Westside Pioneer to print quarterly; online news service continues

Westside Pioneer to print quarterly; online news service continues

By Kenyon and Therese Jordan, Westside Pioneer Publishers

       The Westside Pioneer will print its second newspaper of the year in mid-August.
       The plan is to start printing quarterly, while continuing to provide online news. Both services will remain free to readers.
       Covering the Colorado Springs Westside, the Pioneer had printed as a weekly from January 2004 to December 2013 before going online-only in January of this year.

In the winter of 2012, the Old Colorado City Security & Maintenance District installed ore cart-styled newspaper “condos” on the south side of Colorado Avenue, created by Westside metal sculptor Bear McLaughlin. One is by the Colbrunn Court pedestrian light (above), the other at 26th Street and Colorado Avenue. The Westside Pioneer rented boxes in both condos when it was a weekly and continues to do so as a quarterly. The boxes are among more than 40 news outlets on the Westside where the Pioneer rents space or has permission to leave copies of newspapers.

Westside Pioneer file photo

       But a number of people said they missed the paper format, so we released a “special summer print edition” May 1, with a press run of 18,000. Our plan was to gauge the response from readers as well as advertisers before making a decision about printing on a schedule again.
       Happily, the response has been excellent. The lion's share of our summer papers have been picked up. Also, nearly all the business owners who supported our summer edition are staying on board, with others showing interest going forward.
       In that regard, anyone who would like to advertise in our August issue is encouraged to contact us and reserve space. Unlike online, there's only so much room in a 16-page newspaper!
       As a quarterly, we believe we can provide news roundups, coming events, feature stories and photos; along with classifieds, business cards and display ads to keep our non-online readers up to date with what's going on in their/our part of the world.
       The other months of the year we plan to print are November, February and May.
       As for our website, westsidepioneer.com, no major changes are in the offing, although we are always mulling improvements to make it more useful for our readers and advertisers. We update the site nearly every day and some days multiple times. Anyone wanting to join the Pioneer e-mail list list (with update notifications sent out roughly once a week) can do so by e-mailing editor@westsidepioneer.com.
        Thank you.

(Posted 7/13/14; Business: Changes)

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