Daily Sun moves to new offices at a challenging time

LACONIA — The Laconia Daily Sun has moved to its new offices in Lakeport Square, the first occupant of the Lakeport Opera House, a 19th century landmark that is undergoing a complete restoration.

“This move has been highly anticipated,” Sun Publisher Adam Hirshan said. “Readers have been asking us for months when we were going to move.”

Although the exterior of the three-story building is still covered with scaffolding, The Sun’s offices are complete. However, only a skeleton staff is working in the paper’s new quarters, with reporters, editors, and the sales staff working from home in an effort to reduce the likelihood of spreading the coronavirus during the pandemic.

“We want to keep our staff safe,” Hirshan said. “We are an essential business.”

Hirshan said The Sun is looking forward to bringing the paper’s employees who are working remotely – as well as members of the public – into the new offices once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Although the paper’s offices have been closed to the public since March 20, many readers have continued to come to the paper’s location to pick up their paper. Now that the move to Lakeport Square has occurred, copies of the paper can be picked up at three spots close to the new location. One newspaper box is located outside the Lakeport Post Office on Mechanic and Clinton streets. Another is on Clinton Street next to Fratello’s restaurant. And a third is on Union Avenue close to the front of the Chaos and Kindness store. The Clinton Street and Union Avenue boxes are located so motorists can pull up to the curb, grab a paper, and move on.

Hirshan acknowledged The Sun’s move to upgraded quarters comes at an especially challenging time for newspapers.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused tremendous economic dislocation for many businesses. The paper has experienced a drop in advertising, and the social distancing restrictions which have been imposed in order to slow the spread of the virus have impacted the paper’s advertisers, including restaurants and lodging establishments, Hirshan said.

At the same time the demand for information about the effects of the pandemic — especially locally — is much greater than usual.

Hirshan pointed out that the number of people who are looking at The Sun’s e-edition — an online replica of the printed paper — has skyrocketed. He said the e-edition is getting 27,000 unique views a day. Coupled with those who are reading the print edition, Hirshan said The Sun has about 44,000 readers daily.

“People are still interested in reading the entire paper, the stories and the advertisements,” Hirshan said.

He emphasized those numbers are in addition to people who are reading stories on the paper’s website.

“All our digital is through the roof,” Hirshan said. “We knew that was the future of the paper,” he went on, “but suddenly overnight it’s grown far more than we could have ever expected.”

The number of printed papers being picked up has declined since the imposition of COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, fewer copies of the Sun are being printed in order to save costs, Hirshan said. The paper is no longer being dropped off at certain locations around the area. Some of those locations are closed during the state’s stay-at-home order. Even with the smaller press run, “well over 10,000” copies of The Sun are being printed, Hirshan said.

Many people are no longer picking up the paper as they were before because they are leaving home only when it is absolutely necessary. But Hirshan said in response to that situation The Sun is offering home delivery of the paper — up to 15 copies — at a special price of $19 for 13 weeks.

Those who wish to subscribe to home delivery can call either the home delivery number of 224-4287 or The Sun’s main number of 527-9299.

The demand for thorough local news coverage of the local impact of the pandemic coupled with declining revenue, prompted Hirshan to put an appeal on the paper’s website asking people to donate toward The Sun’s mission of providing details about the area’s COVID-19 cases, school and business closures, and other vital news.

Hirshan said Thursday he has been heartened by the significant number of contributions.

“The donations are helping,” he said. “They are playing a role in keeping our newsroom operating,” He noted that some people have committed to making recurring contributions, some amounting to $100 a month.