ELLSWORTH — To better serve our readers and keep pace with the ever-changing digital world, Ellsworth American Inc. has launched two new websites, www.ellsworthamerican.com and www.mdislander.com.
As part of the change, the company will discontinue www.fenceviewer.com, the newspaper company’s current website. Since Jan. 1, 2009, fenceviewer.com has provided online Hancock County news drawn from both The American and Islander.
The new, mobile-friendly websites will strengthen the digital presence of The American and Islander newspapers by providing mobile access to Hancock County news — whenever and wherever — at the reader’s convenience.
“Since 2009, our newspaper websites have served largely as portals to our weekly digital subscriptions,” said Cyndi Wood, new media editor for the newspapers. “Fenceviewer.com was a platform for us to report breaking news and abbreviated stories around the clock. It’s now time for us to serve all our digital customers — those who like to read the news in its entirety and those who crave immediacy — in the same place.”
In addition to serving up news 24/7, the new websites will offer comprehensive sports and arts coverage, opinion pieces, a new and more comprehensive calendar, videos and photo galleries. Each Hancock County town will have its own community page profiling town government, local news and events.
Publisher Alan Baker said the new websites represent the next generation in the presentation of news. Both papers will continue to distribute and mail print editions.
And both will continue to offer digital subscriptions in the full-page newspaper format. Digital editions can be accessed from the top menu on each website’s homepage.
Access to each paper’s news content — whatever the platform — will be available to subscribers of that newspaper at no additional charge. The public is invited to access the sites at no cost through the end of the year.
The news websites were designed and executed by REACH Marketing, the digital marketing agency of Ellsworth American Inc.