Read All About It! Changes Coming to Messenger
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – With The Messenger’s recent purchase of the Houston County Courier, it took some time to work to merge the two operations into one. There are some exciting new developments we wanted to make sure the community was aware of.
If you had a subscription to the Courier, this automatically transferred over to The Messenger. If you subscribed to both papers, your unused time from the Courier was added to your current subscription to The Messenger.
Some big changes are coming July 1, so if you are not a subscriber, this may be the time to become one!
With rising demand for our bi-weekly newspaper, The Messenger has decided to begin printing more copies beginning in July. Many of our readers went to their local store only to find the copies had already sold out. With graduations, local sports and feature stories, many people buy several copies to save, display or send to relatives in other areas. We are humbled by that.
The printing of more newspapers and added costs have forced us to make some adjustments to our pricing, too.
Beginning in July, The Messenger will cost 75 cents instead of the current 50 cents. The increasing cost of printing (and just about everything else) forced our hand on this one. Never fear, it’s always much more economical to subscribe to the paper and that is now easier than ever.
You can always call The Messenger office or stop by, but now you can order and pay for your subscription online on our website, www.messenger-news.com. There are different prices depending on if you are in Houston County, outside of the county but within Texas or if you are anywhere else in the country. The good news is each subscription also comes with a digital subscription at no cost.
The digital subscription is where you receive the paper in your email before it even hits the shelves to the general public. You can enjoy a full copy of the paper on your computer, tablet, mobile phone – with additional content we will be adding that you cannot get anywhere else.
In the near future, our digital subscribers will receive information we don’t always have space for in the newspaper, including the arrest reports, extra pictures from events and inside features made just for you. This is a free service to anyone who subscribes to our newspaper.
We will also offer a digital-only subscription for those who wish to receive the e-version only, without the paper copy. Whether you are a long-time subscriber or have been meaning to sign up for months, if you subscribe or renew before July 1 you can save a little money, too.
Prices for an annual subscription to The Messenger are currently $35 per year within Houston County. These are set to increase to $45 per year as of July 1. Our out-of-county rate of $45 will now be $55, and our out-of-state rate of $55 will be $65.
Call, email or sign up through our website before then and subscribe or renew to lock in the current pricing. For those who would prefer to send in a check, it can be mailed to The Messenger, P.O. Box 99, Grapeland, TX, 75844.
The Messenger is grateful to our faithful readers who encourage us when we get things right – and call us out when we get something wrong. We try to be the epitome of the local newspaper, covering our area the best we can, telling the stories of the real people who live here and covering the many meetings in our county, schools and cities.
The Texas Press Association recently honored us with several awards recognizing our efforts and we don’t take our responsibility lightly! If there is something we can do to make this better, reach out and let us know.
To the many who only got to know us recently, welcome! You will find here as much local news and honesty as we can produce every three days!
If you have questions about how to sign up or what to do next, feel free to contact our office at 936-687-2424 or stop by at 113 N. Main St. in Grapeland. For subscription questions, email [email protected].
To suggest story ideas or to let us know about upcoming events, email me directly and we would be happy to help!
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
