LaDaSun...now on-line

[fatlazyless]

Starting today, it looks llke the www.laconiadailysun.com is on-line. So, last week the Citizen of Laconia changed their on-line format all around, and now this. Well......GOLLY....how 'bout that?

[brk-lnt]

Saying they're "on-line" is a bit of a stretch. The PDF download is nice and all, but the site is circa 1995 and not exactly interactive.

[Sunrise Point]

Thank you FLL. I always try to get a copy when I arrive. Now I can read it at home too!

I purchased a table saw this morning from an ad in today's paper.

[Argie's Wife]

Oh, goody! :)

Thanks for the link! It will come in soooo handy! :D

Especially when I'm out of something to line my bird's cage.... :cool:

[SAMIAM]

Just curious....wonder how the Citizen is doing for circulation now that they've joined the morning papers.Used to look foward to it in the pm but now ,I rarely buy it.

[MaidenCove07]

I live in Manchester, which is really not THAT far from the lake, $3.00/gal gas prices aside.
I've called LaDa yearly at the end of the summer asking if there was a subscription program in place yet...

How exciting - I can keep up now.....

[jellybean]

Saying they're "on-line" is a bit of a stretch. The PDF download is nice and all, but the site is circa 1995 and not exactly interactive.You're so right. There are completely free content management systems out there ... it's kind of sad that a paper wouldn't use them to get more readership.

But, I do kind of like that I can see the ads.

[SteveA]

Just curious....wonder how the Citizen is doing for circulation now that they've joined the morning papers.Used to look foward to it in the pm but now ,I rarely buy it.

Have you seen the new "online" Citizen? Seems like it's been folded into the Fosters Seacoast edition. I find it difficult to navagate to the content for the Lakes Region. Maybe it takes some getting used to.

Also seems the rush to get it out in the morning has cut off coverage of evening local high school sports. I find myself going to the Union Leader (gag).. or the Concord Monitor to get scores.

LA DA Sun is ok.. but the .PDF format is a pain in the butt. (they do seem to have some talented writers)

[fatlazyless]

Just take a look at all the advertisements running in the LaDaSun; display, classified, and local town notices, and compare it to the Citizen. When local towns like Laconia, Gilford, Meredith, Belmont and Sanborton chose one paper for their local notices like water shut-offs, and town meetings, that speaks to their perceptions.

A big space in the Citizen's Laconia building was recently rented out as a 2-3 year temporary home for th Belknap County Court, while its' courthouse gets renovated. Does that mean Foster's is running it from their seacoast home? I don't know? The LaDaSun had a photo of Judge Noyes tape-measuring his court's new space at the Citizen building while sprung on his knees.

Newpapers are obviously in the advertising business, and are supposed to have a passion for journalism-reporting, whatever that is!.

[Skip]

...A big space in the Citizen's Laconia building was recently rented out as a 2-3 year temporary home for th Belknap County Court, while its' courthouse gets renovated. Does that mean Foster's is running it from their seacoast home? I don't know?..

It is no secret down here in Dover, corporate home of Foster's/Citizen, that the organization is continuing to suffer financially from a significant loss the last decade of subscribers. Foster's has closed or severely downsized a number of its local bureau operations consolidating back here at their new building in Dover.

The Foster family are as well known down here in these parts as real estate moguls as much as they are known as journalists, and they have been having a bad luck run when it comes to a number of their development projects.

As Foster's/Citizen considers to struggle financially look for further cutbacks in their ability to cover the news, especially the further one gets from their Dover operation. Aggravating the situation further is tha ability of local freebies like the Laconia and Conway Sun to steal away advertising dollars.

Another example? The Conway Sun had stolen away enough advertising dollars and covered the news much better in the Ossipee, Tamworth and Wakefield area that about a year ago now Foster's threw in the towel and stopped much of the delivery in the area. You can't even by a Foster's in any of the local stores up that way anymore.

I concur with FLL that the locals in the towns he cites have found that they are getting a much better bang for their buck in the localized daily freebies then with the Foster's/Citizen enterprise. And I think that trend will get noticeably stronger as people seek alternative ways to get their news both locally, statewide and nationally.

[jrc]

First radio stole some of the newspaper thunder, then television. Now the internet will finish the job. By the time all the dust settles there will be very few real independent newspapers left. Even big city newspapers are having huge funding problems.

Small daily freebies may survive due to very low overhead. Mom and pop businesses like to advertise close to home.

As long as you're one of the 80% of Americans with internet access, you'll be able to get a much wider spectrum of news than any newspaper. Of course you will have to sort through the wackos.

If you don't have internet access, you will have to depend on TV and radio where they are both pretty much all wackos. :laugh: