"Progress is impossible without change ..." — George Bernard Shaw
In everyday life I am, I will admit, a creature of habit. I enjoy knowing what to expect, being prepared for it, and successfully navigating whatever the circumstances might've created. There are few simple things more gratifying than creating a to-do list, then crossing items off of that list one by one until it's little more than a collection of strikethroughs.
Or so I recall.
It's been far too long since I've had a day that went exactly as I expected, let alone any longer period of time. I've still been able to navigate each day without severe angst or regret, but in my personal life (and to a lesser extent, my professional circles as well) it's been a year of unpredictability. There's the long-established saying that "variety is the spice of life"; I like to add to that philosophy with "but too much spice gives a person indigestion."
But there's one change that has just the right amount of seasoning, and it's been long awaited and highly anticipated — and it's officially here.
FAR now has a digital edition available for subscription. Check out our website finnishamericanreporter.com for details on how you can get your favorite newspaper on your favorite device.
The digital edition will mirror the print edition; in fact, the same page files that are used when the print edition goes to press are what's used to create the digital version. There's no difference between the two editions when it comes to content.
This change has been one that has been contemplated in the editor's office for several years, if not longer. We've known for quite some time that the future, or at least a decent-sized chunk of it, lies in the digital world. The answer to that age-old question of "how do we connect with the younger generation" is, whether we like it or not, dependent on screens, apps and technology.
I knew that our primary audience for the digital FAR would be the generations that are younger than me (after all, I'm now at a point in my life where my children are my IT advisors, much to my chagrin and their amusement). What I didn't expect was the positive feedback from some folks in my parents' generation.
What I hadn't realized was that a distinct advantage of a digital newspaper is the ability to increase the font size on any given page — meaning that Finnish American Reporter is now accessible again to folks whose eyesight isn't what it used to be.
There've been a couple of readers who eagerly became some of our first online subscribers to take full advantage of that perk.
The power of technology also makes it easier — and much more economical — to get this newspaper across the ocean to the subscribers in our ancestral homeland, as well as any other country where Finnish or Finnish-minded folks might've settled.
In this era of tariffs and postage increases, we'll take any economic advantage we can get.
One thing we won't do, no matter the circumstances, is take away the print edition of Finnish American Reporter. Finnish-American history is well rooted in newsprint and ink, and that won't change — at least not on my watch. We'll still provide a wide-reaching and reliable connection to your heritage that'll arrive in your mailbox at the beginning of every month. I haven't missed a print deadline in 26 years, and as an avowed creature of habit, I'm not going to change that professional trait either.
Later this year, FAR will celebrate its 40th birthday (the inaugural edition of the Reporter published in October 1986) and what better way to acknowledge that milestone than to give the gift of increased newspaper accessibility to not only the generations yet to come, but those who've helped make FAR the leading publication for Finns in North America over the last four decades.
Let's salute these milestones together. Order a subscription to either edition of Finnish American Reporter today.