Change is coming for Eagle readers

We have some changes in store for readers of The Wahkiakum County Eagle.

By the end of the month, we're going to launch a new website.

This will have little effect for readers of our print edition, but for readers who follow us online, we have good and bad new.

First the good news: The new website will have more content. It will be easier to navigate. It will have formats for PC's, tablets, pads and phones. We'll be uploading stories and photos more often than we do now.

The bad news is that at some point, and even though I hate to do it, we'll put up a paywall and begin charging fees to access that content.

This is the way of the modern media. More and more people are going online to find the news, and news outlets of all kinds are having to deal with a monumental change in the way we do business.

As for The Eagle, our print subscription has declined a bit over the past few years, but we have a new, solid base of those who access our site online. It seems fair to charge for that access, for there are costs to produce that content and it needs to generate some revenue to cover those costs.

We've been working on this change for several years, for none of us here are tech savvy. We're learning and adjusting to the change. When it's here and everyone has had a chance to adjust, most of us will be pleased with the outcome.

And then, as nothing remains static, we'll figure out what the next change needs to be and go to work on that.