The Pembrokeshire Herald goes fully digital for its 10th birthday

The Pembrokeshire Herald goes fully digital for its 10th birthday
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THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD, a weekly paid-for local newspaper based in Milford Haven is going fully digital this weekend, in a bold move to modernise which coincides with the newspaper's tenth birthday.

 
This move comes in response to the evolving media landscape. By embracing a digital future, The Herald aims to maximise its readership and provide an enhanced experience for its loyal audience.

Remaining true to its roots, The Pembrokeshire Herald will retain its current tabloid format while offering more news, features, and content than ever before - but in an online format. 

Unlike the limitations imposed by physical paper publication, the digital format empowers the newspaper to expand its offerings, delivering captivating content to its readership.

The publication will continue to be available every Friday, ensuring that readers can still rely on their favourite source of news and information.

But now it will be free - whereas the printed publication was £1.50

Editor Tom Sinclair expressed enthusiasm for the transition. With the new digital format, he said, every advertiser will have a click-through link to their website featured in all editions.

He added "This innovative approach not only maximises advertising space but also significantly enhances exposure for businesses. The digital edition of The Herald will now feature an impressive 128 pages, representing an increase of 48 pages from previous editions.

"This expanded content will cover a wide range of new topics, and introduce a new Locals School Section, Mental Health Section, and will have more focus on local sport and sports teams. Within this section, readers will find click-through links to relevant charities, both locally and beyond, ensuring easy access to help for those in need."

Boden Llewellyn, Senior Advertising Executive, shared his confidence in the transition, stating, "With this exciting move, we anticipate a substantial growth in our readership from 17,000 weekly readers to a minimum of 170,000. Moreover, we have witnessed an average of 500,000 monthly followers actively engaging with our online news stories. Many individuals will discover our paper for the first time, as a significant number of people shifted away from print media years ago. As we embark on a new adventure and era, commencing our second decade as a news source, we are genuinely excited about the possibilities ahead."

As The Pembrokeshire Herald embraces the digital era, it remains dedicated to delivering high-quality journalism, maintaining its familiar look and feel, and providing award-winning content. The publication looks forward to serving its readership and advertisers with renewed energy and engaging stories as it embarks on this exciting new chapter, which will benefit all.

Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council Tom Tudor wished the Pembrokeshire Herald luck with its new online format. He said: “This innovative step cements The Herald’s ability to provide news into the future in a sustainable way. Happy 10th Birthday!”

Local businesses in Pembrokeshire Haven supportive of the move to digital. Local businessman and events manager Jason Thomas said: “It’s good to see The Herald keeping up with the times and moving forward, but maintaining its office and staff in Pembrokeshire, and I am happy to see that the paper will still be produced as it is now, albeit in an online format. I’m excited about the potential growth of the Herald online and how we will benefit as an advertiser”.

Trevor Adams, who runs Clever Clogs, a shoe repair shop in Haverfordwest, said: “As a regular advertiser in The Pembrokeshire Herald I am looking forward to seeing this paper move into the future.”

Linda Griffiths from Terry’s Tiles said that she is very much looking forward to the next online edition. “Everyone is on their phones, these days – I think there will be readers, and as an advertiser that is great news for my business”.

Lee Bridges, Manager of The Imperial Hall in Milford Haven said: “This change in approach will free up resources to allow The Herald to concentrate on more news provision whilst likely gaining more readers for the title.”