We’ve seen that first-hand at The NDL, as we introduced a local news subscription package for our website from Tuesday, meaning anyone who wants to read more than just the headlines needs to sign up.

In time – 30 days from signing up, to be precise – that subscription service will be accompanied by a fee to be deducted on a monthly or annual basis. The fee is $3.75 a week, or 53 cents a day. 

It’s not a new concept. For over one hundred years this newspaper has had a cover price. Introducing subscriptions for website access is a natural and necessary evolution for The Northern Daily Leader in a digital world, and allows our audiences to choose how they will support us.

We’ve worked hard to get the message out there that this change was coming and the support we have received in return has been heart warming. It’s an indication that while we value what we do for our community, you do too.

Of course, after publishing our local journalism online for years, it’s only natural that some people might baulk at the prospect of now paying for it. It was a major step for our business, and rest assured the decision was not taken lightly.

Firstly, thank you to those who have offered feedback. It has been truly humbling to see how important The NDL is to people’s lives and how deeply people care about the journalism that keeps Tamworth connected.

Good community journalism costs money. There is a cost involved in sending a reporter to a council meeting on a Tuesday night, or to the courthouse on a Wednesday, or to the football on a Saturday. 

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. As ever, we remain fiercely determined to tell great stories about the wonderful people in our community.

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