Subscription rates for The New Era have been increased due to economic pressures, Publisher Scott Swanson said this week.
A year’s subscription for residents in Linn County will be $32, while annual subscriptions outside the county will cost $40. The rate for part-time county residents will be $38.
Swanson attributed the need to raise rates to rising postage and printing costs.
“Our costs have been mounting significantly for the last year,” he said. “Though rates for normal mailing have not gone up, the cost of mailing periodicals has for us.
“We’ve been making a concerted effort to keep our rates down because of the financial difficulties many in our community are experiencing, but it’s time to bump the rates up a bit,” Swanson said.
“If it’s any consolation to our readers, we’re still a better deal than many comparable weekly newspapers in the state. We’ll continue to keep our rates down as much as possible.”
Swanson said readers will see some changes in the paper’s look in the next few weeks. A new nameplate will be introduced in the first edition of January.
“The look will be slightly different, but we think it will only sharpen the paper up a bit,” Swanson said.
“As a business our goal is obviously to keep things economically viable, which has been a little more difficult with this economy. But equally important is to make sure we’re doing everything we can to give our readers and advertisers the best service we possibly can from the newspaper that has served them since 1929.”