In a few short weeks, our world changed. It’s starting to sink in that, once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, we will re-enter a different society, one where shaking hands may no longer be the polite norm.

At this point, there are still many unknowns.

One of the unknowns is what your local newspaper will look like, or if it will ultimately survive this devastated economy. With the lockdown, we saw our advertising revenue fall through the floor. Like many other businesses in our community, we went into survival mode. We are grateful to those advertisers who remain with us through these difficult times and those who have become new advertisers.

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to community journalism, and keeping our readers informed. Now more than ever, we’re seeing new subscribers signing up, and our website traffic is through the roof. People are craving information about their community. The newspaper has become one way of staying connected.

We continue to publish our news, features, letters to the editor, and more online, free of charge to readers.

Our team is working remotely, so it may take more time than usual to contact us, but we are monitoring our phone messages and emails. Our commitment is to perform our public service mission, which is to keep our community informed and connected.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted financial pressures on your island newspapers as we’ve never experienced before. Sadly, some staff was laid off, while others have had their hours cut. Still, we continue to produce our print and online editions.

Accurate and trustworthy journalism is more important than ever. If you value the critical role of your community newspaper, please consider supporting our work with a digital or print subscription. Or if you’re already a subscriber, consider making a donation. Learn more at https://www.islandssounder.com/support/.

Thank you for your support. We wish you the best during this difficult time.