The publishing industry is changing in response to new technology, market demands, and economic realities, and those publications that do not take into account the changing times should not expect to survive. The Internet, in particular, has radically impacted how information is published and accessed.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project reported in March that "six in ten Americans (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day. and the internet is now the third most popular news platform, behind local television news and national television news."

Many online readers look to the Internet for up-to-the- moment news reporting that's more timely than even a printed daily newspaper can provide, and newspaper circulation has suffered as a result. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in April that weekday newspaper sales dropped 8.7 percent for the six-month period ending in March compared to the same period a year earlier. For Sunday sales, the drop was 6.5 percent.

Weekly news magazines are also experiencing declining circulations. The New York Times reported last month: "Newsweek's circulation was 3. 14 million in the first half of 2000. By the second half of 2009, that dropped to 1.97 million. Time's circulation declined from 4.07 million to 3.33 million in the same period." Newsweek, which is losing money, is now on the block, and U.S. News & World Report converted in 2008 from a weekly to a monthly.

We are pleased to report that The New American is now holding its own in print, with slight growth over the last couple of years. At the same time, our online traffic has grown dramatically. In September 2008, the first month we began posting online articles every weekday, 28,993 absolute unique visitors (different people) came to the site. In April of this year, 188,078 absolute unique visitors came to thenewamerican.com.

Like other publications, we are looking at how best to accomplish our mission in a changing industry and environment. In a nutshell, this means working both online and in print. Though a printed publication cannot compete with the Web in terms of quickness, there is a definite need for a printed publication providing news analysis and perspective. There is something about holding the printed word in one's hand that the Internet cannot replace, and frankly, many people prefer to read words on paper (particularly journal-length articles and books) as opposed to online, while others are very comfortable getting information both in print and online.

For several reasons - from the tough economic times, to being able to spend a little more time on selected issues - we have decided to reduce the frequency of our publication slightly, from 26 issues per year to 24, while keeping the subscription price the same ($39 per year). In fact, we have not raised the subscription price since TNA was launched in 1985 and are happy to be able to keep that record intact now.

Existing subscribers will still receive the total number of issues promised when they subscribed, by extending the time period of the subscription to offset the missing issues. When they renew, they will receive 24 issues for a one-year subscription, as will be the case with all new subscribers.

We have been publishing The New American with every-other-Monday cover dates and will follow this pattern for the remainder of the year, except that we will not publish issues with cover dates of August 2 or December 20. Thus, the July 19 issue (three issues from now) will be the last issue we will publish until the August 1 6 issue, and the December 6 issue will be the final (24th) issue we publish in 2010.

Beginning in January 2011, we will publish exactly two issues per month.

We very much appreciate your support of The New American and as always will work hard to deliver the best product of its kind both in the print and online arenas.

- GARY BENOIT

Send your letters to: The New American, P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI 54912. Or e-mail: editorial@thenewamerican.com. Due to volume received, not all letters can be answered. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.