Future Nelson Mail: your feedback

First and foremost my thanks to all concerned in the daily production of the Nelson Mail. It does seem inevitable change is close at hand. Reading between the lines it seems ‘Fairfax’ are keen to roll out the Marlborough Express method of publishing.

Once again my heartfelt thanks to all the loyal staff of the Mail.

When I first started work at The Nelson Evening Mail in the 1950s it was the halcyon days of daily newspapers. The steady population growth reflected accordingly in extra circulation.

As I recall the rural delivery driver Neville Stratford faced a real challenge in finding enough room in his van for the Saturday edition.

Sadly a reduction seems inevitable while at the same time we read ‘‘The Nelson airport’s growth was the highest in the country. My thanks to all those involved in tradition going back 150 years.

Many thanks for asking for the community’s input at this challenging time for the Nelson Mail. I subscribe to the digital edition and check daily for editorials, articles and correspondence that interests me.

In summary, give me quality over quantity any time: sustain good quality local content above all else is my call.

This means a business model that allows support for good editorship and good investigative journalism at a local level, as well as straight reporting.

If that means fewer issues or a different paywall system or digitalonly, so be it, but without strong editorial or journalistic input, articles would become increasingly ‘‘tabloid’’ and correspondence would descend into unmoderated slanging matches.

I like the idea of a print version for those that value it, but if it was a choice between a good quality digital version or a mediocre print/digital combo, I’d go for the former.

Similarly I like a daily ‘‘paper’’, but if fewer editions enabled retention of good journalistic standards, I’d again go for quality over quantity.

My wife and I are fervent readers of the Nelson Mail. We split the paper so each of us is reading part of it and swap later, something that cannot be done with digital material. To subscribe to a paper delivery for just 3 days a week won’t work for us because a daily newspaper is about delivering up to date local, national and world news.