I apologize for the delay in posting to this blog. As a reason, not an excuse, we were working on the multi-section Ask Us About Laredo series, which involves a great deal of time and effort on the part of our staff, and we've been working on our computer system, which also involves time and effort.

That said, I see that there are still a few people talking about charging for online access to print content. As I've said before, we believe it's only fair that people who want the convenience of reading Laredo Morning Times' print stories online should pay for that content, just as do subscribers to LMT's print edition and those who buy it at the news stand. We're not perfect, but we do offer unique information about Laredo and the area that you can't get anywhere else, including watchdog reports on our elected officials and vital entities, such as our school districts. We're a business and we need subscribers to stay in business and continue to do that reporting.

Now, word comes from the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch that Rupert Murdoch says his company will be charging for content at all of its news Web sites. Here's his quote: "Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting."

I do believe I said previously that you were going to see more media charging for content on their Web sites.

It's 4:15 a.m. and we've just wrapped up the Sunday early sections and have a head start on The Zapata Times. We're tired but pleased with the results. We hope you are, too.

This Sunday's Focus features an interesting series of photographs taken at Goodwill by LMT Photographer Ricardo Segovia. You just never know what you'll find there!

And check out the Art of Living cover. In addition to Gabriel Castillo's popular Surfing the City (sneak peek: he talks about dancing with your honey this week), there's a story about local fashionistas Chainé Leyendecker and Scarlet Moreno and their latest line, Penny’s Trip. And let me tell you, it's a trip all right. The cover has an incredible eye-catching design by Tanya Ramirez. Segovia also took these photos.

For those who enjoy local opinions, we have an LMT editorial on page 3D of Focus and two good letters to the editor. Rolando Lopez has an insightful view on testing of our public school students, while Carlos Rene Ramirez, chairman of the Laredo Diocesan Columbian Squires, which is the youth organization of the Knights of Columbus, gives us details about the little-publicized spiritual group designed for boys and young men.

That's just a quick preview of our Sunday feature sections. Let us know what you think.

I've been spending time the last few days responding to comments about things I never said, but which were disseminated across the World Wide Web as gospel. Some bloggers tend to exaggerate and use the bits that fit their argument, which can make for really interesting entries, if inaccurate ones.

That's a major difference between what you'll read in Laredo Morning Times Web and what you'll read on many blogs. Good journalism is based on accuracy and verification. We do make mistakes, much to my chagrin and as many of you have pointed out repeatedly, but the staff-written information that we print and post online has been verified with at least two sources. That's why sometimes you'll read something or hear something somewhere else and you won't see it in Laredo Morning Times at the same time. We want to break stories -- that means having them first -- but factual accuracy and verification are our priorities. We want to assure our readers that what they see in Laredo Morning Times is true.

Thank you, Single X, for taking the time to comment.

I brought up The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal because several previous posts have claimed that they do not charge for online content. That's not true. As I've posted in the past, in response to other posts, if you want full online access to all their content, you have to pay for the e-Edition. I also wrote that they have a lot more content, both free and paid, and that they have much larger staffs, too. I certainly wasn't trying to deceive anyone. I don't think anyone would confuse our papers!

We do run national and state columnists and opinion pieces in our daily opinion page (two pages on Sundays), but if you're not an e-Edition or print subscriber, you don't see those. We run Maureen Dowd frequently, as a matter of fact. And Paul Krugman, George Will, David Broder, Kathleen Parker and more. If you're referring to local commentary, however, you're right, we don't have nearly as much as The New York Times. We do have lots of strong letters to the editor on local topics, Odie Arambula writes his weekly Monday Wash that covers a wide range of topics and we run occasional local columns from local experts on issues of the day. I write editorials as often as I have the opportunity, usually on Sundays. It's a matter of time and staffing. I will try to write more often.

As for "dumbing down" by printing more photos, I disagree. We are a visual community, and those photo pages have some of the highest number of page views and receive numerous positive comments.

You ask why we don't compare ourselves to Texas papers in terms of charging for online content; as I said, I believe you'll be seeing more papers charging in the future. You ask, "why now?" As I wrote, the industry is facing financial difficulties and we must have revenue to continue providing content, online and in print. We're all trying different avenues. An earlier post quoted a story by Wendy Davis from the Daily Online Examiner about the folly of charging, but there are plenty of other stories that say the time is long overdue.

Papers across the country have been increasing the number of unique visitors and page views significantly, but there hasn't been a corresponding increase in advertising. It's true The New York Times backed off its Times Select paid model two years ago, but it has been quietly, successfully charging for its e-Edition for some time now. They are charging for what people really want and can't get anywhere else. That's what we're doing. We provide quality local content that you can't get anywhere else. Yes, there are other Laredo online sources, blogs and other media sites, and some of the stories are the same but we have a great deal of exclusive content. Thousands of people pay 50 cents for the daily edition and $2 for the Sunday edition. We believe people are willing to pay to get that content online, too.

I also disagree with your view that we will appear to be "insular and provincial." I think you'll find quite the contrary in a few months. But I guess we'll see.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I know we don't agree, but I'm glad to hear your views.

In response to comments about our decision to charge for online content, I want to assure all our readers that we did not take this decision lightly.

We believe we are providing quality content that can't be found anywhere else and is worth the money. For that matter, we're charging just $1 a week -- less than a cup of coffee! For some time, our print subscribers were subsidizing all those people who were getting the same content free online. That just wasn't fair.

Also, we want to count all our readers, whether online or in print, as subscribers. That's what ad revenue is really based on. The comment by some readers that charging for content will reduce the number of users is based on old thinking that hasn't proven true all the time. In fact, there are plenty of Web sites with millions of page views that aren't making any money in advertising.

What we are now able to offer advertisers is a committed audience: people who paid to visit the site. Just as advertisers in the print edition can be assured that their ads will be seen by people who really want to read the paper because they paid for it, we believe advertisers will see a significant advantage in buying ads online because the readers will be people who really want to visit the Web site.

It should be noted that we still feature a good quantity of online content at no charge. Headlines, breaking news, staff-written blogs, the Lucha Libre public forum, ¿Que Pasa? Online, Business Journal Online and all our magazines, including Dvino and the Visitors Guide, are all available at no cost.

As for talk about other newspapers, here's the truth. While you can get free access to some of The New York Times online, the paper does charge for its e-Edition - about $175 per year. No less than the Wall Street Journal charges for full access to its online content. We believe you will soon see more and more newspapers charging for their content online, too.

Many of you have already chosen to subscribe to LMT's e-Edition. Thank you for your vote of confidence. We will continue to strive to provide you with the best coverage of Laredo and the area. For those of you who haven't subscribed yet, give it a whirl. We believe you'll like what you see.

ALERT!

Starting July 1, readers of Laredo Morning Times who don't have either an e-Edition subscription or a print subscription will have access only to headlines, ¿Que Pasa? online, Business Journal online, Most Wanted, staff-written blogs, LMT magazines and AP videos.

It's a tough world out there, folks, and producing content is not cheap. So we're asking our cherished readers to pay for what they get.

Readers who want continued access to full news stories and the ability to comment on stories as well as access to obits, Art of Living, Gabriel Castillo's popular Surfing the City, social announcements and the full content of LMT will be able to choose between two options: the all-access Triple Gold package, which includes the e-Edition, text versions of stories and the print edition delivered to your door 365 days a year; or the e-only Double Gold package, which includes just the e-Edition and text versions of the stories.

At the risk of sounding like our sales colleagues, I must tell you that the Triple Gold is the best deal, because it includes the hard copy of the paper as well as the Internet versions. There are definite advantages to having it all. With the print edition, you'll get the coupons, sales inserts and our glossy monthly magazine Dvino. There's comics and puzzles and the daily TV listings. And let's face it, the newspaper is still the most portable option around. No worrying about wi-fi or a power supply or lugging around a laptop.

With the e-Edition and text versions, you'll have continued full access to the LMT Web site, including an option to get headlines sent straight to your smart phone with continued access to the complete stories wherever you are. You'll also have access to our archives, which go back to 1997.

If you've gone totally digital and don't mind missing out on the goodies we include in the print version of LMT, the Double Gold will give you access only to the e-Edition and text versions of stories.

Either way, you're sure to want to stay connected to the latest and most comprehensive Laredo news, sports and entertainment. To ensure your access continues uninterrupted, you'll need to take action before July 1.

If you're already an e-Subscriber, there's no need to do anything. The user name and password you already have will continue to work as it has in the past.

Print subscribers can get the e-part of this deal for free. Just call Circulation at (956) 728-2555 and ask for your account number. You'll need that number to sign up online.

If you're neither a print subscriber nor an e-Edition subscriber, click on the "To Subscribe" link on the righthand side of the home page.