Wisconsin newspaper seeks voluntary subscriptions for Web site By ROBERT IMRIE Associated Press Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin publisher is asking readers of his online newspaper to pay for the service with voluntary subscriptions _ an approach that an industry group says is unprecedented. In other words, he wants readers to give The Green Bay News-Chronicle a donation for what for years has been offered free via the Internet. "They say adaptability is a sign of intelligence, and we certainly have had to adapt over the years to stay alive," Publisher Frank Wood said Wednesday. What kind of response can the 75-year-old publisher expect? "Oh, almost none," predicts Ken Blum of Orrville, Ohio, a former newspaper editor and publisher who now serves as a consultant for weekly and mid-sized daily newspapers. "There will probably be a few come in, but I don't think there will be a flood of people volunteering to pay. People are so used to getting everything on the Web for free," Blum said. Wood's idea is innovative, and there is nothing unethical about it, he said. About a week ago, Wood posted a letter on the paper's Web site, explaining the online paper wasn't paying for itself with advertising, and subsidizing the expenses with money from other ventures in his publishing company was no longer possible. "We've historically said we would not care if we make money with The News-Chronicle, but it would be nice to at least break even," Wood wrote. "Will you help us? Are we worth it? Let us know!" By Wednesday, a couple dozen online readers had paid about $500 in voluntary subscriptions, Wood said. One of them, Randall Pfister of Green Bay, gave $24 with a charge on his credit card, along with this e-mailed comment: "Great news ... read several times/week.... would like to keep it going....if every reader gave $12, I think you'd be in great shape. Hope it happens!!!" The News-Chronicle was launched in 1972 during a strike at the city's other newspaper, the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Wood bought The News-Chronicle in 1976 and established a Web site for it in 1996. The News-Chronicle has a weekday circulation of 7,100, compared with the Press-Gazette's 56,943, according to the 2003 Editor&Publisher International Year Book. Wood called 2003 one of the "roughest years" financially for his publishing company, which includes 33 other publications, mostly advertising shoppers, and a printing operation. "But we are survivors." Seeking voluntary subscriptions for the online newspaper is not a "last gasp" for The News-Chronicle, just another unique idea to help offset losses that "we have been sustaining regularly since 1976," Wood said. Stan Schwartz, manager editor of the National Newspaper Association, which represents about 2,500 members who publish about 5,000 weekly and daily newspapers in the United States, said he had never heard of voluntary subscriptions for newspaper Web sites. Newspapers that have tried selling their product online have seen marked drops in the number of hits at their Web sites, he said. "It is against human nature to pay for something they get for free," Schwartz said. "But look at television. For a long time, it was free. Then, the cable companies came and offered all this extra stuff and now everybody is paying for it." Wood said his newspaper attracts about 80,000 readers online per month, who on average visit three pages at the site. He hopes about 20 percent of them are willing to voluntarily pay for the service. "Wouldn't it be fun to be able to take somewhere between $10,000 and $100,000," Wood said. "People who feel they can afford it and that we are providing a service might pay us. And the people who don't, won't. And some of the people who can't afford it, won't. And that's OK. We still want them to see our paper." On the net: News-Chronicle voluntary subscription form.