and it is our most valuable resource: our dedicated and hardworking staff.

Without a staff, a newspaper doesn’t get printed, nor is there advertising or articles. Artificial Intelligence may have its uses, but we have yet to see it walk into a local business and chat with the owner or attend a basketball game and get photos of the emotions which play across the face of our student athletes. We’ve not seen it talk with a customer about their subscription or dial in the color on the press to make sure that photo of a cute kid at the parade comes out just right. We certainly haven’t seen it drive a newspaper from our printer or deliver it to our vendors or the post office.

We believe we provide a valuable product every single week and one worth paying a little more to have in your hands. Compared to other services, ours is still a bargain and inexpensive. Streaming services, which were supposed to free us from the chains of cable television, charge upwards of $18 each month. A cup of coffee is anywhere from $4 to $8 and, while that is a necessity to get through the morning, it adds up by the end of the year.

If you skip one cup of coffee, you can pay for local news and advertising that is important to you for a month. Talk about a bargain.

If the cost of a $1.50 newspaper is too much, consider how costly not having a local media source is. Some surveys of “news deserts” have shown the growth in local government increased by 30% in the first two years. If you don’t want to pay $1.50 at a newsstand, consider an annual in-county mailed subscription. For the cost of $1 per week you can get the Saratoga Sun in your mailbox and online at saratogasun. com

Thanks for your continued support, The Entire Staff at The Saratoga Sun