A lot of people have asked the simple question: “Why an online issue?”
Firstly, Salient has a grand website. Catch has won heaps of design awards for the amazing site that they have put together and was nominated for Best Website at the Qantas Media Awards. It is simply a really wicked website that is easy to use, sexy to look at and has lots of interesting content for you to read.
Secondly, it is far more interactive than the paper copy. If you don’t like a story, if you hold an opposing view, if you just want to comment on how good or bad it is or even add more information, you can do so straight away. You can get into arguments and discussions on the site in a way that would take semesters through the letters pages. It is about freedom of speech and association. Use it wisely though.
Thirdly, and yes, as some of you have pointed out, it does cost money to print the magazine. Each week it costs nearly $6000—or just under a dollar for every copy we get printed—to get you the magazine. We can put the magazine online for less than $200.
Fourthly, there were budget cuts to Salient at the start of this year by the VUWSA exec. About 6% of the 2008 budget went. So there have been austerity measures. This is one of them. But it is also designed to help us create more revenue. If more of you are visiting our website—returning, commenting, playing around—that drives our hits up, which in turn means we become a better and more enticing platform for advertising.
It’s not like many of you don’t use the internet at all. So add us to your RSS or bookmark us. Come back. We’ve put a lot of work into making this pretty cool. Hope you enjoy.
Best thing about this is that if you don’t agree with me, you can tell me right now. Just comment below.