Free Press e-edition experience upgraded, expanded By: Paul Samyn  Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 15, 2019

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2019 (2149 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When I am out and about meeting Free Press readers, they tend to introduce themselves in one of two ways.

The first type is what I would call the classical print reader. They are the ones who make clear to me how much they love reading the newspaper and how they worry there will come a day when they are no longer able to hold something in their hands that leaves its mark in ink.

The second is the reader who is all in on the digital experience. They are the ones who value pixels over print as they point and click their way on smartphones, tablets and desktops.

But lately, I’ve been running into a new variant of Free Press reader, who I will best describe as an omnivore.

They are the ones so in love with our legacy product they now also embrace the e-edition.

What they tell me is the electronic version of our newspaper gives them the virtual experience of having their cake and reading it, too. They get to enjoy the paper the way they’ve always enjoyed it, but can do so without having to get the Free Press out of their mailbox.

They get what they want when they are on vacation or at the cottage. They get what they want when a problem with our presses or delivery results in a delay in getting the paper to their doorstep. They even get what they want when they need to revisit something we did days or even weeks ago, when that edition has long been recycled.

With those readers in mind — and those who haven’t yet tried our e-edition — we are proud to announce we have baked a better cake, so to speak. Available now free for download from Apple’s App Store or Google Play, is our new and improved e-edition app.

This new app is easier to navigate, faster to load and makes better use of your screen’s size. The scroll is smoother, the page-turning effortless. We’ve added notifications so you will know when a new edition is ready. And as an added bonus, you’ll be able to enjoy off-line reading. In other words, you can store as many past editions as you like to enjoy whenever you want.

Get the new WFP E-Edition App

If you prefer the ease of reading news in an app, download the new WFP E-Edition app.

 

Aside from better serving those who like the e-edition experience, the new app plays an important role in the future of the Free Press. Everyone knows newspapers need to grow their digital readership and also balance the needs of long-time print subscribers and the still-valuable revenue stream they represent.

We’ve taken the view an e-edition can serve as a bridge from our past to our future for those readers who currently align themselves on the legacy side of our business.

The growing number of e-edition readers seems to back that up, as we have seen as many as 50,000 scrolled through our e-editions in the past month. Our hope is we can build on that success to date and ensure more people download the app and try the digital page-turning experience.

Every one of our paying subscribers has access to this experience for no additional charge. Anyone who needs help either downloading the app or understanding the features of the e-edition can tap into our help desk (available Monday through Friday, by simply sending an email query to digitalfeedback@winnipegfreepress.com).

As always, I am interested to hear your thoughts on our e-edition. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, regardless of whether you describe yourself as Free Press classic reader, Free Press digital fan or the new breed of Free Press omnivore.

Paul Samyn is the Free Press editor

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @paulsamyn

Paul Samyn
Editor

Paul Samyn has been part of the Free Press newsroom for more than a quarter century, working his way up after starting as a rookie reporter in 1988.

   Read full biography