By By Adam Prestridge
For the past several months, this space has been reserved for me to keep readers abreast of the new changes being made with the Advance.
This week is no exception.
Those changes have included a completely redesigned Web site, which is not only more attractive and user friendly, but also gives readers the ability to be more interactive and offers more for them to read. The new site has proven to be a big hit with our readers and it continues to grow daily. More on this later.
One of the biggest additions announced in recent months was the launch of a new Web site, www.atmorefocus.com, which is based entirely around photo galleries of events that have occurred in Atmore and surrounding communities.
Other announcements have included The Hunt, a community-wide treasure hunt, which has had readers scratching their heads for more than two months and the paper’s shop locally campaign, Spend $20 on the 20th, which was a huge success with both merchants and consumers. This month, back by popular demand, we will have a shop local campaign with Spend $17 on the 17th.
However, today’s announcement may be the biggest of them all.
On June 21, all subscribers will not receive their papers. The reason being is that they will find it in their boxes or driveways the day before.
That’s right. The Advance is switching to Saturday’s beginning June 20.
There are several reasons for making the change, but the main reason is that it proved to be cost effective. The Advance is printed in Andalusia at its sister Boone Newspapers, Inc. publication, which does not publish on Sundays. Since the Advance, “The Brewton Standard” and “The Messenger” in Troy are the only three papers to publish on Sundays, it only made sense for all three publication to make the switch to Saturday. With the move, the print facility doesn’t have to operate up on Saturday nights, saving money, which aids us in keeping advertising and subscription rates at the current level.
From a reader’s point of view, there are numerous advantages to getting the Advance on Saturday. Here are a few:
We at the Advance are excited about the change and the opportunities it gives to provide our readers a jump start on the weekend’s activities.
On another note, the Advance has made a few additional changes to its Web site. You can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Adam Prestridge is publisher of The Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123.