Transition continues: Let us know if you want Deseret News insert

DUST IN THE WIND

The San Juan Record is making progress as we continue the transition into our “2020 Vision” for the future.

We hope you enjoy the transition and have patience as we work through the inevitable challenges.

We are moving ahead one month into the transition to our new printing arrangement.  The San Juan Record has a new look, with a taller and narrower page.  

There are two sections of the newspaper, with expanded coverage of high school sports and outdoor recreation through new Sports Editor, Rhett Sifford. 

We hope you are enjoying the shift in our coverage, and in our new look and feel.

The transition has not been without some pain. We were very happy over the past ten years with printing through the Utah Media Group in Salt Lake City.  They do a great job and treated us well.  

However, in late July, we were summarily notified that the printing relationship would end within a month.  

The San Juan Record joined a number of other smaller publications that needed to find a new printer in a very short timeframe.

The enormous presses in Salt Lake City were made to print hundreds of thousands of copies of the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News. 

However, when distribution plummeted for the daily papers, the press took on printing for a wide variety of smaller publications.

It required just two minutes for the press to print the San Juan Record once the presses were set and ready to go.  

However, apparently the set-up of so many smaller jobs was causing untimely aging to the presses, and the decision was made to jettison the smaller publications.  

We received a number of bids and were fortunate to find a new arrangement with the Gannett Press in Farmington, NM.  They are doing a great job.

However, the transition has been painful in several ways. It is always a challenge to perform such fundamental adjustments to the format of the paper.

One of the largest challenges has been the loss of the insert containing the Deseret News National Edition (DNNE) and Church News for San Juan Record subscribers in the local area. 

Since the Record is no longer printed in Salt Lake City, we lost the ability to efficiently ship the insert.

However, we have found a solution! We will continue to insert these sections at no cost to local subscribers through the remainder of their current year subscription.

We will include the insert in all local subscriptions of the San Juan Record for the next three weeks.  After that time, we will only include the insert in the papers of our subscribers who notify us that they want it to continue.

Look for an insert in the insert that will let you know how to provide that notification.  

Briefly, you can call us at 435-587-2277, email sjrnews@frontiernet.net, mail notification to P.O. Box 879, Monticello, UT 84535, send a notice via social media, or visit our office in Monticello.

We will try our best to contact each subscriber.

When it is time for renewal, subscribers can continue to receive the DNNE and Church News for an additional $20 per year. 

That is significantly less expensive and more convenient than ordering a stand-alone subscription from the Deseret News.

A bigger challenge has been financial.  The fact is that our print and shipping bill has gone up dramatically.  

The price of the San Juan Record at the newsstand increased to $.75 beginning October 1.  The newsstand price is still a bargain compared to many other weekly and daily newspapers.

We are unable to adjust our advertising and rates until the beginning of the year.  

Advertisers can expect a modest rate increase in January – the first rate increase since 2015. 

We also anticipate a slight increase in subscription fees. They were last adjusted in 2013.

Thank you for your support of the San Juan Record!