Free, the Daily News

Interesting email from the Daily News. My first response was, "Smart move, finally." Then I remembered I'm a subscriber and I did enjoy being special (although most of the fresh content already was free anyway.)

But this is the way papers are moving online. The Times went free and the Wall Street Journal will if it hasn't already.

Can't wait to see what happens. I'll likely keep my subscription because I like getting the paper in the morning.

The online media presentations are worth checking out, by the way. Good stuff.

Overall, I still find the web site is still clunky. It could use some freshening up. It'd be nice to have some individual town pages as well.

And where is the blog!!

Dear Subscriber:

I have great news -- news guaranteed to increase your access to the very best in local information and advertising North of Boston. And for free!

Beginning February 1, access to NewburyportNews.com will be free and unrestricted -- and all content will be available to everyone on the Internet. You'll no longer need to log on to the Plus Edition and you'll still receive complete access to our local news coverage every day. In addition, you'll continue to have complete access to all printed obituaries.

We've made big improvements during 2007 to enhance your experience on our websites. These improvements include:

. An entire multimedia section to redefine your experience with local news. The section contains an entire library of video, audio and photographic slideshows.

. Our new breaking news section, located at the top of the home page, provides
you with important information about local events as they occur.

. In September, we launched the groundbreaking RallyNorth.net, a website dedicated exclusively to covering high school sports that is already a huge hit with students and sports enthusiasts who want the best in local game coverage, stats, and stories North of Boston.

. You can now purchase high-quality reprints of photos that appear on any RALLYNORTH web page. It's like having an entire professional photography staff working just for you.

. We significantly upgraded website services to provide you with the best access to shopping information North of Boston. We expanded and simplified our Classified Connection website and introduced WheelsNorth.com --North of Boston's largest new and used car website.

And we have great plans lined up for 2008 -- including the addition of the nation's leading obituary and remembrance website, Legacy.com, to our site.

Our goal is to be the premier online destination for local news and information North of Boston -- for everyone. We're working hard to accomplish that every day.

We encourage your feedback. We get some of our best ideas from you, our online readers. Please send your e-mail suggestions to feedback@eagletribune.com.


Sincerely,



Al Getler,
Group Publisher