Laden...
Making someone completely disappear is a very difficult feat.
Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, I am sure you have been through a lot, and learned a lot, in the 10 months since the coronavirus pandemic swept across our country. So have we, at MLive.
COVID didn’t change our mission, which is to bring you vital news, information and analysis so you can make the best decisions for your safety and that of your family. But it sure demanded our attention and consumed our efforts, and along the way we’ve learned what you need to know.
You tell us by what you read. Since March, MLive journalists have reported and written almost 5,000 stories on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as created databases, photo galleries, maps and other informational graphics.
We’ve written about the spread of the virus, the toll it’s taken, the shutdown orders and resulting political strife, the rollout of vaccines. You have responded with more than 130 million reads of that content.
Early in the pandemic, we began offering free text alerts with links to important breaking news and analysis. More than 20,000 of you signed up for these alerts.
Effective Jan. 31, those text alerts will no longer be offered for free. Instead, they will become a feature reserved for subscribers of MLive’s work.
During 2020, I talked to you often about what it takes to produce in-depth, meaningful journalism. Not just the effort, but the cost, and how we as a news organization need to supplement the internet advertising model to build a more secure base to fund this work in the future.
In August, we began marking our best journalism “Subscriber Exclusive,” and asked readers to support us with digital subscriptions to access that work. Thousands of you have become subscribers, even as we left most of our day-to-day work open for all to read.
We also began marking some of our COVID-related coverage as Subscriber Exclusives. Some readers questioned that decision, saying that during a public health crisis all information on that topic should be free.
I understand that concern. But just as the pandemic showed how important journalism remains to readers and communities, it demonstrated the great effort and cost it takes to produce that work.
The daily text message service on the coronavirus in Michigan requires time, expertise and significant service hosting fees, which we have covered for more than 10 months. That’s far longer than we imagined when we started, and we don’t know when the pandemic will end.
Ultimately, the service is unsustainable to continue for free. So, the texts will continue as a benefit of subscribing. Those who already are print or digital subscribers can click here for information on how to sign up for the coronavirus texts.
If we are to succeed in the future – crisis or no crisis – and consistently provide the kind of journalism that made a difference in Michigan this past year, we need to value it properly. I thank the readers who have invested in our mission.
For those who haven’t yet, but see the value of the journalism in their lives, view our subscription offers here.
🎧 To hear all the stories behind the stories, click here and subscribe to our Behind the Headlines podcast.
Editor's note: I value your feedback to my columns, story tips and your suggestions on how to improve our coverage. Let me know how MLive helps you, and how we can do better. Please feel free to reach out by emailing me at [email protected].
John Hiner Executive Editor Vice President of Content Mlive Media Group
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