Every year at this time, we reflect on the accomplishments of the past year and our plans for the next.
The “Year in Review” selection of headlines on the front page demonstrates the immense volume of important and interesting news we covered this year.
Weekly news, by definition, has a short shelf life, but this look back at the past year makes us realize how much has happened in the small towns we call home. It was a big year.
At The Lincoln County News, the biggest change of the year was the metamorphosis of Lincoln County Magazine.
Our staff uses terms like “rebrand” or “revamp,” but these terms fail to do justice to the top-to-bottom, front-to-back transformation of this product.
If you have the opportunity, pick up an edition from a past year and an edition from this. It looks like a different magazine.
We are well on our way to another season of Lincoln County Magazine, with the first due to arrive in late May.
Another milestone for the newspaper in 2018 was the award for the top website among large weekly newspapers in Maine.
While the print edition remains our marquee product — and the place where you can find more news about Lincoln County than anywhere else — it was gratifying to earn this recognition of our hard work and investment in digital news.
More highlights of 2018:
We reintroduced a twice-weekly email newsletter with a selection of recent news and opinion — another metamorphosis, this time of a product we had abandoned.
We hosted two open houses, bringing more people into our plant for a glimpse of our operations than we have since we cannot remember when.
We have more plans for 2019.
The first and biggest change will come immediately, as the price of the newspaper goes up for the first time in nearly 12 years, from 50 to 75 cents.
The Roberts family, owners of the newspaper, explained this change in a note some weeks ago. We will only add this: we can hardly think of anything you can buy for 75 cents anymore, including newspapers.
You will see more change in the year ahead. We strive to improve the newspaper all the time, to better serve the community and our customers, both readers and advertisers.
The Lincoln County News will mark its 100th anniversary under this name in February 2019 and its 100th anniversary under the ownership of the Erskine-Roberts family in December 2020.
As it approaches these milestones, the newspaper will remain in its essence the same: a constant in our lives and yours.
