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How we bring you the Highland News is changing


By Andrew Dixon

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The Highland News has been serving the area for decades.
The Highland News has been serving the area for decades.

Readers, the way we’re going to bring you local news which matters most to you is changing.

After well over a century of covering communities across Inverness and the wider area, we have made the difficult but right decision to no longer publish the Highland News as a traditional newspaper.

The Highland News has been proud to be at the heart of local communities through good times and bad, reflecting the hopes and aspirations of people across the Highland capital and beyond.

Over the last decade, the way our readers engage with the Highland News has evolved dramatically – many, many more people read our content online than in print. And with the rising cost of raw materials, energy and transport, producing printed newspapers is becoming more difficult to keep economically viable.

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to covering your community. Our journalists live and work in the communities they cover – and they will continue to.

Something else that hasn’t changed is the appetite among local people for the content we produce. Every month online articles across our group of local news websites are read millions of times.

More than 50,000 of you have signed up as registered users of our websites. Some 20,000 have signed up to receive daily or weekly email newsletters, and most importantly thousands of you have become digital subscribers and are reading our content on our website and app.

You will still be able to get all the local news you’d usually read in the Highland News. But it will now be incorporated into the Inverness Courier.

This decision means more focus can be placed on increasing the depth of coverage in the Inverness area – especially online.

And so you don’t miss anything, we have a special offer for Highland News readers, where you can sign up now to be a digital subscriber of the Inverness Courier for £1 per month for the first six months of 2023 (£4.99 per month thereafter).

To access the special offer when becoming a digital subscriber, use promo code: HN at www.inverness-courier.co.uk/subscribe

Subscribers have access to replica e-editions of all Highland News & Media (HNM) titles, unlimited access to all online content – all of which can be accessed via the HNM App. And it is easier and better value than purchasing a print copy.

We’ve covered some great stories over the years in the Highland News.

It has often fought for the underdog with campaigns like HN Action helping individuals battle bigger organisations when they had nowhere else to turn and wanted to shine a spotlight on their situation.

This desire to help also shone through with our special relationship with Highland Hospice, supporting its hugely successful Strictly Inverness and Ness Factor contests as media partner and helping generate thousands of pounds for such a wonderful cause.

We’ve had several of our colleagues even compete in Strictly during this time – experiences that will stay with them forever.

It has been our privilege to serve wonderful communities and tell the stories of their people. The unprecedented experience of the coronavirus pandemic brought out the magnificent community spirit which has always been a hallmark of the area. Stories of ordinary people responding to extraordinary times with kindness, compassion and concern for others were a true inspiration in uncertain times.

And while the media has sometimes been accused of focusing on doom and gloom, we have taken pride in reflecting the good things people have been doing and the achievements of those within our readership. Being close to the community, we have been able to quickly pick up on these good news stories and share them with the audience they deserve.

We’ll still aim to bring you stories like these, be a campaigning voice for your community and hold those in powerful positions to account.

The final print edition of the Highland News will be published on December 29. After decades of publishing in print it’s definitely the end of an era – but there’s also a commitment from us to embrace the digital opportunities.

Thanks for being a loyal reader and we hope you continue to be,The Highland News Team.


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