The future of The Cedar Mill News
By Virginia
Bruce, editor
This paper may be the last printed issue
of The News for a while. The cost of printing in full color is
very high. Pacific Office Automation has been very generous in letting us
print 600 copies each month on one of their high-speed color copiers—donating
the use of the machine along with the paper and toner. All good
things end eventually, and it will no longer be possible for us to print
there.
What you can do
If you want to help us keep the Cedar Mill News going, the most important
thing that readers can do at this point is to sign up to get the
online version (cedarmill.org/news/signup). Each month when the new issue
is ready, you’ll
get an email with a link to download the PDF version which looks just like
the printed paper. You can print that on your own printer and take it with
you to read anytime. Or you can use the other link in the email to go to the
home page (cedarmill.org/news) and read the stories online as web pages. There
are usually more photos and sometimes even longer articles than can fit in
the printed version. And all those links (see article to the right) will actually
work and take you to the pages! We never do anything with your email address
other than to send you the monthly notice.
For those readers who don’t have access to a computer—do you have
a friend or relative who can print off an extra copy for you? If you visit
the Cedar Mill Community Library, the librarians can help you print the paper
there (though not in color) at 10¢ per page. Maybe you’ll discover
that the internet isn’t so difficult and that there’s more you
might enjoy once you’ve figured out how to get The News.
Over 500 people already get The News online every month. If we get
enough new people signing up, we’re hoping that our advertisers
will stick with us while we find a new way to print The News.
The January and February issues will most likely be 100% online.
We’ll
be working hard in the meantime to find another way to print the paper—we
know that people like to pick up papers at the library and at local businesses
and we’re going to do our best to bring that back. If you have a paid
subscription I will print copies and mail them out as usual. I won’t
be taking any more subscriptions until we work out a new way to print
the paper.
How The News grew
In 2002, at a monthly meeting of the Cedar Mill Business Association
(CMBA), we were discussing ways to get more people involved in the
organization. I asked why the people who were there that day came
to meetings. For most of them it boiled down to getting the latest “gossip” about
the business community and other developments in the area. I suggested that
a CMBA-sponsored newsletter might be popular. I received a go-ahead to try
a couple of issues.
The first issue, in January 2003, was called The Milltowner and consisted
of one single-sided page featuring information about the next CMBA
meeting and a story about Jordan and The Bluffs parks. The first
two issues were printed on my inkjet and distributed only to CMBA
members. Then in March I arranged for the paper to be printed for
free by IKON in Beaverton, in exchange for advertising. By then we’d
found enough news to cover the front and back of a single sheet. In April
we grew to four pages, and added Teufel Nursery as an advertiser. The focus
began to shift from strictly business to issues of interest to the general
community, and we began to distribute the paper at local businesses.
While walking the paper around to the companies on Science Park Drive,
I encountered Brooks Newsom at Pacific Office Automation, a company
that was founded in Cedar Mill and now provides equipment and networking
services throughout the west. He offered to print it on their machines.
The May 2003 issue was printed there, as have been all subsequent
issues, directly from disk on machines in their demo room.
I put the first few issues together as an experiment. When it proved
popular, the CMBA decided to pay me a small amount each month. Over
time, local businesses wanted to advertise, and the paper grew to
its current eight pages of local news and ads. The small stipend
from CMBA and the advertising revenue is what I get paid for putting
it together. Any printing costs would have to come out of that, since
the paper isn’t currently supported
in any other way. So right now, even relatively inexpensive printing
is impossible.
Thanks to everyone for your support over the past four years.
I intend to do all I can to keep The Cedar Mill News going. There’s a lot happening
in our little community, and I expect it to just get more interesting.
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