The Shetland Times launches new website to mark start of exciting new digital era with Highland News and Media
Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for The Shetland Times.
As readers will be aware, the newspaper has recently been through a major transition after Highland News and Media (HNM) saved it from closure.
We have moved offices, printed the paper south and managed not to miss an edition.
Now we are embarking on our most ambitious development yet as we seek to vastly improve our digital offering.
From today, visitors to this website will see our new design. And from now on, the website will feature far more news, features, comment and opinion than ever before.
For the past 153 years The Shetland Times has been the number one source of news from the islands, with quality journalism, exclusive content and extensive coverage of all the important issues.
Until now, however, the best of our reporting has been reserved for our print edition, with just a fraction making it onto our website.
With this week’s launch, that’s all about to change.
Going forward, almost all of our coverage will be available online, bringing our readers more news from Shetland than is currently available anywhere else.
From next week, people will also be able to download the HNM app to receive the latest updates, as well as a digital edition of the newspaper.
All stories will be free to view until Monday when a paywall will be introduced.
While everyone will still be able to read at least two articles a month for free, readers who want to access even more quality content will be asked to first sign-up and then take out a subscription.
For just £4.99 a month or under £50 per year, subscribers will benefit from access to a subscriber-only version of our website, with fewer adverts and a better reading experience, as well as access to the app and digital edition.
We believe our journalism is worth paying for and for barely the cost of a sassermaet roll, we are also confident this is a great value offering.
Although this change will mean a huge improvement in our digital content, we are by no means turning our backs on the print edition.
We recognise that many of our most loyal readers still prefer to pick up a physical copy of the newspaper each week, which they can hold in their hands and read from cover to cover.
For as long as people keep buying the paper, we will keep printing it and flying it up for you to read. But the trends in how people choose to consume their news cannot be ignored.
While The Shetland Times has managed to maintain a healthier circulation than many other titles, fewer people are buying the print edition than before and younger people, in particular, are increasingly looking online for their news.
This decline almost led to the newspaper’s closure earlier this year and is why we must find ways to engage with new audiences.
HNM has managed to create a digital strategy that has reversed that downward audience trends and achieve a bright future for its other publications.
Now The Shetland Times is joining its sister publications on the digital journey and we are all looking forward to the exciting opportunities ahead.