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Our Opinion
If you are a subscriber of the Maryland Independent, first of all, we thank you. And we’d like to ask for your continued patience, and your cooperation.
In this space last week, we announced that we would be switching over our home delivery service from neighborhood newspaper carriers to the U.S. Postal Service. As of this week, it has begun. We’ve published a notice about that at the top of the front page of the last four editions, including today’s. Today’s paper is the second time that we have taken papers from our printing plant directly to Southern Maryland post offices for delivery in the mail.
It was a necessary move, after careful consideration, to transition to home delivery exclusively by mail. We wanted a means of consistently reliable delivery, so we turned to the post office.
And if you get home delivery of the Maryland Independent, hopefully you are already aware of the change. You will still receive your Wednesday and Friday newspapers on the same days each week, but it now comes in the mailbox. And the papers won’t be wet or lost.
We want to emphasize that there will be no increase in your subscription price as a result of this transition. Your expiration date will not change, either. Also, you will still have full access to the newspaper online. Our APG Media of Southern Maryland sister papers in the region, The Calvert Recorder and The Enterprise, are doing the same in their markets.
We understand that for some of you who enjoy reading the Maryland Independent first thing in the morning, this is a significant change. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we hope you understand that this decision was not arrived at easily, and it was for the good of the product as a whole. We needed to move back to consistent delivery times that you pay for and rightfully expect.
Here’s a very important point: If you get your mail in a post office box, please call our subscriber services department right away at 301-645-8945 so that we can verify your mailing address in our system and ensure uninterrupted service of the Maryland Independent.
Remember, since there are no longer neighborhood carriers, the newspaper will be put with your regular mail at the post office, so we need to hear from you.
Of course, this change will not affect our delivery to dealer locations such as convenience stores, grocery stores and other retail locations with newsstands. Those copies will still be delivered in the morning, at their current times, every Wednesday and Friday.
Full access to the Maryland Independent will also continue to be available on www.somdnews.com, with the full electronic edition of the newspaper available first thing in the morning. You can also download our mobile app at somdnews.com/newsapp for your convenience.
We thank all of our subscribers for your support throughout the years, and your patience and understanding as we make this transition.
If you have any questions, you may directly contact David Fike, APG Media of Chesapeake president, at dfike@ chespub.com.
Also, feel free to contact Art Crofoot, our publisher, at acrofoot@chespub. com or 301-848-0175, or Rob Perry, our editor, at rperry@somdnews.com or 240-561-1622.