The May 19 print edition of Cedar Key News marked the beginning of our second year of publishing as a print newspaper. The online version of Cedar Key News entered its fourth year of publication earlier in May. As with most print newspapers, we depend on our advertisers for revenue, and we provide those advertisers with a service. Unlike nearly all print newspapers, we also receive financial support from the membership fees paid to our non-profit organization, Cedar Key News, Inc. This editorial is a progress report to our advertisers, membership and the Cedar Key community.
Fifteen hundred copies of each biweekly edition of Cedar Key News are distributed free from Otter Creek to many locations in Cedar Key. The online version of our paper has grown over the past three years in number of articles, contributors of articles and visitors to our web site. Currently nearly six hundred visits are recorded each day, about fifty percent more than one year ago. (During the hurricane assaults of September 2004 more than seven hundred visits occurred each day.)
Cedar Key News was founded as a membership organization with the expressed intent that the community would participate in the content and policies of the newspaper. Our membership has grown, particularly in response to the membership campaign of the past three months. We now are only two members short of our immediate goal of one hundred members. That is more than double the 2004 membership. Particularly gratifying are the sponsorship contributions of $50 and $100 made by a number of members. The print edition of Cedar Key News is no doubt responsible for this increase in contributions by the community. It may also account for the increase in visits to our web site between print publication days.
As a non-profit organization with surplus funds, during the past year we held an ice cream social for political candidates in September, co-sponsored a candidates` forum in April and co-sponsored a health needs survey. The health needs survey was responded to by more than three hundred seventy people, and provides useful information for planning a community health center.
In the coming twelve months we look forward to serving a growing readership at www.cedarkeynews.com and the print version of Cedar Key News. | 