July 24, 2011 - Beginning August 3, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser will launch digital subscription options for its online readers. With this step, Honolulu’s most trusted, comprehensive source of in-depth local news and information joins scores of newspapers in communities large and small across the country, from The New York Times to the Albuquerque Journal, that charge readers for access to portions of their online content.
 
“We invest heavily in generating around-the-clock, in-depth coverage of local events, politics, and sports, employing the largest newsroom in Hawaii with 116 seasoned professional journalists and newsroom staff,” said Star-Advertiser publisher Dennis Francis. “Charging to view this content online as well as in print simply ensures we’re able to continue our investment in local journalism; it enables us to continue providing our readers with the news and information they rely on whenever they want it, in whatever format is most convenient for them.”
 
A year after the Star-Advertiser was established through the consolidation of Honolulu’s two major dailies, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and The Honolulu Advertiser, the newspaper has enjoyed great success with its print edition. The digital subscriptions are expected to build on that momentum and diversify the newspaper’s revenue through more robust online and digital offerings.
 
Digital subscriptions will be offered free of charge as a benefit to existing print subscribers and will include full access to the newspaper’s website, staradvertiser.com, and a digital replica of the printed newspaper called an e-edition available for download on computers and mobile devices, iPad and smartphone apps, as well as full access to the Star-Advertiser’s archive. New subscribers can choose to receive either a digital-only subscription (price varies based on location) or an “all-access” package for $19.95 per month, which includes full digital access as well as home or office delivery of the printed newspaper.
 
Visitors to staradvertiser.com who do not wish to subscribe will still enjoy continued free access to much of the site’s content including the home page, breaking news, Associated Press stories, weather, the weekend entertainment section (TGIF), as well as “front pages” for nearly every section of the website such as headlines, sports, business, editorials and features. A 24-hour pass for full online access will also be offered for 99 cents.
 
Established in 2010 with the consolidation of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and The Honolulu Advertiser, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is Oahu’s leading provider of in-depth, consistent and credible local news and information with an average weekly readership of 493,303 or 70 percent of Oahu adults according to Scarborough Research. Its website, staradvertiser.com, receives more than 19 million monthly page views worldwide and is “liked” by 27,000 Facebook users, ranking 11th in the nation among daily newspapers (Google Analytics).
 
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is the flagship publication of Oahu Publications, Inc., whose portfolio includes MidWeek, the Hawaii Army Weekly, Hawaii Marine, Ho‘okele Weekly, HILuxury, and a growing roster of community periodicals and in-room resort magazines.

(staradvertiser.com)