NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The free Observer Light newspaper is history with efforts being made to generate more paid subscriptions for the regular weekly Observer newspaper, said its publisher, Michelle Lott.
The Observer ceased its "Light" newspaper midway through April with an emphasis on getting more readers to pay $20 annually for a subscription-based paper, Lott said.
Lott and her husband, Robert Lott, bought the Observer last fall after it was closed down by its then-owner, Indiana-based Horizon Publications nearly a year ago.
Michelle Lott said she is now the sole owner of the Observer. Robert Lott is president of the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce, a member of the board of directors of the Southeast Volusia Hospital Authority and chairman of the Edgewater Economic Development Commission. He is proprietor of Lott Financial in New Smyrna Beach and the married couple reside in Edgewater.
Michelle Lott said newsprint and other cost factors led to the paid subscription-based newspaper.
"It was our intention from the start to have a free community newspaper," she said Friday.
For several months, the Observer has put out both the paid and the free editions as well as free access to its internet version. Lott said the web version will be tied in with paid subscriptions, but she said there will be some free access.
"We replaced the Light with our Web site," she said.
The Observer was printing 27,000 copies each week of the Observer Light, Lott said, but with that publication gone, she said there are 4,000 copies printed weekly, though she didn't have numbers readily available on actual breakdown of subscriber-based and store deliveries.
By going to a paid newspaper, the Observer is able to solicit lucrative legal advertising from the cities of New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater and Oak Hill on rhe premise that it is a general circulation newspaper as required for a postal permit.
Covering the good new and community happenings is what Lott said her editorial staff is focused on, adding, "That is our niche."
The editorial content features several local columnists from Bert Fish Medical Center and the Chamber of Commerce.
Lott said the difference between the Observer and Hometown News, a Fort Pierce-based chain of weeklies, which as a Southeast Volusia edition, is that the columnists are local as is most of the content.
The Observer staff is led by Robert Burns, its editor.