Stars and Stripes Offers Free Electronic Newspaper, By Sgt. 1st Class
Doug Sample, USA

(EXCERPT) American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2004 -- Service members who don't have access to
the Stars and Stripes newspaper but do have access to a computer can
now go online to read or download an exact replica of the paper at no
charge.

Stars and Stripes officials said the electronic version of the
newspaper is an effort to reach readers in remote areas.

Stars and Stripes launched the free service just in time to salute
service members during Military Appreciation Month, which is
celebrated in May. Free online versions of the newspaper's European,
Pacific and Middle East editions became available starting April 26.

Tom Kelsch, the newspaper's publisher, said the free online newspaper
is geared to service members in remote locations, but that any service
member anywhere in the world, as well as family members, can use the
service.

"We have many military (people) stationed in places where it just
isn't practical to get the printed edition to them, and this is a way
to be able to reach (them) wherever in the world they're stationed,"
Kelsch explained, as long as they have a computer and Internet access
so they can access the electronic version.

Service members and their families can read the paper online or
download it in the .pdf file format at the estripes.osd.mil Web site.
Officials recommend that readers who want to print the paper and read
it that way use the "fit to paper" option when printing. The site also
offers free access to past newspapers up to seven days.

Kelsch said the electronic newspaper is a cost-effective way to get
the Stars and Stripes to service members at bases in isolated place
overseas, such as Iceland or Crete, where delivery is expensive. He
said it is also a way for the newspaper to reach service members
stateside at bases "where circulation is low or the paper is not
offered."

Kelsch pointed out that offering Stars and Stripes free online to
service members does not mean the printed edition is going away. He
said evidence indicates most people still want to hold a newspaper in
their hands, and that the online version really is most valuable to
people who can't get the paper otherwise.

Printed editions of the paper still will be delivered to service
members in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, where computer access is
limited, he said. Each day nearly 45,000 copies of the paper are
delivered throughout the Middle East region, and plans call for
increasing that number, he said. The newspaper delivers an estimated
25,000 copies to Iraq, another 3,500 to Afghanistan, and 15,000 to
Kuwait, he added.

Kelsch said he expects Stars and Stripes to make little, if any,
revenue from the venture, although some advertising revenue may carry
over to the online edition. He emphasized that the primary reason for
the free offer is to help the newspaper fulfill its mission is to get
the paper out to service members.

"We have a mission to serve, and we intend to serve that mission," he
said. "This is a way that we can do it very well, and so we're going
to do it."

Last year, like many newspapers in the country, Stars and Stripes
began offering a paid subscription service for the electronic version
of its daily paper: $15 per week, 13 weeks for $48.75, or 50 cents per
issue weekdays and 75 cents on Sunday. Kelsch admitted that few
readers subscribe to the Stars and Stripes electronic edition, and
that he's not sure how many will log on for the free editions.

He said other newspapers in the industry are getting similar results
from online subscriptions. "Other newspapers that use electronic
editions are getting about the same or fewer results that we were
getting," he said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2...200404301.html


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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com