Rising website design and hosting costs have forced The Lincoln Journal to go to a paid subscription module for its online edition, effective October 1.

Those logging onto the website can still access all of the story headlines and the ads in their entirety; however, the full details contained in the stories will be available only through paid subscriptions.

It is true that The Augusta Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, and other daily newspapers are free online. But The Lincoln Journal is not the same product as those large dailies. Just because we are all newspapers doesn't mean everything else is the same.

That would be like saying that Goldman & Wengrow is the same as Macy's, Dillard's, or even Wal-Mart just because they are all stores. The truth is: Goldman & Wengrow is unique to this community — you can't get what you get there at any of those big stores.

And so it is with The Lincoln Journal. You won't find the write-up and picture of the LCHS Class of 1998's reunion in any other newspaper. If you read only other newspapers, you might never know that Hailey Belangia was the guest of honor at a tea party celebrating the fact that she is now attending Pre-K at LCES. Detailed, written reports of actions taken by our county commission, the city council, and the board of education are found nowhere else.

The Lincoln Journal is unique to this community — you can't get what you get here at any of those big papers. We run virtually anything anyone brings us because we feel that if they think it is important enough to be in the paper, so do we (of course, certain rules and deadlines have to apply). Our goal is to promote the people, affairs, and events of Lincoln County, while recording an accurate account of the news as we can gather it.

Those big papers are big enough to include regional and national news, and therefore, they can attract regional and national advertisers. You also have to "register" and thereby give them your e-mail address, which opens you up to all kinds of spam. That's what pays for their "free" online access. We don't have the luxury of national advertising, and we don't exploit our list of subscribers.

Our staff and our revenues are small. Besides, people have always been willing to pay for the print edition, and there are significant expenses involved in producing the online edition, just as there are with the hard copy.

Of all community newspapers similar in size that we know of, most are available online by subscription. In fact, most initiated online subscriptions long before we did. We held out as long as we could because we know the importance of having our content available online.

Readers will be able to subscribe online at www.lincolnjournalonline. com on Wednesday, October 1.