Cambrian News introduces digital paywall on 1 October

There will a paradigm shift taking place at Cambrian News come Thursday, 1 October. From then, you will have very limited free access to all of our content and news reporting online as our digital paywall takes effect.

Cambrian News and its sister publications across Wales will mostly go behind the paywall. This includes Iliffe Media Group titles such as the Abergavenny Chronicle and the Brecon and Radnor Express.

You may recall that Tindle Newspapers, the company that owned Cambrian News and some 30 other tiles across Wales and England, was purchased in late March by Iliffe Media, the publisher of many regional daily, weekly and online news sites across the UK. This evolution for our online news to a digital subscription base is a long time coming and will help guarantee the continued success of the Cambrian News.

The Tenby Observer will follow suit by the end of the month, as will our titles in the Isle of Man.

So, what does mean to you?

Firstly, our weekly print editions of the Cambrian News will continue as normal, available at local outlets across mid and west Wales every Wednesday morning.

That remains unchanged.

But if you consume your local and regional news online from the Cambrian News, you will no longer be able to access it for free.

Effective Thursday morning, you will be allowed to read one free news report.

On the second visit you will be asked to supply your email address and some very basic information that follows all of the strict conditions of privacy and GDPR provisions.

You can then read three more stories, and after that, you’ll have to subscribe.

You can buy a monthly subscription for just £4.99. If you opt to buy an annual subscription, the cost is reduced, giving you a free month, with an annual price of £54.89.

But everyone knows Cardis love a good deal. That why if enter the code CARDI10, you will receive a £10 discount, making the annual subscription just £44.89.

I must stress that the online paid-for site will have few if any of those very annoying pop-up ads, will be very light on advertising and will be much cleaner to read.

Yes, the criticism we receive for our current ad-heavy site is that it’s very difficult to read. I concur. But not so the new site when you subscribe.

I know that the Facebook warriors are going to have a field day in the comments section when this column appears online. Good for them. Enjoy. Water off a duck’s back. Quack, quack.

The reality is that this move to an online subscription model for our digital news is indeed a long time coming. All of the other publishers of news across Wales – and the UK – outlets such as the County Times, Flint Journal, Western Mail are all behind paywalls. Tried reading a daily online?

Indeed, even Nation.Cymu, which receives operational funding directly from the Welsh Government, uses a paid-for model.

Since 1861, the Cambrian News has been providing news to the region. This move to a subscription model for our digital content is the next evolution. And again, our print editions will continue to be printed for you, just as we have done for the past 165 years.

When you subscribe you will also have access to the Iliffe Media Group app that will allow you to read local news from all across Britain, literally from John O’Groats to Lands End.

Our e-editions will also be available to search and read, giving you access to our archives in e-format going back well over a decade.

There is one other slight amendment coming.

For those of you who have subscribed to receive a print edition through the post, once your current annual subscription runs out, if can’t be renewed. Quite simply, the rising price of postage and other processing costs makes this option unsustainable moving forward.

As the Editor, it’s my responsibility to ensure the future success of the Cambrian News and to make sure I pass it on in good stead to future editorial stewards. Introducing the digital subscription model places the newspaper on a very firm commercial footing.

If you believe in strong local journalism, this move is necessary – and long overdue.

Sure, there might be a few who believe that buying a subscription will then allow them to post that content on other sites on Facebook or community news boards.

I can assure you that our copyrighted interests will be protected and I am assured by those who know such technical details that they will be watching for unauthorised copying.

No one wants their work ripped off for free.